Embodiments provide for methods, computer program products, and systems to improve media playback comprising receiving a variant stream, identifying respective maximum segment durations for a plurality of different types of client devices that will play media content contained in the variant stream, generating, using the variant stream, a respective playlist for each of the plurality of different types of client devices, wherein the respective playlists each contain different maximum segment durations, and delivering the respective playlists to at least one of the plurality of different types of client devices via a distribution network.

Aspects of the subject technology relate to providing frame rate arbitration for electronic devices. Frame rate arbitration can include determining a global frame rate based on frame rate parameters from one or more animation sources, and providing the global frame rate to the animation sources. The frame rate parameters for various animations sources can have differing preferred, minimum, and/or maximum frame rates, and the global frame rate may be determined for concurrent display of multiple animations from the multiple animation sources. In one or more implementations, frame rate arbitration can also be performed based on frame rate parameters from an input source.

One aspect of the instant application facilitates reduction of multicast group join latency. During operation, the system can receive, at a network device, a first multicast group leave packet corresponding to a first multicast group. In response to receiving a first multicast group leave packet from an IPTV client, the system can simulate a second multicast group join on behalf of the IPTV client by updating, based on a predictive model, at least an entry in a table maintained in hardware with a next likely multicast group that the IPTV client is likely to join; and sending a simulated second multicast group join packet for initiating an IPTV stream associated with the next likely multicast group. In response to receiving an actual second multicast group join packet from the IPTV client, the system can facilitate the IPTV stream to the IPTV client, thereby reducing multicast group join latency.

A content distribution network includes a first server in communication with an anycast server that provides content via a unicast signal, and with a multicast server that provides the content via a multicast signal. The first server is configured to receive a list of source addresses associated with the content, and to provide a metadata file including an anycast Internet protocol address of the anycast server from the list of source addresses as an Internet protocol address of the content in response to a first request for the content. When the number of client devices requesting the content exceeds a first threshold, the first server receives an updated list of sources including a multicast Internet protocol address of a multicast server, and provides the multicast Internet protocol address of the multicast server as the Internet protocol address of the content in the metadata file.

Example embodiments provide systems and methods for crowdsourced skipping of media content portions. In an example method, a plurality of content tags are received from a plurality of media content devices over a communication network. Each of the plurality of content tags may designate a location within a media content item. The content tags are processed to generate aggregated content tags for the media content item. The aggregated content tags may designate one or more portions of the media content item for modified playback. The aggregated content tags for the media content item are transmitted over the communication network to a first media content device separate from the plurality of media content devices.

The disclosed computer-implemented method includes determining that incoming media item requests are to be skewed from a random distribution among server nodes, using a random distribution algorithm, to a directed distribution among the server nodes. The method then includes identifying, in a loading assignment, which media items are to be loaded onto specific server nodes to produce the directed distribution of media item requests. The method next includes preloading the identified media items onto the server nodes according to the loading assignment and receiving media item requests for the preloaded media items. The method then includes routing the received media item requests to the server nodes using the random distribution algorithm, where the random distribution algorithm is skewed to the directed distribution based on the preloading of the media items according to the identified loading assignment. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Methods and apparatus to estimate audience sizes using deduplication based on vector of counts sketch data are disclosed. A system includes hardware circuitry to instantiate: coefficient analyzer circuitry to determine coefficient values of a polynomial based on (i) variances in values in a first vector of counts and a second vector of counts, (ii) a first cardinality of the first vector of counts, and (iii) a second cardinality of the second vector of counts; and overlap analyzer circuitry to: determine a real root of the polynomial; and report generator circuitry to estimate a deduplicated audience size based on (i) the estimate of the quantity of the second subscribers that are duplicates of the first subscribers and (ii) the first and second cardinalities. The system includes communication circuitry to transmit a network communication to a third party entity, the second network communication including a report based on the deduplicated audience size.

A method of video playing is provided. An implementation solution is: obtaining a video playing address list from a video management server, where the video playing address list includes playing links of real-time video streams of a plurality of monitoring cameras; obtaining the real-time video streams of the plurality of monitoring cameras from the video management server according to the video playing address list so as to be played on a screen; obtaining a historical video stream of at least one of the monitoring cameras from a video storage server so as to be played on the screen in response to detecting fault information which indicates that the real-time video stream of the at least one of the monitoring cameras cannot be played; and recording the fault information, where the fault information includes the playing link of the real-time video stream of the at least one of the monitoring cameras.

The present invention relates to systems and methods suitable for real-time streaming over a decentralized or centralized network. In the decentralized network, the present invention relates to a system and method that utilizes a block-chain distributed network to securely and reliably stream multimedia in real-time. In the centralized network, the present invention utilizes a centralized stream manager to manage nodes within the distributed network to securely and reliably stream multimedia in real-time.

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed to monitor on-demand media. Example apparatus disclosed herein include a metadata collection controller to collect metadata associated with on-demand media in response to publication of the on-demand media. Disclosed example apparatus also include a download controller to download the on-demand media. Disclosed example apparatus further include a signature generator to generate one or more signatures representative of the on-demand media, and store a profile of the on-demand media in a data storage, the profile including the one or more signatures and the metadata associated with the on-demand media.