Video Streaming Protocol– Everything You Must Know In 2021

Video streaming is a popular term today which has a new technology whether in entertainment, e-commerce, or education. Today, you can share a video with millions of viewers around the world with just a few clicks on your computer or phone. How is it po…


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by hermoni versa

Video streaming is a popular term today which has a new technology whether in entertainment, e-commerce, or education. Today, you can share a video with millions of viewers around the world with just a few clicks on your computer or phone. How is it possible? Video streaming protocols allow you to stream and deliver videos to your device. What are Video Streaming Protocols? How do I select an appropriate video streaming protocol? What video streaming protocols are commonly used? Read on, as we talk about them in this guide.

Are you eager to dive into video streaming protocols?

To better understand how to use video efficiently, it's essential to apprehend what number of protocols are affecting video streaming. So let's get into that.

But first ... The easy definition of the streaming protocol is a set of rules that determines how information is transferred over the net irrespective of the type of streaming, audio or video.

Rather, a video streaming protocol is a standardized approach for handing over video content material to users. In the case of video, the stream is split down into small portions and transmitted to the receiving end, reassembled in a single portion and fed to the user.

When selecting the high-quality video streaming protocol for your use case, it’s essential to contemplate the following elements:

  1. Scalability
  2. Kind of use
  3. Support and compatibility
  4. Codec requirements
  5. Latency
  6. Quality of experience (adaptive bitrate features, etc.) Playback support

By keeping in mind the elements above, companies can select applicable video streaming protocols based on their needs.
Now that you get a better idea of the purpose of video streaming protocols, then, let us discuss a list of the most common protocols for video streaming today.

The Different Types of Video Streaming Protocols

All protocols serve their purpose and vary in terms of elements like latency and compatibility.

Legacy Protocols

Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP)

RTMP remains the most-used protocol. It is developed by Macromedia and acquired by Adobe in 2005. It keeps a persistent, strong connection and permits low-latency communication. This universally standard protocol is designed to keep low latency connections by transmitting video and audio records in small packets. However, this protocol evolved typically to work with the Flash player. Also, RTMP is supported by most streaming platforms and software due to the legacy factor.

Specifications:

  • Video Codecs:264, VP6, VP8
  • Audio Codecs: AAC, AAC-LC, MP3,HE-AAC+ v1 & v2, Speex,Opus, Vorbis

Pros:

  • Low latency (approximately 5 seconds)
  • No buffering required
  • Multicast support
  • Extensive platform support

Cons:

  • Scalability is low
  • Not optimized for quality
  • Due to the death of Flash, it Will eventually become obsolete
  • Low security

RTSP – Real-Time Streaming Protocol

RTSP is famous for communication and entertainment systems. Its low latency additionally makes it famous for surveillance systems, drone streaming and different IoT devices as well.

RTSP permits viewers to remotely pause, play, and stop video streams through the Internet without the need for local downloads. RTSP was most substantially used by RealNetworks Real Player and continues to be being implemented for various uses such as remote camera streams, online education and net radio. RTSP requires a devoted server for streaming.

Specifications:

  • Video Codecs:265 (preview), H.264, VP9, VP8
  • Audio Codecs: AAC, AAC-LC,MP3, HE-AAC+ v1 & v2, Speex, Vorbis,Opus

Pros:

  • Low latency (approximately 2 seconds)
  • Popular among IP cameras and surveillance systems

Cons:

  • Scalability is low
  • Not optimized for quality
  • Dependent on other protocols (RTP & RTCP)
  • Not commonly supported with many devices
  • HTTP Based Protocols

HLS – HTTP Live Streaming

HLS is an adaptive bitrate streaming protocol from Apple launched in 2009 to solve the problems of efficient live video and VOD delivery to viewers’ devices, especially Apple devices. HLS content material is delivered from an internet server (or starting place server) and frequently via a CDN before it reaches a video participant. As an adaptive bitrate protocol, the video participant appears for adjustments in the bandwidth conditions and if there are fluctuations, it could seamlessly transfer to the ABR profile quality ideal at that given moment. HLS video streaming is well-matched with an extensive majority of devices and HTML5 players. The death of Flash has made maximum users transfer to HTML5 players, that's the primary reason for its extended popularity. As an Apple technology, HLS is the primary delivery protocol for iOS devices.

