B-frames, or bi-predictive frames, are a type of video compression frame used in various video compression standards, including MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and H.264. They are predicted using both preceding and following frames, making them more efficient in terms of compression compared to other types of frames such as I-frames and P-frames.
In a video stream, I-frames, also known as keyframes or intra-frames, contains all the information necessary to display a complete image. P-frames, or predicted frames, are encoded based on the differences between the current frame and the previous I-frame or P-frame. B-frames are also predicted, but they are encoded based on differences between the current frame and both preceding and following I-frames or P-frames.
By using both preceding and following frames for prediction, B-frames can achieve a higher degree of compression than other frame types, as they can take advantage of temporal redundancies in the video stream. However, this higher compression comes at the cost of increased encoding complexity, as the encoder needs to consider more reference frames when predicting B-frames.
It is possible to enable 2 B-frame streaming with 5centsCDN. Consider this example and implement it for 2 B-frame streaming.
If your output is, let’s say, 1.2 Mbps that falls under the SD profile, we recommend you to take the HD transcoding profile. 2 B-frames generally consume twice or thrice the resources for the streams, so moving forward with the current (SD Profile) will not be a viable solution as you might face delays in the stream.
We recommend the following for your stream in 2 B-frames:
-> 1 to 3 Mb/s > HD Transcoding Profile
-> Above 3 Mb/s > UHD Transcoding Profile