One of the cool features we rolled out out in our last major Warpwire upgrade is an option for progressive download. This work has grown out of our involvement with Duke global programs, such as our campus at Duke Kunshan University. Specifically, we’ve noted that in situations that combine low bandwidth with high network latency, we can reduce video buffering and significantly improve the end user experience by delivering the files via progressive download rather than the standard HTTP Live delivery method Warpwire currently uses by default.
We’ve updated our Warpwire FAQ (https://duke.service-now.com/kb_view.do?sysparm_article=KB0017639) to reflect this new capability as well as to include minimum technical requirements for using Warpwire. I’ve clipped the relevant info below:
What are the minimum technical requirements for using Warpwire?
- Viewing videos at 360p requires 1.0 Megabit per second
- Viewing videos at 480p (SD quality) requires 3.0 Megabits per second
- Viewing videos at 720p (HD quality) requires 5.0 Megabits per seconds
Test your network speed and latency (“ping”) here: http://www.speedtest.net/)
My Warpwire videos keep buffering. What can I do to improve performance?
If your videos keep buffering (i.e., showing three moving dots on top of the video), test your network connection for bandwidth and latency via http://www.speedtest.net/). If your bandwidth and/or latency are close to our minimum recommended thresholds, switching the media libraries to Progressive Download may help. To do that, contact the OIT Service Desk (oit.duke.edu/help) if you own the Media Library or Libraries containing the problem files and provide the name and URL of the Libraries in question. If you are not the owner, contact that person (the person who shared the files with you) and request that they contact the OIT Service Desk to switch to Progressive Download or make other arrangements to share the file/s with you.
