HTTP Live Streaming

{{Infobox file format

| name = HTTP Live Streaming

| icon =

| screenshot =

| caption =

| extension = .m3u8

| mime = application/vnd.apple.mpegurl or audio/mpegurl{{cite IETF |title= HTTP Live Streaming |rfc=8216 |sectionname=Playlists |section=4 |page=9 |last=Pantos |first=R. |last2=May |first2=W. |year=2017 |publisher=IETF |access-date=Jan 15, 2020 |doi=10.17487/RFC8216 |issn=2070-1721 }}

| magic =

| developer = Apple Inc.

| type =

| released = May 2009

| standard = {{IETF RFC|8216}}

| url =

| logo =

| type code = .m3u8

| uniform type =

| owner =

| latest release version =

| latest release date =

| genre = Playlist

| container for =

| contained by =

| extended from = extended M3U

| extended to = .m3u8

}}

HTTP Live Streaming (also known as HLS) is an HTTP-based adaptive bitrate streaming communications protocol developed by Apple Inc. and released in 2009. Support for the protocol is widespread in media players, web browsers, mobile devices, and streaming media servers. {{As of|2022}}, an annual video industry survey has consistently found it to be the most popular streaming format.{{cite web |last1=Lederer |first1=Stefan |title=2022 Video Developer Report |url=https://bitmovin.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/bitmovin-6th-video-developer-report-2022-2023.pdf |website=Bitmovin |access-date=25 October 2023 |language=en}}

HLS resembles MPEG-DASH in that it works by breaking the overall stream into a sequence of small HTTP-based file downloads, each downloading one short chunk of an overall potentially unbounded transport stream. A list of available streams, encoded at different bit rates, is sent to the client using an extended M3U playlist.{{cite web|url= https://larryjordan.com/articles/basics-of-http-live-streaming|title= The Basics of HTTP Live Streaming|last= Jordan|first= Larry|date= 10 June 2013|work= Larry's Blog|publisher= Larry Jordan & Associates|access-date= 18 June 2013}}

Based on standard HTTP transactions, HTTP Live Streaming can traverse any firewall or proxy server that lets through standard HTTP traffic, unlike UDP-based protocols such as RTP. This also allows content to be offered from conventional HTTP servers and delivered over widely available HTTP-based content delivery networks.{{cite web |date=March 29, 2015 |title=MPEG-DASH vs. Apple HLS vs. Smooth Streaming vs. Adobe HDS |url=https://bitmovin.com/mpeg-dash-vs-apple-hls-vs-microsoft-smooth-streaming-vs-adobe-hds/ |website=Bitmovin}}{{Cite book |last1=Chen |first1=Songqing |last2=Shen |first2=Bo |last3=Tan |first3=Wai-tian |last4=Wee |first4=Susie |last5=Zhang |first5=Xiaodong |title=2006 IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo |chapter=A Case for Internet Streaming via Web Servers |date=2006-07-09 |chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4037057 |pages=2145–2148 |doi=10.1109/ICME.2006.262660 |isbn=9781424403677 |issn=1945-7871 |eissn=1945-788X |s2cid=9202042 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Songqing Chen |last2=Bo Shen |last3=Wee |first3=S. |last4=Xiaodong Zhang |date=2007-07-23 |title=SProxy: A Caching Infrastructure to Support Internet Streaming |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4276704 |journal=IEEE Transactions on Multimedia |volume=9 |issue=5 |pages=1062–1072 |doi=10.1109/TMM.2007.898943 |s2cid=870854 |issn=1520-9210|citeseerx=10.1.1.74.4838 }} The standard also includes a standard encryption mechanism{{cite web|url= http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-pantos-http-live-streaming-07|title= HTTP Live Streaming|last= Pantos|first= R.|date= 30 September 2011|publisher= Internet Engineering Task Force|access-date= 18 June 2013}} and secure-key distribution using HTTPS, which together provide a simple DRM system. Later versions of the protocol also provide for trick-mode fast-forward and rewind and for integration of subtitles.

Apple has documented HTTP Live Streaming as an Internet Draft (Individual Submission), the first stage in the process of publishing it as a Request for Comments (RFC). As of December 2015, the authors of that document have requested the RFC Independent Stream Editor (ISE) to publish the document as an informational (non-standard) RFC outside of the IETF consensus process.

{{cite web

|url= https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-pantos-http-live-streaming/history/

|title= History for draft-pantos-http-live-streaming

|access-date= 2017-04-17

|quote= Stream changed to ISE from None

}}

In August 2017, {{IETF RFC |8216 |link=no}} was published to describe version 7 of the protocol.

{{cite IETF

|rfc=8216

|date=August 2017

|title= HTTP Live Streaming

|access-date= 2017-09-05

|first1=Roger|last1=Pantos

|first2=William|last2=May

}}

Architecture

HTTP Live Streaming uses a conventional web server, that implements support for HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), to distribute audiovisual content and requires specific software, such as OBS to fit the content into a proper format (codec) for transmission in real time over a network.

The service architecture comprises:

;Server

:Codify and encapsulate the input video flow in a proper format for the delivery. Then it is prepared for distribution by segmenting it into different files. In the process of intake, the video is encoded and segmented to generate video fragments and index file.

:* Encoder: codify video files in H.264 format and audio in AAC, MP3, AC-3 or EC-3.{{Cite web|url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-pantos-http-live-streaming-20#section-3.4|title=HTTP Live Streaming|last1=Roger|first1=Pantos|last2=William|first2=May|website=tools.ietf.org|language=en|access-date=2017-01-23}} This is encapsulated by MPEG-2 Transport Stream or MPEG-4_Part_14 to carry it.

