Multimedia Streaming with MPEG-DASH

Abstract

This chapter focuses on advanced video streaming techniques and details on MPEG-DASH, which stands for "Moving Picture Experts Group – Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP." First, the differences of push- vs. pull-based media streaming are described, in which the advantages of pull-based media streaming become evident. Second, the most popular pull-based media streaming protocol Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is introduced, and the various types of streaming are described, which include regular HTTP streaming, progressive download, and adaptive streaming over HTTP. Third, details of MPEG-DASH are introduced. In addition, details on the MPEG-DASH Multimedia Presentation Description (MPD) methods are introduced. Next, the video frames (I, P, B frames) and Group of Pictures (GOP) descriptions are provided followed by a YouTube MPEG-DASH operation example and a list of MPEG-DASH features. The major sections of this chapter are listed in the following: