Welcome to the first installment of our Superguide series, one that starts right at the center of online video technology—encoding and transcoding.

So what’s all the fuss about with encoding?

In our glossary (streamingmedia.com/glossary), we define encoding simply as, “Converting content from one form of video signal to another, either in real-time for live streaming or in non-real-time for further manipulation (editing or transcoding).” Of course, there’s a lot that goes on behind the wizard’s curtain, creating a plethora of choices for how you might handle your encoding/transcoding strategy. Do you use hardware, software, or outsourced services on the ground or in the cloud? What about workflow economics? What about future-proofing your content for emerging devices? Who can help with all of this?

Those are all fair questions.

This first installment in our new Superguide series is unique in that we are bringing you information from experts who make encoding and transcoding solutions for a living, to help companies such as yours get the job done efficiently and most cost-effectively.