:* Segmenter: divides the stream into fragments of equal length. It also creates an index file that contains references of the fragmented files, saved as .m3u8.

;Distributor

:Formed by a standard web server, accepts requests from clients and delivers all the resources (.m3u8 playlist file and .ts segment files) needed for streaming.

;Client

:Request and download all the files and resources, assembling them so that they can be presented to the user as a continuous flow video. The client software downloads first the index file through a URL and then the several media files available. The playback software assembles the sequence to allow continued display to the user.

Features

HTTP Live Streaming provides mechanisms for players to adapt to unreliable network conditions without causing user-visible playback stalling. For example, on an unreliable wireless network, HLS allows the player to use a lower quality video, thus reducing bandwidth usage. HLS videos can be made highly available by providing multiple servers for the same video, allowing the player to swap seamlessly if one of the servers fails.

=Adaptability=

To enable a player to adapt to the bandwidth of the network, the original video is encoded in several distinct quality levels. The server serves an index, called a master playlist, of these encodings, called variant streams. The player can then choose between the variant streams during playback, changing back and forth seamlessly as network conditions change.

=Using fragmented MP4=

At WWDC 2016 Apple announced{{cite AV media|url=https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2016/504/|title=What's New in HTTP Live Streaming|website=Apple Developer}} the inclusion of byte-range addressing for fragmented MP4 files, or fMP4, allowing content to be played via HLS without the need to multiplex it into MPEG-2 Transport Stream. The industry considered this as a step towards compatibility between HLS and MPEG-DASH.{{cite web|url=https://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=111796|title=HLS Now Supports Fragmented MP4, Making it Compatible With DASH|website=StreamingMedia.com|date=16 June 2016|first=Tim|last=Siglin}}{{cite web|url=https://bitmovin.com/hls-news-wwdc-2016/|title=WWDC16: HLS supports Fragmented MP4 – and gets MPEG-DASH compatible!|first=Reinhard|last=Grandl|date=15 June 2016|website=Bitmovin.com}}

=Low Latency HLS=

Two unrelated HLS extensions with a Low Latency name and corresponding acronym exist:

Apple Low Latency HLS (ALHLS) which was announced by Apple at WWDC2019{{cite AV media|url=https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/502/|title=Low-Latency HLS|website=Apple Developer}}
Community LHLS (LHLS) which predated Apple's publication and is allegedly simpler{{cite web|url=https://mux.com/blog/the-community-gave-us-low-latency-live-streaming-then-apple-took-it-away/|access-date=2019-06-17|date=2019-06-14|title=The community gave us low-latency live streaming. Then Apple took it away.}}

The remainder of this section describes Apple's ALHLS. It reduces the glass-to-glass delay when streaming via HLS by reducing the time to start live stream playbacks and maintain that time during a live-streaming event.

It works by adding partial media segment files into the mix, much like MPEG-CMAF's fMP4. Unlike CMAF, ALHLS also supports partial MPEG-2 TS transport files. A partial media segment is a standard segment (e.g. 6 seconds) split into equal segments of less than a second (e.g. 200 milliseconds). The standard first segment is replaced by the series of partial segments. Subsequent segments are of the standard size.{{Cite web |title=Apple Developer Documentation |url=https://developer.apple.com/documentation/http_live_streaming/enabling_low-latency_http_live_streaming_hls |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=developer.apple.com}}

HTTP/2 is required to push the segments along with the playlist, reducing the overhead of establishing repeated HTTP/TCP connections.

Other features include:

Playlist Delta Updates: only sending what changed between playlists, which typically fit in a single MTU making it more efficient to load the playlists which, with large DVR windows, can be quite large.
Blocking of playlist reload: when requesting live media playlists, wait until the first segment is also ready, and return both at the same time (saving additional HTTP/TCP requests)
Rendition Reports: add metadata to other media renditions to make switching between ABR faster
New tags added: EXT-X-SERVER-CONTROL / EXT-X-PART / EXT-X-SKIP / EXT-X-RENDITION-REPORT
URL QUERY_STRING ?_HLS callbacks added

Apple also added new tools: tsrecompressor produces and encodes a continuous low latency stream of audio and video. The mediastreamsegmenter tool is now available in a low-latency version. It is an HLS segmenter that takes in a UDP/MPEG-TS stream from tsrecompressor and generates a media playlist, including the new tags above.

Support for low-latency HLS is available in tvOS 13 beta, and iOS & iPadOS 14.{{Cite web|title=Low-Latency Everywhere: How to implement LL-HLS across platforms|url= https://www.theoplayer.com/blog/low-latency-everywhere-implementing-ll-hls-across-platforms|last=Speelmans|first=Pieter-Jan|date=2020-12-09|website=Theo|language=en|access-date=2021-03-11}}

On April 30, 2020, Apple added the low latency specifications to the second edition of the main HLS specification.{{Cite web|title=HTTP Live Streaming 2nd Edition|url=https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-pantos-hls-rfc8216bis-07.html|last=Pantos|first=Roger|date=2020-04-30|website=IETF|language=en|access-date=2020-04-30}}

=Dynamic ad insertion=

Dynamic ad insertion is supported in HLS using splice information based on SCTE-35 specification. The SCTE-35 splice message is inserted into the media playlist file using the EXT-X-DATERANGE tag. Each SCTE-35 splice_info_section() is represented by an EXT-X-DATERANGE tag with a SCTE35-CMD attribute. A SCTE-35 splice out/in pair signaled by the splice_insert() commands is represented by one or more EXT-X-DATERANGE tags carrying the same ID attribute. The SCTE-35 splice out command should have the SCTE35-OUT attribute and the splice in command should have the SCTE35-IN attribute.

