SmoothStreaming

Smooth Streaming is a proprietary adaptive bitrate streaming technology developed by Microsoft. It is designed to deliver high-definition video seamlessly over the internet to various devices, including PCs, smartphones, and tablets. The core principle of Smooth Streaming is to dynamically adjust the quality of the video stream in real-time based on the user's available bandwidth and device capabilities. This is achieved by encoding the video into multiple quality levels. When a user starts playback, the client player begins by downloading a low-quality stream. It then monitors the network conditions and the player's buffer. If bandwidth is abundant, the player requests higher-quality segments, resulting in a smoother, more visually appealing experience. Conversely, if bandwidth decreases, the player will switch to lower-quality segments to prevent buffering and interruptions. Smooth Streaming segments video into small, typically 2-second chunks. These chunks are delivered using HTTP, making it compatible with standard web infrastructure. It is often implemented in conjunction with Microsoft's IIS Media Services. While it was a significant development in adaptive streaming, newer open standards like MPEG-DASH have gained wider adoption.