DApp Review – Featured Content – LivePeer for Live Video Broadcasting (Task 12)

https://github.com/livepeer/go-livepeer

The coming of the YouTube platform has changed quite a lot of things for a whole lot of people; business owners, employees, employers, news outlets, blog owners and others. With the advent of this platform, sharing of videos have become easier than ever. And as you may know, Video contents are better easily consumed than articles and blog posts.

However, what do you think the problem with YouTube could be? Centralization of power and resources, and the obvious lack of decentralization. What does this mean for users of the platform? Ever been part of a Whatsapp Group before where the Admin kicked you out for complaining about his excesses? Been there, it was very painful because I wasn’t able to do sh*t about it.

That’s basically what could happen to you whilst using YouTube. Since power is centralized, anything could happen to your content. Once someone reports your content on Google, you could be banned entirely from using the platform without fair hearing from your own end?

So what can you do about this? First option, continue using Google’s YouTube with the hope that your content is never reported by anyone. This is cool and as long as you stay within your little shell, you may never experience YouTube’s hammer. Your other option? Take the bull by the horn, take your destiny in your hands and push your content out on LivePeer, a decentralized Video Broadcasting network.

Your possible benefits? All the advantages that come with use of the platform and LivePeer tokens. In the course of this article, we shall be looking at the LivePeer Network and how users can take advantage of it to serve customers better, while earning in the process.

Using the LivePeer Network

To begin using the LivePeer platform, you will need to first visit its website. You can access this website by going through the app’s page on the State of the Dapps Website - https://www.stateofthedapps.com/dapps/livepeer. You can also go straight to the website by clicking on the link - https://livepeer.org/.

Who are the Possible users of LivePeer

• Developers of Applications that require Video

If you are a developer and you develop videos for your project or those of others, then you are among the class of people that can use LivePeer. You will need to sign up with the link that asks you to sign up as a developer.

• Transcoders

LivePeer can also be used by those who wish to work as Transcoders. What transcoders do is to convert a video from one format and bitrate to different formats and bitrates. The aim of this process is to make it available and playable on a large number of devices all over the world. For these group of people, they need to have good bandwidth connections as their roles are very important ones.

To register, follow the link as shown on the image below to read the steps on how to register on the platform. Once you are done with that, you are now ready to start transcoding videos into different formats.

• Contributors to the Network

You can equally help grow the LivePeer network by contributing considerably to the LivePeer open source code either as a developer or contributor to open source. If you are good in coding, you can go to the platform’s github page and begin contributing your quota towards the growth of the platform.

• LivePeer Token Holders

As a holder of the LivePeer Tokens, you are not left out in the scheme of things as you are also eligible to participate on the platform. If you wish to be a token holder, you can purchase the LivePeer Tokens. There is a link on the website from where you can easily get your tokens.

Now, there is what is known as bonding and delegating. This is the process of bonding your tokens to a transcoder. The transcoder then goes on to do his own job of transcoding files and earns tokens and fees in the process which is then shared with you.

With this, your total stake in the network grows as the transcoder you bonded to continues to perform his task excellently. Unbonding is pretty easy and after a period known as the unbonding period, you gain access to your LivePeer token which you can sell or exchange for other tokens.

Any Pros for LivePeer?

• LivePeer is highly scalable

With the LivePeer network, users of the platform, both video creators and end users can get to scale videos to any sizes of their choices, thus fitting in properly to their device. Users of the LivePeer network can be sure that all videos transcoded on the platform will remain of great quality, while being delivered efficiently to end users all over the world.

• LivePeer is Decentralized

No one company owns the LivePeer network. All users who own a share of the LivePeer tokens on the network have a say in what happens on the platform. Their decisions are weighty enough to shape the running of the platform. This is unlike other centralized video platforms where users have little or no say in the running of things.

• LivePeer is Open Source

The LivePeer network has been built to be an open source app with its codes being housed on its repository on the GitHub platform. A link to the platform has been added above for your viewing. With the open source nature of this platform, you can scrutinize their codes to be sure of what you are getting into.

In addition to that, developers can shape the platform the way they would want it to be by contributing to the codes on Github. This way, everyone decides and their voices heard as well.

• Live Peer is practically cheap to use

The LivePeer platform has been built to be quite cheap to use. With LPT which you can exchange for ETH, you can begin using the platform. Earnings from activities on the network can also be used on the platform as well.

Cons? Yeah. Just One!!

• Too Technical

I don’t know if it’s just me but I think the LivePeer network is just too technical to use and understand. You may need to read through heaps of FAQs and documentations before you can get a grasp of certain things you need to do.

Any possible suggestions/improvements?

For now, I have none. I would like to see how far the network goes before giving suggestions. All I can say is, there is a big need to simplify the network so that non-technically inclined users can also get to easily understand and use the platform.

Conclusion and Rating of the LivePeer DApp

The LivePeer Dapp is one that has been created to solve a lot for video developers, transcoders and users while earning tokes in the process. I rate it 3 stars out of 5.

Important Links

LivePeer’s website - The LivePeer Website
LivePeer’s Page on State of the DApps - LivePeer on SotD
LivePeer’s Docs Page - Livepeer’s Documentations

Disclaimer

This is not financial advice. Endeavor to carry out your own research prior to investing in cryptocurrencies or any digital asset. This article is written for sheer knowledge and entertainment only.

All images are screenshots from the LivePeer's website.