Between the two EXT-X-DATERANGE tags that contain the SCTE35-OUT and SCTE35-IN attributes respectively, there may be a sequence of media segment URIs. These media segments normally represent ad programs that can be replaced by the local or customized ad. The ad replacement does not require the replacement of the media files, only the URIs in the playlist need to be changed to point to different ad programs. The ad replacement can be done on the origin server or on the client's media-playing device.

Server implementations

Notable server implementations supporting HTTP Live Streaming include:

Adobe Media Server supports HLS for iOS devices (HLS) and Protected HTTP Live Streaming (PHLS).
Akamai supports HLS for live and on-demand streams.
AT&T supports HLS in all formats live or on-demand.
Ant Media Server support HLS and Low Latency HLS{{Cite web |last=Guney |first=Yunus Emre |date=2024-08-29 |title=Elevate Your Streaming: LL-HLS Magic with Ant Media Server - Ant Media Server |url=https://antmedia.io/low-latency-hls-or-ll-hls/ |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=antmedia.io |language=en-US}} for live and on-demand streams.
Axis Communication IP cameras supports HLS via [https://www.camstreamer.com CamStreamer] App ACAP
Instart supports HLS for on-demand streams.
Amazon CloudFront supports HLS for on-demand streams.
Bitmovin supports HLS for on-demand and live streaming.
CDNetworks supports HLS for live and on-demand streams.
Cisco Systems: supports full end-to-end delivery for Live/TSTV/VOD/HLS and Cloud DVR services.
Cloudflare supports HLS for live and on-demand streams.
EdgeCast Networks supports cross-device streaming using HLS.
Fastly supports HLS for live and on-demand streams.{{Cite web|title=Video CDN {{!}} Video Streaming {{!}} Stream Delivery {{!}} Fastly|url=https://www.fastly.com/products/media-and-streaming|access-date=2020-10-01|website=www.fastly.com|language=en}}
Helix Universal Server from RealNetworks supports iPhone OS 3.0 and later for live and on-demand HTTP Live or On-Demand streaming of H.264 and AAC content to iPhone, iPad and iPod.
IIS Media Services from Microsoft supports live and on-demand Smooth Streaming and HTTP Live Streaming.
Level 3 supports HLS live and on-demand streams.
Limelight Networks supports HLS for some accounts.{{cite web|url=http://support.video.limelight.com/support/docs/encoding_guide/|title=Encoding Guide|website=Limelight Orchestrate Video Support|publisher=Limelight Networks|access-date=14 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801214950/http://support.video.limelight.com/support/docs/encoding_guide/|archive-date=2013-08-01}}
Nginx with the nginx-rtmp-module supports HLS in live mode. Commercial version Nginx Plus, which includes ngx_http_hls_module module, also supports HLS/HDS VOD.{{Cite web|url=https://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_hls_module.html|title=Module ngx_http_hls_module|website=nginx.org}}
Nimble Streamer supports HLS in live and VOD mode, Apple Low Latency HLS spec is also supported.
Node.js with the hls-server package supports hls encoding to live mode and local files conversion.{{cite web|url=https://www.npmjs.com/package/hls-server|title=hls-server|date=12 February 2018 |publisher=npm}}
OvenMediaEngine is an open source project that supports Low Latency HLS (LL-HLS) and HLS for live streaming.
PeerTube supports HLS
Storm Streaming Server supports HLS as backup mode for its Media Source Extensions player{{Cite web|title=Storm Streaming|url=https://www.stormstreaming.com/|access-date=2021-07-30|website=Storm Streaming|language=en|quote=Output devices: HLS, MPEG-DASH, WebSocket, RTMP}}
Tata Communications CDN supports HLS for live and on-demand streams.
TVersity supports HLS in conjunction with on-the-fly transcoding for playback of any video content on iOS devices.
Unreal Media Server supports low latency HLS as of version 9.5.{{Cite web|title=Unreal Media Server|url=http://umediaserver.net/umediaserver/index.html|access-date=2021-07-30|website=umediaserver.net|quote=Unreal Media Server supports ingesting live streams from wide range of live software and hardware encoders that send streams over WebRTC, RTMP, RTSP, MPEG2-TS, HLS,}}
Ustream supports HLS delivery of live broadcasts. The ingested stream is re-transcoded if the original audio and video codec falls outside HLS requirements.
VLC Media Player supports HLS for serving live and on-demand streams as of version 2.0.
Wowza Streaming Engine from Wowza Media Systems supports HLS and encrypted HLS for live (with DVR), on-demand streaming and Apple Low Latency HLS spec.

