If you’d like to learn more about RTMP servers and how the two protocols work together, we recommend checking out our dedicated RTMP ingest guide. HLS is used primarily for HLS delivery, whereas RTMP is for stream ingestion. It is also possible to use HLS for ingesting, but this is not yet widely supported.
RTMP ingest should not be confused with RTMP delivery. ” As we mentioned, RTMP was previously used to deliver content to the Flash video player. RTMP stands for “ Real-Time Messaging Protocol. This process of sending the stream from an encoder to the online video platform is known as stream ingestion, or simply “ingest.” Stream ingestion usually occurs using RTMP. It is also possible to send the data via your own live streaming server, but this requires more equipment and technical knowledge. OVPs either use their own content delivery network (CDN) or partner with a CDN to deliver streams.
In most cases, live streaming involves sending data from your capture device to an online video platform (OVP), with a few stops in between. Ingest in Streaming RTMP is a live streaming protocol that transmits (or ingests) video files from the encoder to an OVP.īefore we get into our HLS streaming software comparison, it’s important to clarify the roles of HLS and RTMP encoding in delivery and ingest, respectively. The biggest benefits of HLS streaming are improved security and nearly universal compatibility. Smartphones, desktop and laptop computers, tablets, smart TVs, gaming consoles, and many other devices, all support HLS. Over the past several years, HLS has become the most widely used live streaming protocol. To put it into perspective, HLS is to HTML5 as RTMP was to Flash.Īs an adaptive bitrate streaming protocol, an HLS streaming server delivers the best available video quality to viewers at any given time. This protocol became essential in the industry-wide transition from Adobe’s Flash Player to more modern HTML5 video players. HLS, which stands for “ HTTP Live Streaming ,” is a video streaming protocol that was developed by Apple to deliver content to an HTML5 video player. HLS Streaming: The Basics HLS stands for HTTP Live Streaming and is a media streaming protocol for delivering visual and audio media to viewers over the internet.