Patent attributes
Embodiments provide for improved stream generation are provided. A video comprising a plurality of segments and an encoding ladder specifying a plurality of maximum average bitrates (MABs) are received. A plurality of intermediate bitrates interspersed among the plurality of MABs are selected. A target average bitrate (TAB) segment is generated by encoding a first segment using a first MAB, and a first intermediate average bitrate (IAB) segment is generated by encoding the first segment using a first intermediate bitrate. Quality scores are generated for the first TAB segment and the first IAB segment. A first output segment is selected for the first segment at the first MAB based on the quality scores, where the first output segment is either the first TAB segment or the first IAB segment. Upon receiving a request for the first segment at the first MAB, the first output segment is outputted.