Usage

Google added HTTP Live Streaming support in Android 3.0 (Honeycomb).{{cite web|title=Android 3.0 Platform Highlights|website=Android Developers|url=http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-3.0-highlights.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128074424/http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-3.0-highlights.html|archive-date=2011-01-28}}
HP added HTTP Live Streaming support in webOS 3.0.5.{{cite web|title=webOS 3.0.5 Updates|url=http://kb.hpwebos.com/wps/portal/kb/na/touchpad/touchpad/wifi/solutions/article/18666_en.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122051734/http://kb.hpwebos.com/wps/portal/kb/na/touchpad/touchpad/wifi/solutions/article/18666_en.html|archive-date=2012-01-22}}
Microsoft added support for HTTP Live Streaming in EdgeHTML rendering engine in Windows 10 in 2015.{{cite web|url=https://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2015/01/29/simplified-adaptive-video-streaming-announcing-support-for-hls-and-dash-in-windows-10.aspx|title=Simplified Adaptive Video Streaming: Announcing support for HLS and DASH in Windows 10|date=29 January 2015|website=Internet Explorer Team Blog}}
Microsoft added support for HTTP Live Streaming in IIS Media Services 4.0.{{cite web|title=First Look: Microsoft IIS Media Services 4|url=https://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=71108&PageNum=1|date=1 November 2010|first=Tim|last=Siglin|website=StreamingMedia.com|access-date=30 July 2011}}
Yospace added HTTP Live Streaming support in Yospace HLS Player and SDK for flash version 1.0.{{citation needed|date=March 2019}}
Sling Media added HTTP Live Streaming support to its Slingboxes and its SlingPlayer apps.{{cite web|website=Blogcritics|date=November 26, 2010|url=https://blogcritics.org/ipad-app-review-slingplayer/|title=iPad App Review: SlingPlayer|first=David|last=Chan|access-date=April 14, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140415025424/https://blogcritics.org/ipad-app-review-slingplayer/|archive-date=April 15, 2014}}
In 2014/15, the BBC introduced HLS-AAC streams for its live internet radio and on-demand audio services, and supports those streams with its iPlayer Radio clients.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/internet/entries/234a65f0-89c1-489c-b6e9-55d2de932e53|last=Scott|first=Andrew|title=Audio Factory: an overview|date=27 Feb 2015|publisher=BBC|work=Internet Blog|quote=the only on-demand assets will be AAC HLS. ... We are still talking to manufacturers and many are confident that they will be able to provide their users with access to all 57 of our HLS AAC streams at 320 kb/s within a few weeks or months.}}
Twitch uses HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) to transmit and scale the live streaming to many concurrent viewers, also supporting multiple variants (e.g., 1080p, 720p, etc.).{{cite web|url=https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2017/10/10/live-video-transmuxing-transcoding-f-fmpeg-vs-twitch-transcoder-part-i-489c1c125f28|title=Live video transmuxing/transcoding: FFmpeg vs TwitchTranscoder, Part 1|first=Yueshi|last=Shen|year=2017}}

Supported players and servers

HTTP Live Streaming is natively supported in the following operating systems:

Windows 10 version 1507 to 2004 (Microsoft Edge Legacy) (no longer supported)
Windows 11 Media Player
macOS 10.6+ (Safari and QuickTime)
iOS 3.0+ (Safari)
Android 4.1+{{cite web|url=http://developer.android.com/guide/appendix/media-formats.html|title=Supported media formats|website=Android Developers}} (Google Chrome)

Windows 10 used to have native support for HTTP Live Streaming in EdgeHTML, a proprietary browser engine that was used in Microsoft Edge (now referred to as Edge Legacy) before the transition to the Chromium-based Blink browser engine. Edge Legacy was included in Windows 10 up till version 2004. It was replaced by Edge Chromium in version 20H2. Along with Windows 11, Microsoft released an updated Media Player that supports HLS natively.

