The Multi- Encoding Announcement from CES: A Big Deal for Twitch Streamers

As I sit here watching the live stream from CES, my heart is racing with excitement. The multi-encoding announcement from Twitch is a game-changer for all tiers of streamers on the platform. Partners already get guaranteed transcodes, but this new feature brings several benefits to all streamers. Firstly, Twitch servers will be updating to accept AV1 and HVC encoding, or at least experimenting with it in their beta for an eventual wide rollout. This means that streamers will have access to higher quality streams without the need for a high-end computer.

The implications of this announcement are enormous. For those who don't know what multi-encoding means, it's simple: you'll be able to send multiple versions of your stream out of OBS (Open Broadcasting Software) into Twitch, with different qualities. Think of it as having the ability to offer a high-quality and low-quality version of your stream at the same time. This is especially useful for streamers who want to cater to different audience segments.

For instance, if you're streaming in 4K but know that not all viewers can handle that level of quality, you can now offer a lower-bandwidth version of your stream that's suitable for slower internet connections. Similarly, if you're using a powerful computer and want to show off its capabilities, you can send out a higher-quality version of your stream without worrying about the technical limitations of your equipment.

The only downside to this announcement is the increased internet upload speed required to handle sending multiple encodes out. Twitch hasn't settled on a new hard cap yet, but it's expected to be around 10-15 megabits per second. This means that streamers will need to have faster internet connections to take full advantage of this feature.

I'm also curious about the potential for using multi-encoding to send two completely different streams to the same channel and using a quality selector to switch between them. Think sub-channels like 1.1 or 1.2, where you can offer multiple versions of your stream at different quality levels. This could be especially useful for podcast streams, with separate channels for each episode and different qualities to suit different audience segments.

Unfortunately, not all viewers will have access to this feature out of the gate. Affiliates don't get guaranteed transcoding, which means they'll need to rely on Twitch's beta testing phase to get access to multi-encoding. Non-affiliates also won't be able to take full advantage of this feature unless their internet upload speed is fast enough.

Despite the limitations, I'm thrilled about this announcement and can't wait to see how it develops. The potential for streamers to offer higher quality streams without breaking the bank or requiring expensive equipment is enormous. And with the growing popularity of Twitch, this feature could be a game-changer for the platform as a whole.

The tech industry has been flooded with layoffs in recent times, and it's unfortunate that Twitch is no exception. The company has been a losing arm of Amazon since its acquisition, and while it makes sense to cut costs, it's still sad to see so many people affected by these cuts. My heart goes out to all the streamers who will be impacted by this news, and I hope they find themselves back on their feet soon.

On a related note, CES has been rolling on without me, as usual. There were some interesting announcements about graphics cards and CPUs, but nothing that really caught my attention. As someone who's pretty picky when it comes to what I want to talk about in videos coming out of CES, there was just too much noise for me to sift through.

