In the landscape of current church technology, streaming video has risen to become one of our most powerful tools. Every year, greater efficiencies in encoding, compression, and transport of video streams enable worship content to be viewed with increasing quality across a full spectrum of devices. However, the popularity of streaming hasn’t increased simply because it is a technical marvel, but because it does something very important for both the church and worshippers.
... streaming has the proven potential to geometrically increase your reach through distribution services and popular social platforms that allow anyone with an internet connection to discover your church....
Video streaming provides reliable ways to expand our worship experiences to new locations--locations as close as the next room or as far as the other side of the world. Worship experiences can now be streamed live or stored for streaming from platforms to worshippers at a time and place convenient to them, thereby removing both location and time barriers. Moreover, streaming has the proven potential to geometrically increase your reach through distribution services and popular social platforms that allow anyone with an internet connection to discover your church, share your worship, and hear your message.
Dream come true?
While appearances might lead the casual observer to believe that video streaming is a dream come true for churches, even ardent worship technology veterans, when trying to implement video streaming for the first time, find that it can present challenging technical hurdles and diversions.
When LED lighting fixtures were introduced, we knew just where to put them and how they were expected to function. We only had to learn their nuances and how to use DMX for control in order to enjoy their many benefits. But unlike LED lighting fixtures that already had a place in the worship technology landscape as a replacement for conventional lighting, streaming doesn’t have a prescribed place to be “plugged in,” per se, nor does it have a simple definition. That’s because instead of being one new thing to master, streaming is better defined as an amalgam of other technologies that when properly plugged together create a path for successful video streaming. When you add to that the complications that result from most streaming technologies being new and evolving themselves, you can understand why streaming is so difficult to describe technically.
… instead of being one new thing to master, streaming is better defined as an amalgam of other technologies that when properly plugged together create a path for successful video streaming.
For those just jumping into streaming, it’s important to consider that few worship technologists are actually expert in all aspects of video streaming technology, and with good reason. Much of the technology used to stream video is not related to traditional production arts and technology. Rather, streaming is a mix of computer and network technology including layers of transport protocols specific to video payloads; a knowledge of video encoding and compression schemes; videography skills and video camera technology; along with lighting and audio aspects specific to video production. All that said, manufacturers of video gear are stepping up to provide built-in features and configurations that will work with popular platforms right out of the box.
You can be assured that a technology is complex when the major selling points for streaming services and hardware manufacturers is how their products can help users get started and how easy new products are to install, configure and operate. But, rather than seeing the complexity involved, the key takeaway should be that one doesn’t need to be an expert in order to get started streaming or even to drive a far-reaching video streaming effort for your church. In fact, in many ways, having a high-level approach to streaming technology can help you to better understand how it all works together.
Here are some key points about video streaming technologies that can help you see the current big picture, as well as take full advantage of the burgeoning world of video streaming for worship.
Video resolution, frame rate and streaming quality
Video streaming starts with a source that could be a recorded file or the output of one or more video cameras for a live stream. Some cameras come with features to help you stream and others will simply create video files that can be captured and encoded for streaming by other devices or software. Especially for live streaming, choosing the appropriate resolution and frame rate for the capacity and performance of the network will help to guarantee that your video stream will move through the network without delay--and have the best possible viewing quality.
Even inexpensive cameras can now be configured to capture very high resolution images, including Ultra High Definition/4K (>4,000p). Most popular resolutions for streaming are Full HD (1080p or 1920x1080), and HD (720p or 1280x720). On the low end, cameras can capture Standard Definition(480p or 853x480) and Low (360p or 640x360) resolution files, but these are not generally considered good enough quality for streaming. Remember, your viewers won’t be able to help but compare your video stream with the high-quality broadcasts from sports and entertainment networks. Higher resolutions, like 1080p and 720p look the best for worship but require more data. There are always trade-offs with image quality and how your video stream will perform streaming to its final destination.
Along with resolution, the frame rate, expressed in frames per second (FPS) determines how smooth the motion is displayed. For most streaming, a setting of 30 fps will work well. However, where there is a lot of motion and quick camera pans a setting of 60 fps can help keep things super crisp, but because it generates more data will require more network resources to keep up.
