Using Stream Prioritization

[The feature associated with this page, Windows Media Format 11 SDK, is a legacy feature. It has been superseded by Source Reader and Sink Writer. Source Reader and Sink Writer have been optimized for Windows 10 and Windows 11. Microsoft strongly recommends that new code use Source Reader and Sink Writer instead of Windows Media Format 11 SDK, when possible. Microsoft suggests that existing code that uses the legacy APIs be rewritten to use the new APIs if possible.]

Stream prioritization enables you to have more control over the playback of content by allowing you to specify priority order for the streams in a profile. When the reader and streaming server encounter a bandwidth shortage during playback, samples may have to be dropped to provide uninterrupted playback. If you specify a priority order with a stream prioritization object in the profile, samples will be dropped from the lowest priority streams first.

Unlike bandwidth sharing and mutual exclusion objects, a stream prioritization object does not use the IWMStreamList interface to keep track of the list of streams. Instead, you must use an array of WM_STREAM_PRIORITY_RECORD structures. The structures must be organized in the array in descending order of priority. In addition to holding a stream number, the stream priority structure also enables you to specify whether a stream is mandatory. Mandatory streams will not be dropped, regardless of their position in the list.

The following example code shows how to include a stream prioritization in a profile. This profile is for a classroom presentation, with an audio stream of the lecturer speaking, a video stream of the lecturer, and a video stream capturing the presentation slides. The audio stream is the most important and will be mandatory. The presentation slides will have the lowest priority because the image will be pretty constant, so a few frames lost here and there won't make much difference.

IWMProfileManager*       pProfileMgr = NULL;
IWMProfile*              pProfileTmp = NULL;
IWMProfile3*             pProfile    = NULL;
IWMStreamPrioritization* pPriority   = NULL;

WM_STREAM_PRIORITY_RECORD StreamArray[3];
HRESULT hr = S_OK;

// Initialize COM.
hr = CoInitialize(NULL);

// Create a profile manager object.
hr = WMCreateProfileManager(&pProfileMgr);

// Create an empty profile.
hr = pProfileMgr->CreateEmptyProfile(WMT_VER_9_0, &pProfileTmp)

// Get the IWMProfile3 for the new profile, then release the old one.
hr = pProfileTmp->QueryInterface(IID_IWMProfile3, (void**)&pProfile);
pProfileTmp->Release();
pProfileTmp = NULL;

// Give the new profile a name and description.
hr = pProfile->SetName(L"Prioritization_Example");
hr = pProfile->SetDescription(L"Only for use with example code.");

// Create the first stream.
hr = pProfile->CreateNewStream(WMMEDIATYPE_Audio, &pStream);

// TODO: configure the stream as needed for the scenario.

// Set the stream number.
hr = pStream->SetStreamNumber(1);

// Give the stream a name for clarity.
hr = pStream->SetStreamName(L"Lecturer_Audio");

// Include the new stream in the profile.
hr = pProfile->AddStream(pStream);

// Release the stream configuration interface.
pStream->Release();
pStream = NULL;

// Repeat for the other two streams.
hr = pProfile->CreateNewStream(WMMEDIATYPE_Video, &pStream);

// TODO: configure the stream as needed for the scenario.
hr = pStream->SetStreamNumber(2);
hr = pStream->SetStreamName(L"Lecturer_Video");
hr = pProfile->AddStream(pStream);
pStream->Release();
pStream = NULL;

hr = pProfile->CreateNewStream(WMMEDIATYPE_Video, &pStream);

// TODO: configure the stream as needed for the scenario.
hr = pStream->SetStreamNumber(3);
hr = pStream->SetStreamName(L"Slide_Video");
hr = pProfile->AddStream(pStream);
pStream->Release();
pStream = NULL;

// Create a stream prioritization object.
hr = pProfile->CreateNewStreamPrioritization(&pPriority);

// Fill the array with data.
StreamArray[0].wStreamNum = 1;
StreamArray[0].fMandatory = TRUE;

StreamArray[1].wStreamNum = 2;
StreamArray[1].fMandatory = FALSE;

StreamArray[2].wStreamNum = 3;
StreamArray[2].fMandatory = FALSE;

// Assign the stream array to the stream prioritization object.
hr = pPriority->SetPriorityRecords(StreamArray, 3);

// Add the stream prioritization to the profile.
hr = pProfile->SetStreamPrioritization(pPriority);

// Release the stream prioritization object.
pPriority->Release();
pPriority = NULL;

// TODO: Save the profile to a string, and save the string to a file.
// For more information, see To Save a Custom Profile.

// Release the remaining interfaces.
pProfile->Release();
pProfile = NULL;

pProfileMgr->Release();
pProfileMgr = NULL;

Related topics

Working with Profiles