= Clients =

Client	Platform	Live Streaming	DRM	As of Version	Editor
class="wikitable sortable"
Safari (web browser)	macOS, iOS	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	6.0+ Has full HLS support.	Apple
Microsoft Edge (web browser)	Windows 10	{{partial\|Native support on Edge Legacy. Support via Media Source Extensions on Edge Chromium. }}	{{yes}}	Supported natively on Edge Legacy's engine EdgeHTML from version 12 to 18. No native support on Edge Chromium from version 79 to present.{{Cite web\|url=https://caniuse.com/http-live-streaming\|title=HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) \| Can I use... Support tables for HTML5, CSS3, etc\|website=caniuse.com}}	Microsoft
Google Chrome (web browser) / Chromium	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS	{{partial\|OS-dependent support on Android/iOS. Support via Media Source Extensions on other OS. }}	{{yes}}	30+ Android and iOS have OS-dependent native support. Other platforms require Media Source Extensions.	Google
Firefox (web browser)	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS	{{partial\|OS-dependent support on Android/iOS. Support via Media Source Extensions on other OS. }}	{{yes}}	50.0+ for Android{{cite web\|url=https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/android/50.0/releasenotes/\|title=Firefox for Android 50.0, See All New Features, Updates and Fixes\|website=Mozilla}} and 57.0 for others,{{cite web\|url=https://hacks.mozilla.org/2017/11/dash-playback-of-av1-video/\|title=DASH playback of AV1 video in Firefox\|website=Mozilla Hacks – the Web developer blog\|first1=Ralph\|last1=Giles\|first2=Martin \|last2=Smole\|date=28 November 2017}} 59.0 has enhanced support for Android{{cite web\|url=https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/android/59.0beta/releasenotes/\|title=Firefox for Android Beta 59.0beta, See All New Features, Updates and Fixes\|website=Mozilla}} Other platforms require Media Source Extensions.	Mozilla
QuickTime Player (media player)	macOS	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	10.0+ Has full HLS support.	Apple
iTunes (music player)	Windows, macOS	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	10.1+{{cite web\|url=https://www.macrumors.com/2010/11/15/hints-of-itunes-live-stream-service-found-in-itunes-10-1/\|title=Hints of 'iTunes Live Stream' Service Found in iTunes 10.1\|website=MacRumors\|date=15 November 2010\|first=Eric\|last=Slivka}} Has full HLS support. To play a HLS stream, go to File > Open Stream and replace "http://" with "itls://" (for video streams) or "itals://" (for audio streams) in the stream URL.	Apple
Windows Media Player (2022) (media player)	Windows 10, Windows 11	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	Does not include the original Win32 version of Windows Media Player.	Microsoft
StreamS HiFi Radio (radio player)	iOS, tvOS iPhone, iPad, and AppleTV	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	7.3+ Plays Internet Radio Streams HLS Audio - 100% Compliant AAC-LC/HE-AAC/xHE-AAC 2.0 Stereo/5.1-7.1 Surround ES - Elementary Stream ADTS fMP4 - Fragmented ISO MP4 Displays Synchronous Realtime Metadata and Graphics	StreamS/Modulation Index LLC
VLC media player (media player)	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Windows Phone	{{yes}}	{{unknown}}	VLC 2.x{{cite web\|url=https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/2943\|title=#2943 (Support for HTTP Live Streaming as a client)\|website=VLC bug tracker\|date=9 July 2009 }} has partial support up to HLS version 3 (otherwise will load as M3U playlist, individual chunks sequence).{{cite web\|url=https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?t=113275\|title=Playing HLS streaming video with VLC player - The VideoLAN Forums\|website=forum.videolan.org}} VLC 3.0 has full HLS support.	VideoLAN
Media Player Classic Home Cinema (media player)	Windows	{{yes}}	{{yes}}		Gabest, Doom9 forum users
PotPlayer (media player)	Windows	{{yes}}	{{yes}}		Daum Communications
MPlayer / SMPlayer / mpv (media player)	Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD	{{yes}}	{{yes}}		Ricardo Villalba
GOM Player (media player)	Windows	{{yes}}	{{yes}}		Gretech
Cameleon (live video streaming software)	Windows, macOS	{{yes}}	{{unknown}}		Yatko
Audacious (software) (music player)	Windows, Linux	{{yes}}	{{yes}}		Audacious
Radio Tray (radio player)	Linux	{{yes}}	{{yes}}		Carlos Ribeiro
Kodi (software) (home entertainment application)	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS	{{yes}}	{{partial}}	12.0 Alpha 5 and later DRM support requires a monthly/nightly build	XBMC Foundation
MythTV (home entertainment application)	Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	0.26	MythTV
JRiver Media Center (home entertainment application)	Windows, macOS	{{yes}}	{{yes}}		JRiver
XiiaLive (radio player)	Android, iOS	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	3.0+ Plays internet radio streams (audio only).	Visual Blasters LLC
Tunein radio (radio player)	Android, iOS	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	3.3+ Plays internet radio streams (audio only).	TuneIn
myTuner Radio (radio player)	Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Windows 8, macOS	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	Plays internet radio streams (audio only).	AppGeneration Software
Internet Radio Player (radio player)	Android	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	Plays internet radio streams (audio only).	MuserTech
