Journal 2009-01-28 New Video Player is coming our way
New Video Player is coming our way
We are getting loads of improvements lately!, latest to arrive is an outstanding new video player featuring better video/audio quality and better/faster video streaming.
- Three different video qualities to choose (low/mid/high)
- Fast streaming for slower Internet connections
- Bigger videos than ever
- Improved 192 Kbps audio codec
In words of GMC founder Kris Dahl:
"We have fixed a bug in the streaming algorithm, so once we implement this player live on the site, you should get better/less choppy streaming in the lessons (will be especially noticeable to those of you on slower Internet connections)
In order for the new video codecs to perform in an optimal way (and give best quality) - we have changed the video resolutions slightly. Because of this - wide screen videos will have a black border on the top and bottom. Also, the window containing tab and backing tracks will have a slightly different size as well.
The "HIGH" quality settings features the largest files ever streamed at GMC - a single video can be around 100 MB in extreme cases. We plan on offering this option without any extra membership fee.
The "LOW" quality setting contains the lightest videos we have ever had at GMC - which means that those of you who are on really slow Internet connections should notice a streaming improvement, even when comparing to really old GMC lessons. The "LOW" setting has a smaller video resolution as you can see (still bigger than the old GMC lessons though!)
However, the new video codecs used might be a little more demanding for old computers. We hope that other improvements made to the player will even these effects out.
Sound is improved with a better codec and 192 kbit/s setting - which means that audio quality should start approaching the quality of an audio cd (or wave file), and should be a definite improvement compared to what we have now.
As you can see the different test videos differ from each other in quality - this is because factors such as the instructors camera equipment, light settings and recording technique come into play as well.
I am looking forward to your feedback - it is incredibly helpful as we strive to make GMC as good as possible!"