However, if you're interested in learning more about the latest developments in PC hardware and streaming, be sure to check out my stream on Fridays at 8:00 p.m. Pacific. We'll be discussing all things CES and covering the latest news and trends in the industry. And as always, links to the latest streams will be down in the description below.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhas the multi- encoding announcement twitch made from CES this week got you excited was any of the excitement stifled by the additional announcement that twitch is laying off around 500 employees it's CES week in Las Vegas and while I'd love to be there I still have a day job I need to work to make a living you think after doing Tech YouTube for8 years things would be better but nope anyways let's talk about this twitch news twitch's announcement about multi- encoding is a big deal for all tiers of streamers on Twitch sure Partners already get guaranteed trans codes but other benefits includes twitch servers updating to accept av1 and hvvc encoding or at least experimenting with it in their beta for all this to work on an eventual wide rollout regardless av1 and HC encoding mean higher quality streams for Less upload balwi it also means the ability to make 1440p and 4K streams actually look decent people will tell you that Affiliates also get transcoding but it isn't guaranteed it's ultimately up to Twitch whether any specific time you hit start start streaming in OBS will get you transcoding and non-affiliates don't get this chance at all twitch is throwing everyone a bone here with this multi- encoding announcement this will enable you to further leverage your graphics cards and coding Hardware which most modern gpus from Nidia since 2014 and Radeon since 2016 all support what multi- encoding means is that you'll be able to send multiples of your streams out of OBS into twitch all that different qualities think of it as having the ability to now offer a highquality and lowquality version of your stream I watch streams on mobile all the time if a streamer doesn't have transcoding then I tend to get a lot of buffering so if a streamer to offer me a lowquality AKA lower bandwidth stream that's what I'd switch to on my phone or I'd also just switch to that if I had slow internet at home you can't be mad at options like this especially when twitch didn't need to do anything like this if they simply announced av1 and hvvc inj support everybody would be happy the only downside is your internet upload speed will need to be up to Snuff to handle sending multiple encodes out that means three streams at 5 megabits per second with total a need of 15 Megs of upload twitch hasn't settled on a new hard cap but don't expect them to go much past 10 to 15 megabits sure with av1 and hvc you won't need as much uh bit rate in order to get a good quality stream but still all that said I do wonder if there would be a way to utilize multi- encoding to send two completely different streams to the same channel and use a quality selector to switch between streams think sub channels like one 1.1 1.2 stuff like that I could see this being useful for say podcast streams our wives are behind the scene if you guys didn't know that already we have wives or streams with multiple angles or presenters by the way we have a podcast if you didn't know Link in description okay now the bad news twitch is laying off about 500 people the tech industry has been flushed with layoffs in recent times and to be honest it's crazy that twitch held out this long especially considering they've been a losing arm of Amazon ever since they were acquired and before that even as a business decision it makes sense which is obviously unfortunate for everyone affected so my heart goes out to all of you and I hope you all find yourselves back on your feet sooner rather than later anyways CES continues to roll on wish I was there if something else I find interesting in the PC hardware and streaming space gets announced you'll see me again so get subscribed there some graphics cards and CPUs were announced but nothing groundbreaking in my opinion I'm pretty picky when it comes to what I'd like to talk about for videos that comes out of CES cuz there's just so much anyways come to my stream and let's talk more CES tech there I'm live every Friday at 8:00 p.m. Pacific at twitch.tv/ Coalition Chris links down in the description see you guys laterhas the multi- encoding announcement twitch made from CES this week got you excited was any of the excitement stifled by the additional announcement that twitch is laying off around 500 employees it's CES week in Las Vegas and while I'd love to be there I still have a day job I need to work to make a living you think after doing Tech YouTube for8 years things would be better but nope anyways let's talk about this twitch news twitch's announcement about multi- encoding is a big deal for all tiers of streamers on Twitch sure Partners already get guaranteed trans codes but other benefits includes twitch servers updating to accept av1 and hvvc encoding or at least experimenting with it in their beta for all this to work on an eventual wide rollout regardless av1 and HC encoding mean higher quality streams for Less upload balwi it also means the ability to make 1440p and 4K streams actually look decent people will tell you that Affiliates also get transcoding but it isn't guaranteed it's ultimately up to Twitch whether any specific time you hit start start streaming in OBS will get you transcoding and non-affiliates don't get this chance at all twitch is throwing everyone a bone here with this multi- encoding announcement this will enable you to further leverage your graphics cards and coding Hardware which most modern gpus from Nidia since 2014 and Radeon since 2016 all support what multi- encoding means is that you'll be able to send multiples of your streams out of OBS into twitch all that different qualities think of it as having the ability to now offer a highquality and lowquality version of your stream I watch streams on mobile all the time if a streamer doesn't have transcoding then I tend to get a lot of buffering so if a streamer to offer me a lowquality AKA lower bandwidth stream that's what I'd switch to on my phone or I'd also just switch to that if I had slow internet at home you can't be mad at options like this especially when twitch didn't need to do anything like this if they simply announced av1 and hvvc inj support everybody would be happy the only downside is your internet upload speed will need to be up to Snuff to handle sending multiple encodes out that means three streams at 5 megabits per second with total a need of 15 Megs of upload twitch hasn't settled on a new hard cap but don't expect them to go much past 10 to 15 megabits sure with av1 and hvc you won't need as much uh bit rate in order to get a good quality stream but still all that said I do wonder if there would be a way to utilize multi- encoding to send two completely different streams to the same channel and use a quality selector to switch between streams think sub channels like one 1.1 1.2 stuff like that I could see this being useful for say podcast streams our wives are behind the scene if you guys didn't know that already we have wives or streams with multiple angles or presenters by the way we have a podcast if you didn't know Link in description okay now the bad news twitch is laying off about 500 people the tech industry has been flushed with layoffs in recent times and to be honest it's crazy that twitch held out this long especially considering they've been a losing arm of Amazon ever since they were acquired and before that even as a business decision it makes sense which is obviously unfortunate for everyone affected so my heart goes out to all of you and I hope you all find yourselves back on your feet sooner rather than later anyways CES continues to roll on wish I was there if something else I find interesting in the PC hardware and streaming space gets announced you'll see me again so get subscribed there some graphics cards and CPUs were announced but nothing groundbreaking in my opinion I'm pretty picky when it comes to what I'd like to talk about for videos that comes out of CES cuz there's just so much anyways come to my stream and let's talk more CES tech there I'm live every Friday at 8:00 p.m. Pacific at twitch.tv/ Coalition Chris links down in the description see you guys later\n"