[Live-devel] Get MPEG-TS timing from .tsx file?

[Warren Young]

Currently live555MediaServer requires CBR or near-CBR files when 
streaming from MPEG-TS.  The explanation I've read on the list is that 
this is because it makes determining the pacing of frame delivery 
easier.  As I understand it, the server has an internal model of the 
video bit rate, and it can get behind if its model differs greatly from 
the reality.

The problem, of course, is that VBR is increasingly the rule, and CBR 
the exception.  VBR better models the nature of video, and newer 
encoding technologies are only increasing the variability.  H.264 tends 
to have longer GOPs and a higher ratio of B pictures than MPEG-2, for 
example.

For example, I have here a 1.4 Mbit/s VBR H.264 + AAC TS file that must 
be padded out to 3.7 Mbit/s to get it to stream smoothly because it has 
peaks to 4.2 Mbit/s.  That's 164% overhead.

My question is, couldn't the server's model of the video file's bit rate 
be greatly improved by looking at the index file?  That implicitly tells 
you the video's bit rate at every point.

(Ross, I will be sending you a link to this 1.4 Mbit/s file off-list.)