Not every viewer has a fast connection. Someone watching on a phone in a café or on hotel wifi can't always keep up with the full size file you uploaded, so the video stops to buffer. On the Standard and Premium plans, Vidreno takes care of this for you by creating several lower resolution versions of each video and letting the player pick the one that plays smoothly for each viewer.
What adaptive quality means
When a video has adaptive quality versions, the player doesn't send everyone the same file. It looks at the viewer's connection and screen, starts with a version that will play straight away, and moves up or down as conditions change. A viewer on fast home broadband gets the sharpest version. A viewer on patchy mobile data drops to a lighter one instead of staring at a loading spinner. The technique is called adaptive bitrate streaming, and it's what the big streaming services use too.
Your original file is never changed. The versions sit alongside it, and the player uses them for playback only.
Which plans include it
| Plan | Adaptive quality | What viewers get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | No | The original file, exactly as you uploaded it |
| Standard | Yes | The version that suits their device and connection |
| Premium | Yes | The version that suits their device and connection |
It's part of the plan price. There's nothing to switch on and nothing extra to pay. If you're on Free, Choosing the right plan for you shows what you'd get by upgrading.
What happens when you upload
On a paid plan, the conversion starts on its own the moment an upload finishes:
- The video is live straight away and plays at its original quality while the versions are created in the background.
- Versions are only created for files of about 50 MB and above. Smaller files gain very little from extra versions, so they simply play as uploaded.
- Once the versions are ready, the player uses them from the next time the page loads. Anyone already part way through the video carries on with the original.
How long the conversion takes depends on the length of the video and how busy things are: a few minutes for a short clip, longer for a long or very large file. It all happens on our side, so you don't need to keep the tab open.
The notices on your video page
Only you see these. They appear above the player when you open one of your own videos.
| Notice | What it means |
|---|---|
| Creating quality versions… with a percentage | The versions are being made. The video keeps playing at its original quality until they're ready. |
| Adaptive quality versions ready | Done. The notice lists the resolutions viewers can now receive, for example 1080p, 720p, 480p and 360p. |
| Quality versions couldn't be created, this video plays at original quality | The conversion didn't work for this file. The video still plays normally from the original, and nothing else is needed. If it's a very large file, the notice repeats our size advice. |
| Quality versions available | The video was uploaded before your plan included adaptive quality, so it has no versions yet. Use the Create quality versions button to make them. |
In your Hosted Videos library, each card shows a small spinning icon next to the file size while that video's versions are being created, and a sparkle once they're ready. You can close a notice with the X; it comes back the next time you open the page until the state changes.
What viewers see
The player picks a quality on its own. It starts on a setting called Auto, which is the right choice for almost everyone.
- On Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Android browsers, a cog icon in the player controls opens a quality menu. It shows Auto, with the resolution currently playing in brackets, plus each available resolution so a viewer can pin one if they prefer.
- Safari on a Mac, and every browser on an iPhone or iPad, choose the quality automatically and show no menu. That's how those devices handle adaptive video, and it works just as well.
- If adaptive playback runs into a problem part way through, the player quietly switches to the original file and carries on from the same spot.
This applies wherever the video plays: the share link, the direct player link and the embed code on your own website. See Embedding a video on your website.
Videos you uploaded before upgrading
We never convert existing videos without asking. After you move to Standard or Premium, the Dashboard and the Hosted Videos page show a prompt that reads "Your plan includes adaptive quality versions" along with how many of your videos don't have them yet. You have two choices:
- Create quality versions converts every eligible video, newest first. Each one keeps playing at its original quality until its own versions are ready.
- Not now hides the prompt. It only comes back if more videos without versions turn up later.
Prefer to do it one video at a time? Open a video and use the Create quality versions button in the notice above the player.
If you move to Free or a payment fails
- Moving to Free: viewers get your original file again from the next page load. The versions aren't deleted. They're kept, and they come back the moment your account is on a paid plan again, with no conversion to wait for.
- A failed payment: nothing changes during the grace window. If the payment still hasn't gone through when the window ends, your videos are disabled until it does, and they come back together with their quality versions as soon as you pay. See What happens when a payment fails.
Storage, bandwidth and your original file
- Quality versions don't count toward your storage allowance. Only the original file does, as before. See Storage limits and quota warnings.
- Playback of the versions counts toward your monthly bandwidth exactly as playback of the original does. It's the bytes viewers actually watch that count, whichever version they receive.
- Deleting a video removes its versions along with the original. See Deleting a video.
- Your original file is always kept exactly as you uploaded it, and it's the file you get when you take a video back out of Vidreno.