INTRODUCTION

Please begin by reading THIS article. Pay PARTICULAR note to the specific terms that relate to unique aspects of VUDU streaming. Those terms will help you understand how VUDU strives for quality streaming as well as provide you with a start for your research. Please keep in mind that article was written <<WHEN?>> and is likely out of date in some aspects. Please be aware of that!

GOAL

Our goal is to more fully understand technical aspects of streaming including but not limited to Bit Rate, Buffering & Compression and how those impact the quality of streaming video.

YOUR TASK

You MUST MAKE A CLAIM that one particular streaming service (such as Amazon, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock Network etc..) has superior video quality than another specific streaming service (such as Amazon, Disney+, Paramount+, Peacock Network etc..)based on technical evidence you find about compression, bit-rate, buffering and/or other hardware and/or software processes.

════════════════════

IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE, PLEASE COME SEE ME

═══════════════════════════

STREAMING SERVICES - Background Info from Mr. W

VUDU

Vudu is a bit different from the other 'streaming services' in that they offer ONLY high def movies for rent or for sale. Also, Vudu makes their money on a per-item sale or rent rather than a monthly subscription. They also do offer a few free movies supported by ads.

VUDU requires that users/purchasers obtain a certain minimum bandwidth for each of their 3 types of HD files (SD, HDX and UHD).

VUDU does offer limited Free content that is supported by minimal advertising.

═══════════════════════════

IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE, PLEASE COME SEE ME

══════════════════════════

NETFLIX:

A quick search of the Google shows the variable cost of Netflix between $9.99 $6.99 (with ads) up to $19.99 $22.95 per month (without ads).

Netflix has upwards of 150 277 million subscribers around the world.

Netflix offers award winning original content (think "Stranger Things") along with commercial movies they have obtained from various movie studios in the US and around the world.

═══════════════════════════

AMAZON

Amazon is a Free/Subscription/Purchase/Rent hybrid. Anyone who has purchased Amazon Prime (Something like 100 million Americans 200 million subscribers worldwide) has access to the Amazon Prime Streaming Service.

Amazon has a large and always changing library of movies to watch for free, or to rent or to buy. It can be pretty much hit or miss to find the movie you want. Sometimes you have to pay, sometimes you don't.

Additionally, Amazon has a number of original content programs such as the Rings of Power that they paid $250 million simply for the rights to make the series. The cost for actors, sets and everything else is pushing the cost towards 1 Billion dollars.

Oddly enough, Amazon also offers subscribers the opportunity to subscribe to their competitors programming from within Amazon PRIME.

HUH? Subscribers can add additional subscriptions to HBO, ShowTime, Paramount+ etc... for an additional monthly fee of course.

By the by, did you know that Netflix is actually hosted on Amazons ever-growing Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform?

They also don't seem to care too much about the video experience. My best guess is they leave it up to the subscribers to try and get the best bandwidth they can.

If you've ever tried to watch an Amazon movie on a TV with crappy internet bandwidth you know what I'm sayin'....

APPLE+

Apple offers a range of original content (Such as the award winning "Ted Lasso" and "Foundation" series and the Tom Hanks WWII movie "Greyhound") and movies and television shows obtained from other movie studios around the country and around the world (For example the spy series "Tehran" which was actually made in Israel). Apple TV+ does not have advertising and costs $4.99/$6.99/month

═══════════════════════════

IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE, PLEASE COME SEE ME

══════════════════════════

DISNEY+

Disney has made it's entire Disney Catalog (think Snow White, Sound of Music, Lion King), Marvel Catalog, Star Wars, Pixar etc ad nauseum. They've have nearly 100 years worth of movies in just the Disney Catalog. Disney does NOT include advertising and goes for $8/month. Disney has a variety of payment plans.

According to chatgpt:

═══════════════════════════

HULU

HULU has been around for a fairly long time as such things go; and I believe started out as a great place to watch reruns like "The Rockford Files" (a favorite show of mine from the 1970's and Hill Stree Blues (another favorite from the '80's).

Over the last several years they have branched out and now provide original content such as the Emmy Award winning series "The Handmaid's Tale". They have several different pricing models (I think!) based on whether you want to watch a bunch of commercials a few commercials or no commercials.

PARAMOUNT +

Paramount provides the vast libraries of both the Paramount movie studio and the CBS television network and its associated properties. Paramount has different pricing plans that, oddly enough, both contain advertising and range from $5 - $10 per month.

PEACOCK NETWORK:

Peacock provides the vast libraries of both the Universal movie studio and the NBC television network and its associated properties. Peacock provided *extensive* coverage of the last Summer Olympic Games. Like Paramount+, Peacock has variable pricing and includes advertising. Base price: $4.99/mo

═══════════════════════════

PRESENTATION FORMAT

You will create a slide presentation using Google Slides, Power point, Prezi or something similar (make SURE in advance I have access to it).

Your will record your presentation using ScreenCastify or WE Video or something similar that allows you to arrearage your work.

• Each slide can contain a maximum of 4 bullet points
• Each bullet point can contain a maximum of 10 words
• You may NOT read your presentation from a script.

═══════════════════════════

IF YOU NEED ASSISTANCE, PLEASE COME SEE ME

═══════════════════════════

NOTE!

Our goal is to use quality sources.

However, you may find a source that is NOT from a particularly high quality source but does still provide helpful information. You may want to do additional research on the journal, author etc to make your source stand out.

HOWEVER

Many students feel that they have to describe all of their sources as outstanding, quality, stupendous, massively appropriate etc... DO NOT do that.

In other words, do not OVERSTATE the quality of your source.

═════════════════════════

═════════════════════════

Email from ScreenCastify:

Hi there –

You may have seen some of our announcements about the upcoming changes to Screencastify’s new free version, but we wanted to reach out with some specific information about what that means if you are a free user and log in next week.

Starting on Monday, October 3, if you are a free user you’ll now be able to record videos up to 30 minutes long instead of our old 5 minute limit and you’ll notice some additional feature updates. You’ll be able to store up to 10 videos in your Screencastify library if you’re on our Screencastify Free plan, and to create new videos beyond that library limit you can upgrade to our Starter or Pro plans.  

What are the limits on a Screencastify Free account?

• 30 Minute Recording Limit
• 30 Minute Video Export Limit
• 10 Video Library Limit
• Blocked mp4 and mp3 exports
• Videos Exported to YouTube show a Screencastify branded Watermark
• Limited viewer analytics
• 1 Submit Video Assignment