Learn how MediaSilo decides what video file to use in the player.
MediaSilo makes it easy to share your files with clients by creating proxies that play in every major browser. This is done so that your clients do not need to download any custom software for the best possible viewing experience.
However, many of the files users upload to MediaSilo are already web-playable. In these cases, your file is loaded into the web player as-is. This allows you to use a proxy that has a higher resolution or bitrate than our standard proxy.
Criteria for Using Your Source File in the Player
If you encode your file with the following specifications, MediaSilo will pass it through to the video player directly:
- Extension: mp4
- Resolution: 1920x1080 or higher
- Codec: H.264 (AVC/AAC)
- Bitrate Mode: Variable
High Quality Proxy Encode Process
If your source file does not conform to the above standard, especially if it is one of many video file formats that are not web-playable, MediaSilo will still support playback for it.
When one of these file types is uploaded, a proxy is created with the following specifications:
- Extension: .mp4
- Resolution: matches source file
- Codec: H.264 (AVC / AAC)
- Frame Rate: matches source file
- Bitrate Mode: Variable
- Bitrate: matches source file up to 7 Mbps
An example of this process would be if you uploaded an MOV file that has a resolution of 1080p with a constant bit rate. Our proxy process will convert it to an H.264 mp4 HQ proxy which maintains the 1080p resolution while converting it to a variable bitrate.
Standard Quality Proxy Encode Process
Whether MediaSilo uses your source file, or our proxy, it will also create a second, lower-grade proxy of the file for playback in low-bandwidth environments. This file will playback when “HD” is toggled off in the player. This is also the file provided when selecting “Download Proxy” on the asset options menu.
This file will match the source up to the following limits:
- Extension: .mp4
- Resolution: matches source file up to 720p
- Codec: H.264 (AVC / AAC)
- Frame Rate: matches source file
- Bitrate Mode: Variable
- Bitrate: matches source file up to 4 Mbps
Switching Between Source and Proxy in Player
You have the option to switch back and forth between the two versions by selecting or deselecting the "HD" toggle.
Click the HD toggle to switch between source and proxy versions.
When "HD" is selected, this means that the highest quality proxy available is playing. When it is toggled off, the standard quality proxy will play back.