Video Conversion Costs

November 7, 2006

This is a quick reference for those of you considering hosting of video media and require conversions.

Typical costs listed here for general reference only.
Actual cost depends on your particular situation & exact requirements.

Video is very demanding, and the slightest drop in quality and performance is very noticeable and affect the viewers' experience significantly. A lot of care must be put into optimizing the media. Beyond storage size, bandwidth & traffic, file format conversions; there are many highly technical aspects to consider. These are fall beyond the scope of this document. I'll list a few common factors here:

• Video resolution
• Aspect Ratio
• Frame Rate
• Video & Audio Codec
• Video Bit Rate
• Audio Sampling Rate
• Audio Channels
• Audio Bit Rate
• Source Material Format consideration (film/NTSC/PAL)
• Padding, Cropping, Stretching, Pan & Scan
• Audio Dynamic Range & Loudness compensation/re-encoding
• Player Requirements considerations

See Also:

• Mach 4 Network Hosting Plans & Rates
• Streaming Costs and Capacity Planning
• Live Webcast Costs and Capacity Planning
• Our A/V Hosting/Streaming Capabilities