This Vid Proxy Better |work|

Draft paper — "This Vid Proxy Better"

Abstract
This paper evaluates "This Vid Proxy Better" (TVPB), a lightweight video-proxy architecture designed to improve video delivery quality and privacy for end users. We introduce TVPB’s goals, describe its system design, analyze performance and privacy trade-offs, and present experimental results comparing TVPB to direct streaming and common CDN-assisted delivery. Results show TVPB reduces bandwidth consumption at the client, lowers visible buffering events, and offers measurable privacy improvements with modest server-side overhead.

Low-Resolution Transcoding: Automatically creates smaller versions of your 4K clips (e.g., 1/16th resolution) for smooth playback. this vid proxy better

• True HD Passthrough: Unlike standard proxies that compress or downgrade video streams to save bandwidth, this proxy preserves the integrity of your source material. What goes in is exactly what comes out.
• Ultra-Low Latency: Engineered specifically for high-throughput video data, this proxy minimizes the round-trip time. Whether you are live streaming or managing a VOD library, the delay is virtually non-existent.
• Smart Caching Mechanisms: It doesn't just fetch; it anticipates. By utilizing advanced caching algorithms tailored for video containers (MP4, MKV, HLS), it reduces server load and ensures instant playback for end-users.
• Seamless Integration: Built to handle the nuances of HTTP/2 and WebSockets, it handles the complex handshake of video protocols better than generic web proxies.

• Transparent proxying for HLS/DASH with manifest rewriting to route segment URIs to TVPB.
• Support for encrypted segments and DRM: pass-through of encrypted segments, maintain correct initialization segments and license flows by relaying license requests where permitted.
• TLS considerations: operate with upstream TLS termination only when allowed by policy; otherwise route via CONNECT-style tunneling preserving end-to-end encryption for content.