Video and network connectivity
Connections on Local Area Networks (LANs) and to connect to the Internet are made via the Ethernet standard. For streaming video, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) most frequently recommend a minimum upload speed of 5-10mbps, and ideally on a network connection that is not shared with any other computers or devices. Wherever possible, using direct Ethernet port connection rather than WiFi offers the best performance, since the radio waves used to connect through the air to a wireless router can be easily impaired. Complications for WiFi can include obstructions such as walls, doors and floors, and electronic interference from other devices, including smartphones and neighboring routers potentially using the same channel frequency. In addition, the distance between your router and any connected device can cause “packets” of data to be dropped (packet loss) or delayed (latency). Either of these have the potential to impact your video stream.
Wherever possible, using direct Ethernet port connection rather than WiFi offers the best performance, since the radio waves used to connect through the air to a wireless router can be easily impaired.
There are several ways to output video and audio from a video source to a streaming device. Two of the most common are HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) and SDI (Serial Digital Interface).
HDMI is a video standard commonly used in consumer and prosumer environments that can send uncompressed video and embedded audio signals to any device that can display or encode video. HDMI signals can run up to 50 feet without needing some sort of amplifier to boost the HDMI signal into another cable so it can run longer. For longer runs, you can use a converter to run an HDMI signal over inexpensive Cat5e (CAT6 is preferred) cable for up to 390 feet. HDMI cables can have standard, Mini (for DSLR and camcorders), or Micro (for compact action cams) connectors.
SDI connectivity is typically found on professional video equipment and preferred in production environments because of its long range (up to 300 feet) and reliability.
SDI connectivity is typically found on professional video equipment and preferred in production environments because of its long range (up to 300 feet) and reliability. It typically uses standard 75 ohm coaxial cabling and BNC connectors that twist and lock into the devices. There are several SDI standards to support various signal qualities and speeds. Adaptors can be used to convert analog and HDMI sources to SDI and back again to solve compatibility and cabling distance issues.
Video encoding formats
Video encoding is the process of converting a video input into a digital format, making a stream compatible with the various Web players and mobile devices your audience will use to watch your stream. One of the most commonly used encoding formats is Advanced Video Coding (AVC) or H.264. It is the current video codec standard for Internet video, designed to reduce the bandwidth required for transmission of full-motion video.
One of several possible successors to the H.264 standard is High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), or H.265, that could substantially improve coding efficiency and reduce the amount of storage and bandwidth required for great looking video. HEVC touts a 50% reduction in storage while maintaining a high image quality level.
One of several possible successors to the H.264 standard is High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), or H.265, that could substantially improve coding efficiency and reduce the amount of storage and bandwidth required for great looking video.
Streaming protocols
RTMP (Real Time Media Protocol) and HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) are well known protocols for streaming media contents over the Internet. RTMP is a transport layer protocol created specifically for multimedia communication to deliver streams smoothly and transmit as much information as possible. It works by splitting streams into fragments; their size is negotiated dynamically between the client and server. Fragments from different streams may then be combined over a single connection.
While RTMP is the defacto standard for streaming video, there are several reasons to watch developments with HLS.
In contrast, HLS is an application layer protocol. The idea of HLS is to stream media over the HTTP, whereas RTMP streams media over underlying TCP or UDP protocols. While RTMP is the defacto standard for streaming video, there are several reasons to watch developments with HLS. HLS can support more devices and uses a method called Adaptive Bitrate Delivery to measure the connection speed available to each viewer and adjust the video quality dynamically to give the best performance. There’s a lot more to the science of protocols, with tweaks and improvements always on the horizon.
Content distribution
The technologies we’ve discussed each play a role in the distribution of your content, whether it is video recordings of services available for download from your website, a live stream to social media, or delivered with the help of a Content Distribution Network (CDN). CDNs all have different features, plans and monthly costs, but the leading CDNs provide good information about the streaming technologies, along with details and configuration suggestions to help you get optimal performance with their services.
Streaming video to reach worshippers is video streaming at its best.
Streaming video to reach worshippers is video streaming at its best. If you don’t have a video expert on your team or technology integrator to help you reach your goals for streaming, there is no better way to get a handle on this technology than to view it as the sum of its parts. While it may seem like a lot of technology--and it is--more churches are finding that the ultimate rewards make it well worth keeping abreast of the ever-improving landscape of video streaming.