Specifications:

  • Video Codecs:265, H.264
  • Audio Codecs: AAC-LC, xHE-AAC,HE-AAC+ v1 & v2, Apple Lossless, FLAC

Pros:

  • High scalability
  • High quality *Widely popular and supported *Adaptive bitrate streaming

Cons:

*High latency with quality prioritized

  • MPEG-DASH – Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP
  • MPEG-DASH was advanced by the Moving Pictures Expert Group (MPEG), a global authority on digital audio and video standards, to supply video and audio to devices over net servers in the use of the DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) protocol.

An open-supply option, it may be custom designed to support any audio or video codec. It additionally presents adaptive bitrate streaming which is typically used to supply stay and on-call for video content material over the net to viewers.

MPEG-DASH is codec agnostic. In this manner, MPEG-DASH isn't limited to the use of H.264 or HEVC codecs however it can also support others consisting of VP8 or VP9 which might be high-quality for better quality broadcasts with lower bitrates. As an alternative ABR protocol to HLS, MPEG-DASH is extensively used on Android devices.

Specifications:

  • Video Codecs: codec-agnostic
  • Audio Codecs: codec-agnostic

Pros:

  • Open-source protocol
  • Codec-agnostic
  • Adaptive bitrate streaming
  • Optimized for user experience

Cons:

  • High latency
  • Not compatible with Apple software and devices
  • Modern Protocols

Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC)

WebRTC is an open-source standard for real-time communication developed by Google and standardized in January 2021, which is often used for video conferences. It is one of the newest new video streaming protocols with the fastest video and audio transmission capabilities of any protocol in existence today. Record and play video and audio without downloading and installing additional plug-ins. It is compatible with almost all modern browsers including Safari, Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, and others.

It supports the high-quality VP8 and VP9 (in addition to the old H 264) as well as the Opus audio codec. Soon, the protocol will be compatible with a new AV1 video codec. The protocol is expected to replace telephony and become the mainstay of communications services. WebRTC is that it turns millions of browsers into streaming terminals without installing additional plug-ins. Finally, the protocol uses adaptive bit rate technology that allows you to automatically adjust the video quality and avoid dropouts and interruptions.

Specifications:

Video Codecs:264, VP8, VP9(H.625 + AV1 in progress)
Audio Codecs: Opus, iSAC, iLBC

Pros:

  • Superfast
  • Browser-based protocol
  • No plugins needed
  • Sub-second latency
  • supported codecs

Cons:

  • Designed for video conferencing
  • Not scalable
  • Instability due to sub-second latency

Secure Reliable Transport (SRT)

This open-source protocol can offer excellent video streaming no matter the network conditions. This video streaming protocol has been identified as a competitive replacement for both RTMP and RTSP. It gives reliable stay video streaming with low latency over suboptimal networks. However, this protocol continues to be no longer extensively supported yet due to being a rising technology.

It is broadly considered to be an alternative to RTMP shortly. It permits you to stay-stream your content material over suboptimal networks. The developers state that SRT protects your stay videos from jitters, bandwidth fluctuation, and packet loss. Besides, this protocol is codec-agnostic, which means it supports any current audio and video codec.

Specifications:

Video Codecs: Any since it’s codec-agnostic
Audio Codecs: Any since it’s codec-agnostic

Pros:

  • High-quality video support
  • Low latency streaming over suboptimal networks
  • Stability
  • sub-second latency
  • strong codec support

Cons:

  • Not commonly supported with many devices
  • Weak platform support
  • No playback

Conclusion

Finally, We have reviewed the most famous live-streaming protocols, which are RTMP, RTSP, HLS, MPEG-DASH, WebRTC, and SRT. Each has its pros and cons, which means you may use any protocol depending on your needs. I hope this blog will give you clear understandings of a protocol for video streaming and the relation between video streaming protocol, codec, and container format. I am sure that you are ready to pick out and use the right protocol for your needs.


This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by hermoni versa


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