

- REDUCE THE BANDWITH FOR SKYPE IN MAC MAC OS X
- REDUCE THE BANDWITH FOR SKYPE IN MAC SOFTWARE
- REDUCE THE BANDWITH FOR SKYPE IN MAC WINDOWS
This is a software codec no hardware acceleration is available. In addition to H.264, Skype for Business also supports the previous generation Microsoft-proprietary RT-Video codec.
REDUCE THE BANDWITH FOR SKYPE IN MAC MAC OS X
H.264 hardware acceleration is not currently used on Apple Mac OS X devices as these offer higher end processing speeds. On the HDX Ready Pi, onboard encoding is performed using the Broadcom chip, but outboard hardware encoding is not supported. On Linux devices, the RTME supports outboard encoding but does not offer support for onboard encoding.
REDUCE THE BANDWITH FOR SKYPE IN MAC WINDOWS
On Windows devices, the RTME supports both onboard and outboard hardware encoding. The RTOP can also leverage outboard hardware encoding in UVC 1.1/1.5 compliant webcams (e.g. Onboard H.264 hardware encoding leverages the chipset of the user device. With hardware encoding, HD video (720p or 1080p) can be achieved even with the less expensive CPUs typically found on thin clients. Hardware encoding of H.264 is especially valuable for reducing CPU requirements. HDX RTOP 2.2 introduced H.264 hardware acceleration. User Device The capabilities of the user device have a major bearing on the video quality that it can support.

This feature minimizes network and CPU load without sacrificing quality. HDX RealTime Optimization Pack 2.3 introduced an equivalent capability, whereby the RealTime Media Engine requests video resolution based on the size of the user’s video window. The native Skype for Business client requests a video resolution based on the size of the video window on the user’s screen. Consequently, the lowest video quality negotiated by a participant to the video conference dictated the video quality for all participants. HDX RealTime Optimization Pack 2.2.x (and below) supported only a single video stream (unicast). These factors include the endpoint capabilities, bandwidth availability, and decoding/encoding capabilities. There are many factors that determine the number of video streams and their resolution, frame rate, and bit rate. Simulcast allows endpoints to send more than one video stream at a time, if more than one resolution is requested for incoming Video Source Requests. HDX RealTime Optimization Pack 2.3 introduced support for Simulcast Video (multiple concurrent video streams). Likewise, native Skype for Business clients running outside of the Citrix XenApp or XenDesktop environment negotiate video quality. Pexip, Cisco) which may also be used in Skype for Business implementations, the Microsoft A-V Conferencing Server does not perform transcoding.ĭuring a video conference call, the HDX RealTime Media Engine on each device negotiates video quality with the Skype for Business A-V Conferencing Server. Unlike MCUs from some other vendors (e.g. The Skype for Business A-V Conferencing Server is a media relay bridge. Most Skype for Business customers use the Microsoft-provided Audio-Video Conferencing Server as their conference bridge (also known as a multipoint control unit ). Simulcast Video versus Lowest Common Denominator Video The video resolutions supported by other participants in a conference call.Policy settings on the Skype for Business server.The network (bandwidth and packet loss).CPU and ability to accelerate H.264 in onboard hardware) The capabilities of the user’s device (e.g.The key factors affecting video quality in optimized mode are:

If there is no HDX RTME on the user device, the solution provides for fallback to server-side media processing and audio-video delivery over ICA using Citrix-developed and supported technologies. In optimized mode, media processing is performed by the HDX RealTime Media Engine (RTME), a Citrix Receiver plug-in that runs on the user device. The joint solution consists of (1) updated versions of the Skype for Business client that include the Media Manager API and (2) the Citrix HDX RealTime Optimization Pack (RTOP) 2.x for Skype for Business. This article provides an overview of the primary factors that affect video quality when using a XenApp-hosted or XenDesktop-hosted Skype for Business client.Ĭitrix and Microsoft co-developed a solution that optimizes the delivery of Skype for Business from XenApp and XenDesktop by redirecting audio-video processing to the user device whenever possible and delivering audio-video traffic out-of-band from the Citrix ICA protocol so that it does not “hairpin” through the XenApp or XenDesktop server.
