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Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) Streaming

What Adaptive Bitrate streaming is and how it works with the RePro Transcoder.

What is Adaptive Bitrate streaming?

Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) streaming allows a video stream to be made available at multiple quality levels, so viewers can select a resolution appropriate for their network connection and viewing device.

In RePro, this functionality is provided by selecting Transcoder in the video settings in the Viewer. An incoming video stream can be transcoded into multiple resolutions:

  • 1080p (Full HD)

  • 720p (HD)

  • 540p

  • 360p

Rather than every viewer receiving the same version of the stream, viewers can receive a resolution suited to their individual connection.



Why use ABR?

Network conditions can vary significantly between viewers, particularly when people are watching from different locations or using mobile connections.

A viewer with a strong internet connection may be able to watch the 1080p stream, while another viewer on a slower or less stable connection can select a lower resolution to reduce the bandwidth required.

This can help maintain smooth playback when network conditions are limited, with the trade-off that lower resolutions provide reduced image quality.

ABR and the RePro Transcoder

Although the underlying technology is Adaptive Bitrate streaming, ABR is labelled as Transcoder within the RePro interface.

When Transcoder is enabled, RePro creates multiple resolutions from the incoming video stream.

In the Web Viewer, the player can automatically select an appropriate resolution based on the viewer's network conditions.


On iOS and tvOS, automatic ABR selection is not currently available, but viewers can manually select their preferred resolution.

This means different viewers can watch the same RePro Program at different resolutions without changing the original incoming stream.

Transcoder vs Passthrough

The Transcoder requires RePro to transcode the incoming video in order to create the additional resolutions.

This is different from Passthrough, where RePro retains the original resolution and codec without applying an additional video transcode.

The Transcoder can therefore be useful when accessibility across different network conditions is more important than maintaining the original encoded stream.

For workflows where maintaining the original video characteristics is important, such as colour-critical review, Passthrough or SRT may be more appropriate.

Global Watermark

When using the Transcoder, RePro can apply a Global Watermark to the video.

The Global Watermark is burned into the transcoded video and displays the same watermark image to all viewers watching the ABR stream.

This is different from RePro's Individual Watermark and Forensic Watermark options, which provide different forms of viewer-specific watermarking.

Project administrators can configure the Global Watermark used across the Project.

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