GuguRadio (radio player)	iOS	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	Plays internet radio streams (audio only).	Leon Fan
AIMP (media player)	Windows, Android	{{yes}}	{{unknown}}	4.10+ (build 1827) Plays internet radio streams (audio only).	Artem Izmaylov
Mini Stream Player (media player)	Android	{{yes}}	{{yes}}		JogiApp
MX Player (media player)	Android	{{yes}}	{{yes}}		J2 Interactive
TV Streams (media player)	macOS, iOS, tvOS	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	v7.1	Tiago Martinho
HP Touchpad	WebOS	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	3.0.5	HP
Amino x4x STB	Amino set-top boxes	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	2.5.2 Aminet	Aminocom.com
Dune HD TV	Dune HD set-top boxes	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	TV series	dunehd.com
CTU Systems Ltd	CTU Systems Ltd Eludo Play Out System	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	TV series	ctusystems.com
nangu.TV	Motorola set-top boxes	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	2.0	nangu.TV
Roku Digital Video Player	Roku set-top boxes	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	Roku OS / SDK 2.6	Roku
Telebreeze Player	HTML, Android, iOS, Windows, MacOS, Roku, MAG Infomir, Samsung Tizen, LG WebOS, Google Chromecast, tvOS, Amazon Fire TV, AndroidTV	{{yes}}	{{yes}}		Telebreeze
bitdash (SDK)	HTML5 or Flash, Web and Mobile	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	Version 3.0+	bitmovin
3ivx (SDK)	Windows 8, Windows Phone 8{{cite web\|url=http://www.3ivx.com/technology/windows/metro/http_live_streaming.html\|title=Windows 8 - HTTP Live Streaming\|website=www.3ivx.com}} & Xbox One{{cite web\|url=http://www.3ivx.com/xbox/\|title=3ivx - Xbox Live Developer Partner Program - Component Provider\|website=www.3ivx.com}}	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	2.0	3ivx
THEOplayer{{cite web\|url=https://www.theoplayer.com/documentation/hls.html\|title=HTML5 Video Player – THEOplayer\|first=THEO Technologies\|last=NV\|website=www.theoplayer.com}}	HTML5, SDK (Android, iOS, Android TV, tvOS, Chromecast, WebOS, FireTV, Tizen)	{{yes}}	{{yes}}		THEO Technologies
OvenPlayer	HTML5	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	0.10.0+	AirenSoft
Viblast Player (SDK)	HTML5, iOS, Android	{{yes}}	{{partial}}		Viblast Ltd
Flowplayer (SDK)	Adobe Flash, iOS, Android, HTML5 (hlsjs plugin)	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	The Flash HLS plugin is available from GitHub.	Flowplayer Ltd
JW Player (SDK)	Adobe Flash, iOS, Android, HTML5	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	HLS is provided in all JW Player versions as of JW8 (latest)	JW Player
Radiant Media Player (SDK)	Adobe Flash, HTML5	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	1.5.0{{cite web\|url=https://www.radiantmediaplayer.com/version-history.html\|title=Version History - Radiant Media Player\|first=Radiant Media\|last=Player\|website=www.radiantmediaplayer.com}}	Radiant Media Player
Yospace (SDK)	Adobe Flash	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	2.1	Yospace
Onlinelib (SDK)	Adobe Flash	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	2.0	Onlinelib.de
VODOBOX HLS Player (online service)	Adobe Flash, HTML5, iOS, Android	{{yes}}	{{yes}}		Vodobox
NexPlayer (SDK)	HTML5 (MSE Browsers), Android (mobile, TV, STB), iOS, Chromecast, Windows, Mac, Linux, Tizen, WebOS	{{yes}}	{{yes}}		NexStreaming
ffplay/avplay (multimedia framework)		{{yes}}	{{partial}}		FFmpeg/Libav
GPAC (multimedia framework)		{{yes}}	{{no}}	0.5.0	Telecom ParisTech inc.
QuickPlayer (SDK)	Android, iOS, Windows 7, 8, 8,1 and 10	{{yes}}	{{yes}}		Squadeo
hls.js (MSE)	MSE Browsers	{{yes}}	{{unknown}}		Dailymotion open source{{cite web\|url=http://engineering.dailymotion.com/introducing-hls-js/\|title=dailymotion – Medium\|website=Medium}}{{Cite web\|url=https://dailymotion.github.io/hls.js/demo/\|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120210027/http://dailymotion.github.io/hls.js/demo/\|url-status=dead\|title=hls.js demo page\|archivedate=November 20, 2015}}
hasplayer.js (MSE)	MSE Browsers	{{yes}}	{{unknown}}		open source{{cite web\|url=https://github.com/Orange-OpenSource/hasplayer.js/tree/master\|title=Orange-OpenSource/hasplayer.js\|website=GitHub}}
Hola Player (video player)	HTML5, Adobe Flash, iOS, Android	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	All versions	Hola Ltd open source{{cite web\|url=https://holacdn.com/player\|title=Spark\|website=Spark}}
Shaka Player (SDK)	HTML5 (MSE Browsers)	{{Coming Soon}}	{{Partial}}	2.1	Open Source{{cite web\|url=https://github.com/google/shaka-player\|title=google/shaka-player\|website=GitHub}}{{cite web\|url=https://shaka-player-demo.appspot.com/demo/\|title=Shaka Player Demo\|website=shaka-player-demo.appspot.com}}
Fluid Player (Video Player)	HTML5 (MSE Browsers)	{{yes}}	{{yes}}	2.2.0+	Fluid Player OSS{{cite web\|url=https://www.fluidplayer.com\|title=Fluid Player - HTML5 video player\|website=www.fluidplayer.com}}{{cite web\|url=https://docs.fluidplayer.com\|title=Fluid Player Documentation\|website=docs.fluidplayer.com}}{{cite web\|url=https://github.com/fluid-player/fluid-player\|title=fluid-player/fluid-player\|website=GitHub}}
Video.js \|MSE Browsers. Flash with flashls source handler fallback.	{{yes}}	{{yes}} \| \|Open source
foobar2000 (audio player)	Windows	{{yes}}	{{unknown}}	1.6.1	Peter Pawłowski
QMPlay2 (media player)	Windows, macOS, Linux	{{yes}}	{{unknown}}	It has VU meters and a spectrum analyzer	Open source{{Cite web\|url=https://github.com/zaps166/QMPlay2\|title=QMPlay2 - Qt Media Player 2\|date=October 22, 2023\|via=GitHub}}

