For our virtual conferences, we prefer to use Streamyard as the platform for the video call. Streamyard is a browser-based software, which means that speakers don’t need to download a separate app but can simply open the link in the browser.
Advantages of Streamyard over traditional video call providers such as Zoom, WebEx, MS Teams, etc.
The probably biggest advantages to Streamyard are:
1) Streamyard broadcasts the video call in FullHD and thus shows the participants, as well as recorded presentations and videos in very good quality.
2) If the browser / computer / internet of the host crashes, the call and live stream will not be canceled.
Reasons why Streamyard should be used instead of traditional video call apps:
a) ZOOM, MS Teams, etc. are not particularly good software in terms of connection stability and image quality.
b) Furthermore, they were not built for live-streaming, but as a video call app. Trying to integrate them into live-streaming setups is difficult. Because a lot of things that make sense for a video call in the user interface would be counterproductive for a live stream.
c) But the main problem is that the Zoom app runs on a local laptop / PC. All connected persons in the call pull on the processor load of the local computer and additionally load the local Internet line, since all data of the call first flow to this computer and must be processed there. Even modern high-performance computers are often heavily loaded with a ZOOM call.
Contrast this with our approach via Streamyard:
a) Streamyard was developed from the beginning as a production environment for live-streaming. The user interface will therefore never be seen in the live stream.
b) Streamyard itself runs directly in the cloud and not on our “local” computers. Even if our local access to the Streamyard cloud should crash or break (e.g. if our internet fails), the stream just keeps running.
c) Our local Internet line does not influence the image quality of the connected people.
d) The picture quality at Streamyard is in Full HD, which Zoom, for example, does not even support. There, 720p is the maximum transmission quality.
