Multiple video quality levels and lower costs with Amazon IVS Multitrack Video

Livestreaming audiences expect seamless video experiences across devices and varying network conditions. Adaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming meets this expectation by dynamically adjusting video quality based on viewer conditions. However, ABR requires transcoding—the process of converting a source video into multiple quality levels to optimize playback across different devices and network conditions.

Transcoding at centralized servers is resource-intensive, requiring significant processing power, which increases video costs for livestreaming applications. To manage expenses, many livestreaming applications either limit transcoding to a few top creators or forgo it entirely—forcing streamers to broadcast at lower bitrates. This leads to buffering, reduced video quality, and an inconsistent viewing experience.

Amazon Interactive Video Service (Amazon IVS) Multitrack Video solves these challenges by leveraging creators’ unused GPU resources, reducing reliance on costly server-side transcoding. This scalable approach reduces input costs by up to 75 percent while maintaining high-quality streaming across all devices and network conditions.

Introducing Amazon IVS Multitrack Video

Amazon IVS Multitrack Video improves ABR streaming by enabling creators to encode and stream multiple video quality levels directly from their GPU-powered computers. By shifting encoding away from centralized servers, this feature optimizes streaming efficiency while facilitating high-quality video playback that dynamically adjusts to viewer conditions. Amazon IVS Multitrack Video is available now in all AWS Regions where Amazon IVS operates.

How it works

Amazon IVS Multitrack Video optimizes streaming efficiency and viewing quality in the following ways:

• Direct encoding from creator devices: Creators can leverage their computers to encode multiple video qualities, optimizing for different resolutions and bitrates.
• Automatic stream configuration: Amazon IVS automatically configures encoder settings based on the creator’s hardware, network conditions, and streaming preferences.
• Seamless viewer experience: Viewers receive optimized video quality, reducing buffering and improving engagement.

Amazon IVS Multitrack Video verifies that viewers experience near real-time dynamic playback adjustments (see Figure 1), while significantly lowering operational costs for livestreaming applications.

Figure 1: Illustrates the new multitrack video experience on Amazon IVS.

Getting started with Amazon IVS Multitrack Video

Livestreaming applications using Amazon IVS can enable multitrack video on standard channels. Creators using OBS Studio version 30.2 or high can activate it with a single click (see Figure 2). Once enabled, Amazon IVS Multitrack Video automatically configures the broadcast software. It analyzes the creator’s hardware, software, and network conditions to provide optimized encoder settings for high resolution, frame rate, and bitrate. This automation eliminates manual adjustments, allowing creators to focus on content instead of technical settings, and helps facilitate a smooth, high-quality viewing experience.

Figure 2: Illustrates the streaming experience on OBS Studio.

Balancing cost with content quality

A standout advantage of Amazon IVS Multitrack Video is its ability to significantly reduce streaming costs while maintaining high-quality ABR streams. Instead of incurring full server-side transcoding costs, livestreaming applications can creatively utilize idle creators’ devices—enabling cost-efficient, high-quality video delivery without compromising the viewer experience.

For example, currently with Amazon IVS Multitrack Video, viewers enjoy the best quality for their connection, and customers pay only $0.50 per hour, compared to $2.00 per hour for a standard channel without multitrack video. For an application hosting 100 live streams every day, each lasting two hours, Amazon IVS Multitrack Video reduces input costs by 75 percent. This is a saving of $9,000 each month (see Table 1), compared to a standard channel—all while maintaining high-quality streaming.

Note: For more details and discounted pricing visit the Amazon IVS pricing page.

Table 1: Cost savings for livestreaming applications hosting 100 live streams using Multitrack Video on a Standard Channel.

Additionally, livestreaming applications can manage access to higher video qualities (for example, 1080p/Full HD) for premium or paid subscribers using token-based authentication for playback. This enables a tiered monetization strategy while controlling streaming costs.

Customer Experience

In a 90-day analysis of over 40,000 channels, one of our customers compared viewer experience on Amazon IVS Multitrack Video and non-transcoded streams. Viewers on Multitrack-enabled channels experienced nearly 50 percent fewer playback interruptions due to rebuffering compared to channels without transcoding.

Conclusion

For user generated content livestreaming applications, delivering high-quality streaming video cost-effectively has long been a hurdle. Amazon IVS Multitrack Video rises to this challenge by reimagining how adaptive bitrate streaming is delivered. By utilizing creators’ GPU resources and automating encoder settings, it offers a win-win solution—livestreaming applications can reduce costs, while viewers enjoy high-quality, buffer-free experiences.

To get started today, see our Multitrack Video documentation. Explore Amazon IVS integration with these resources and how you can grow your startup with AWS.

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