= Servers =

Product	Technology	As Of Version	Editor !Free	Notes
class="wikitable sortable"
ANEVIA Genova Live \|Bundled software for transcoding to H.264 & HEVC, and packaging to HLS, MPEG-DASH, MS Smooth Streaming \| \|Anevia \|{{no}} \|
AvProxy	Light software for live streaming Input and output streams : HTTP(S), HLS(S)/AES-128, UDP, RTP, MPTS demux	2.19{{cite web\|url=https://github.com/marakew/AvProxy\|title=marakew/AvProxy\|website=GitHub}}	\|{{yes}} \| Proprietary but free for use
bitcodin		SaaS	bitmovin \|{{no}}	{{cite web\|url=http://www.streamingmediaglobal.com/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/Review-Bitcodin-a-Cloud-Video-Encoding-Service-From-Bitmovin-104546.aspx\|title=Review: Bitcodin, a Cloud Video Encoding Service From Bitmovin\|website=www.StreamingMediaGlobal.com\|date=2015\|first=Jan\|last=Ozer}}
VLC		1.2	\|{{yes}}
Video Cloud		SaaS	Brightcove \|{{No}}	{{cite web\|url=https://player.support.brightcove.com/playback/delivering-hls-video.html\|title=Delivering HLS Video - Brightcove Learning\|website=support.brightcove.com}}
IIS Media Services		4.0	Microsoft \|{{No}}
Antik Media Streamer	Ingest Module (UDP/HTTP Transport Stream, Backup Stream with auto-switching, stream status monitoring and logging), Stream replication UDP/HTTP, HLS streaming, Video archive with snapshots, Server-side Timeshift, time zone shifting with multiple time zones, Stream Encryption using AES and key-rotation (with Antik Key Server)	3.0	Antik technology \|{{no}}
Adobe Media Server	Live and VOD streaming as origin and edge server	5.0	Adobe \|{{no}}
Ant Media Server	Supports HLS and Low Latency HLS in standalone and cluster modes. It can ingest WebRTC, RTMP, RTSP and can create HLS and Low Latency HLS playback endpoints	2.11{{Cite web \|last=Guney \|first=Yunus Emre \|date=2024-08-29 \|title=Elevate Your Streaming: LL-HLS Magic with Ant Media Server - Ant Media Server \|url=https://antmedia.io/low-latency-hls-or-ll-hls/ \|access-date=2024-12-06 \|website=antmedia.io \|language=en-US}}	Ant Media \|{{no}}	HLS is a out of the box feature in Community and Enterprise Editions. Low Latency HLS is a plugin that is compatible in Community and Enterprise Editions.
Evostream Media Server	Cross-platform including embedded systems such as encoders, IP cameras, DVRs, and more. Supports: Adobe Flash RTMP, RTMPS, LiveFLV, full transcoder for creating lower bitrate streams, HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) for streaming to iPhones, iPads and Androids, HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS) for Adobe Air, Microsoft Smooth Streaming (MSS) for Microsoft devices, RTSP with RTP or MPEG-TS, MPEG-TS (unicast/multicast), compatible Live Encoding, strong security for your content ( Verimatrix DRM, HLS AES encryption, Stream Aliasing, Watermarking), built-in clustering mechanism and more.	1.6.5	EvoStream \|{{no}}
MythTV		0.25	MythTV \|{{yes}}
MACNETIX VOD-Server		3.0	MACNETIX \|{{no}}
Anevia NEA Live Servers	Transcapsulation: from one input, several outputs (HLS, MS Smooth Streaming, ADS Flash, MPEG-DASH)		Anevia \|{{no}}
Packet Ship OverView:Origin Server	Capture from IPTV multicast and chunking to HLS for multi-bandwidth live streams, with AES encryption	2.1	Packet Ship \|{{no}}
nangu.TV Streamers	on-the-fly adaptation: content is stored once enabling several outputs (HLS, MS Smooth Streaming, ADS Flash, MPEG-DASH)		nangu.TV \|{{no}}
TVersity Media Server		1.9	TVersity \|{{no}}	Pro Edition only
Helix Universal Server	Live + VOD HLS with Verimatrix DRM integration, ABR, Multi-Resolution, AES encryption	15.0+	RealNetworks \|{{no}}	High performance HLS (12,000+ concurrent devices)
Wowza Streaming Engine	Live and VOD streaming as origin and edge server with DVR, DRM Integration and Transcoding for adaptive delivery. Outputs to MPEG-DASH, HLS, HDS, Smooth Streaming, RTMP, and RTSP. Supports Apple Low Latency HLS.	2.0+	Wowza Media Systems \|{{no}}
Unified Streaming Platform	Muxes media content from one unified source to multiple outputs (Smooth Streaming, HDS, HLS and MPEG-DASH)		Unified Streaming \|{{no}}
VODOBOX Live Server	Outputs HTTP Live Streaming with Adaptive bitrate streaming (up to 6 simultaneous qualities). Video codecs : AVC H.264 / HEVC H.265 Audio codecs : MP3 / AAC Transport layers : HTTP / FTP / Amazon AWS S3 / Microsoft Azure Web Storage / writing to disk (NetBios / Samba) Hostings : internal HTTP Web server and/or external Web servers (ex: Apache HTTP server, Microsoft IIS, Nginx, etc.)	1.0	Vodobox \|{{yes}}	Supports input live streams from DVB-T devices, satellite receivers (Dreambox), IP streams (RTSP, RTMP, MMS, HTTP), Microsoft DirectShow drivers (video capture cards, live production software, camera). Encoder is compliant with Intel Quick Sync Video and Nvidia NVENC hardware acceleration.
Flixwagon Platform Video Server			Flixwagon \|{{no}}
StreamCoder Live Encoder	Realtime video encoder (inputs : DVB/IP stream or video signal). Supports multi-bitrates and multi-languages		Ektacom \|{{no}}
Apache HTTP Server			Apache Software Foundation \|{{yes}}
Unreal Media Server		9.5	Unreal Streaming Technologies \|{{no}}	Latency of live streams can be as low as 2.5 seconds over the Internet
Nimble Streamer	RTMP / RTSP / Icecast / MPEG-TS to ABR HLS. MP4 / MP3 to VOD HLS. Apple Low Latency HLS spec is supported.	1.0.0-x	WMSPanel \|{{no}}
Nginx-rtmp-module	Free module for nginx server with support of HLS live streaming. Compliant with iOS and Android.	0.9.x	Roman Arutyunyan \|{{yes}}
Nginx Plus	VOD HLS as origin		NGINX, Inc. \|{{no}}
OvenMediaEngine	Supports Low Latency HLS (HLSv7+), HLS (HLSv3+), ABR LL-HLS, and ABR HLS for live streaming	0.16.0+	AirenSoft \|{{yes}}	GNU Affero General Public License
Flussonic Media Server	Multi-platform support for HTTP, RTSP, RTMP, DASH, Time Shifting, DVR Functions with Unlimited Rewind Capabilities HLS streaming specific to iOS platform support.	3.0+	Flussonic, LLC. \|{{no}}	Supporting a magnitude of features with full HTTP support.
VBrick Distributed Media Engine ("DME")		2.0	VBrick Systems, Inc. \|{{no}}	Live and stored HLS. Live can be transmuxed from several input mux including RTP, RTMP, and MPEG-TS using H.264 encoding
Telebreeze Coder / Media Server	Input streams and interfaces: UDP, TCP, RTP, HLS, HTTP, RTMP (MPEG-TS) Output Streams: HLS, HTTP, UDP Preprocessing: Resize, Deinterlace, Frame Rate Conversion, Audio Resampling, Logo Rendering		Telebreeze \|{{no}}
LEADTOOLS Media Streaming Server SDK	Converts files on the fly to Adobe HDS, Apple HLS, MPEG-DASH, Microsoft Smooth Streaming, RTSP.	19.0	LEAD Technologies \|{{no}}
MC-ROUTE	Multifunctional software for live stream routing and protocol conversion	4.4	Teracue \|{{no}}	Supported protocols: TS over UDP, RTP, TCP, HLS, HTTP, RTSP/RTP
Direkt router	Live hardware decoder with SDI, NDI out and transcoding	4.1	Intinor \|{{no}}	Supported protocols in: TS over UDP, RTP, TCP, HLS, HTTP, RTMP out: UDP, RTP, TCP, RTMP
Elecard CodecWorks \|Professional platform for real-time encoding and transcoding into HEVC/H.265, AVC/H.264 and MPEG-2 video supporting adaptive bitrate streaming via HLS and MPEG-DASH protocols. \|4.6 \|Elecard\|Elecard \|{{no}} \|Supported protocols: TS over UDP/RTP/SRT, RTMP Output, HLS, MPEG-DASH output, UDP/RTP/SRT, NDI
TAC - Teracue Application Cloud \|Professional stream routing and real-time encoding/transcoding platform supporting various audio and video codec and streaming protocols \|1.0 \|Teracue\|Teracue \|{{no}} \|Supported protocols IN and OUT: UDP, RTP, RTSP, RTMP, TCP (Client/Server), HLS, HTTP, FEC, SRT Supported protocols IN only: SDVoE and NDI
Peertube \|A free and open-source, decentralized, ActivityPub federated video platform using HLS peer-to-peer technology to reduce load on individual servers when viewing videos. \|1.3.0 \| \|{{yes}} \|Videos are made available via HTTP to download, but playback favors a peer-to-peer playback using HLS.

= Live Encoders =

Product	Technology	As Of Version	Editor !Free	Supported Protocols
class="wikitable"
ENC-400 Series	Live hardware encoder with SDI or HDMI	1.0	Teracue	{{no}}	TS over UDP, RTP, TCP, RTP/RTSP, RTMP push, HLS
WELLAV NB100	Live Streamcast with SDI or HDMI, CVBS	1.0	Wellav Technologies	{{no}}	TS UDP, RTP, RTP/RTSP, RTMP, HLS
ZyPerMX4	Live hardware encoder with 4 HDMI inputs	2.14	ZeeVee	{{no}}	TS over UDP, RTP, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, HLS, RTMP, RTSP
ZyPerMX2	Live hardware encoder with 2 HDMI inputs	2.14	ZeeVee	{{no}}	TS over UDP, RTP, H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, HLS, RTMP, RTSP
Elecard CodecWorks	Live software encoder with up to 8 SDI/HDMI or NDI inputs	4.6	Elecard	{{no}}	TS UDP, RTP, SRT, RTMP push, HLS, Mpeg-DASH
StreamS Live Encoder	Live software/hardware audio encoder with professional interface options	3.0	StreamS	{{no}}	HLS/DASH ES, fMP4, FTP, FTPS, HTTP, HTTPS, DAV, DAVS, Akamai, Amazon S3, Microsoft BLOB, Google Cloud AAC-LC/HE-AAC/xHE-AAC - Synchronous Realtime Now Playing and Control Metadata and Graphics

= VOD encoders =

class="wikitable"
Product	Technology	As Of Version	Editor !Free	Notes
VODOBOX HLS Encoder	Converts video files into pre-encoded HLS Adaptive bitrate streaming, ready to be hosted and broadcast through Apache HTTP server / Microsoft IIS / Nginx Web servers. Supports AVC H.264 / HEVC H.265 / MPEG-TS / Fragmented MP4 / Alternate Audio / Alternate Subtitles.	1.0	Vodobox \|{{Yes}}	Transcodes classic video files (avi, mp4, m2ts, mkv, ...) into HLS streams with multi-qualities for VOD or replay usage. Hardware encoding can be accelerated by Intel Quick Sync Video and Nvidia NVENC technologies.
MediaGoom HLS Packager{{cite web\|title=MediaGoom. Essential Web Streaming.\|url=http://mediagoom.com}}	Convert mp4 files encoded with multibitrate to HLS chunks.	0.1	Mediagoom	{{Yes}}	Support both Linux and Windows.

class="wikitable"

Product

Technology

As Of Version

Editor

!Free

Notes

VODOBOX HLS Encoder

Converts video files into pre-encoded HLS Adaptive bitrate streaming, ready to be hosted and broadcast through Apache HTTP server / Microsoft IIS / Nginx Web servers. Supports AVC H.264 / HEVC H.265 / MPEG-TS / Fragmented MP4 / Alternate Audio / Alternate Subtitles.

1.0

Vodobox

|{{Yes}}

Transcodes classic video files (avi, mp4, m2ts, mkv, ...) into HLS streams with multi-qualities for VOD or replay usage. Hardware encoding can be accelerated by Intel Quick Sync Video and Nvidia NVENC technologies.

MediaGoom HLS Packager{{cite web|title=MediaGoom. Essential Web Streaming.|url=http://mediagoom.com}}

Convert mp4 files encoded with multibitrate to HLS chunks.

0.1

Mediagoom

Support both Linux and Windows.