What is HLS Streaming?

HLS Streaming ( HTTP Live Streaming) is a video streaming protocol used for video content across desktop and mobile devices. HLS is developed by Apple, which forms the biggest use case for the streaming protocol. Beyond Apple, there is wide support for HLS streaming across Android devices and browsers. Indeed, HLS can be used as a streaming protocol for all major browsers, including Chrome and Firefox.

In HLS Encryption the video files are encrypted using a secure AES-128 algorithm. The AES 128 encryption is the only publicly available security algorithm that is used by the NSA for encrypting its top-secret classified information.

HLS streaming and HLS Encryption can be used for both the cases of live streaming and for Video on Demand streaming (VOD). Because video streaming is over HTTPS, there is no need for a streaming server, unlike RTMP, which requires its own streaming server.

How & Why Apple Developed HLS Streaming ?

Until about 2010, Flash was the most popular video streaming application. It was supported by all desktop browsers. Because Flash utilized the same runtime across all browsers, it meant that video streamers did not have to create separate workflows for different devices. DRM and encryption were also supported by Flash.

Flash was however plagued by security issues. Video playback on Flash was processor-intensive, which caused phone overheating & mobile batteries to drain very fast. For these reasons Apple did not support Flash in the iPhone and in iPad, instead including support for native HTML5 video playback.

Apple created its specifications for video streaming, which could by both live streaming platforms and for pre-recorded video streaming platforms. Android OS followed suit by blocking flash playback from browsers on Android. From the introduction of the smartphone to the emergence of MPEG-DASH around 2015, Apple’s HLS streaming has been the most widely used protocol.

Because of Apple’s continued support for the protocol, encoding for HLS player is an integral element of any video streaming provider’s workflow.

How does HLS streaming work?

In plain vanilla HTML5 video streaming, only a single video file is available for streaming. The download of the complete video file is initiated every time the stream is played. Even if a viewer watches only 2 minutes of a 30-minute video, the full video would be downloaded, causing data wastage at both the server and the user end.

Streaming protocols remove this inefficiency in video streaming. Streaming protocols such as HLS effectively break down a video file into multiple chunks when streaming, and these video files are downloaded over HTTP in succession. HLS streaming uses the same workflow for both live and for on-demand content. The core idea in multi-bitrate streaming is that multiple renditions of each video, of varying resolution, are encoded. High-resolution videos are delivered to large screen devices having high network bandwidth, whereas lower resolution videos are encoded for mobile phones. Encoding for low resolutions also ensures continuous video streaming when the network connection speed drops.

When the user decides to change video resolution, or when the network bandwidth changes, video streams can be manually (or automatically) switched. HLS video streams are encoded using the H.264 standard, which can be played across all devices. Each of the video copies is broken into multiple chunks having the .ts (transport stream) extension.

There is a main index file, called the manifest file (.m3u8 file format), associated with the video stream. The main manifest file contains links to the specific manifest files associated with each unique video stream. Each of these specific manifest files in its place directs the video stream to the correct URL for video playback when streams are switched. This ensures that stream switching is seamless. This process of a manifest file referring to the video stream is the same for both live video streaming and for on-demand video streaming. The only difference for live video is simply that the video files are being encoded in real-time.

Streaming over HTTP has many advantages over using a separate server. For example, firewalls that may be used to block ports used for RTMP are unlikely to affect video streaming over HTTP. No additional cost are required for streaming over an HTTP server.

Mobile Video Streaming Using HLS Protocol

When users upload a video to a server, it undergoes several phases of processing. Initially, the video is encoded in various resolutions and then segmented into containers, where each segment is indexed in the M3U8 format. This index file is crucial as it is hosted on a server and accessed by mobile applications to retrieve video chunks.

Server Components
Key elements of the server include the encoder and segmenter. The encoder receives the input stream during video upload and encodes it into different formats such as H.264 + MP3 and MPEG-2, creating multiple output streams. These streams are then passed to the segmenter, which divides them into video chunks and generates corresponding index files. Each stream has its distinct index file.

M3U8 File Format
The M3U8 file format is essential for indexing multimedia files. It contains pointers to the locations of video files saved with a .ts extension. These index files are generated by the segmenter and also specify the duration of video chunks, typically set to 10 seconds. They enable dynamic switching between video streams depending on the user’s network bandwidth. The client software autonomously decides the optimal times to switch streams based on network conditions.

Mobile Application Interaction
Mobile applications retrieve the M3U8 index file from the server, which directs them to the required video streams. The application downloads these streams in a sequential manner, and playback begins once enough segments are buffered. As one index file is exhausted, the application proceeds to scan the next until the ‘endlist’ tag is reached.

System Implementation
The development of the mobile application is geared towards enabling users to share videos seamlessly. Users upload videos, which are then encoded and segmented by the HLS server into streamable video slices saved in .ts format. Index files in M3U8 format are generated and uploaded to a storage database. When a user wishes to watch a video, the application sends a request to the server to retrieve the video through the storage, ensuring that the video plays smoothly on the device’s native media player API.

In conclusion, HLS protocol facilitates the streaming of high-quality videos that adapt to varying network conditions. By managing video segments through a manifest file, the mobile application ensures that users can access the best possible video quality based on their current network environment, providing a robust and uninterrupted streaming experience.

What is HLS Encryption? Is HLS Encryption effectively secure against piracy?

HLS AES-128 encryption refers to video streams using HLS streaming protocol wherein the video files are encrypted using the AES-128 algorithms. The key exchange happens through the secure HTTPS protocol. If done in a rudimentary way the key for decryption can be seen from the network console by accessing the manifest file. A poor implementation of HLS encryption would result in plugins automatically finding the key and decrypting the HLS encrypted stream, rendering video security ineffective.

There are however methods to strengthen the HLS Encrypted stream. The challenge is to make sure that the key is not exposed directly. These are the options for additional security in HLS Encryption:

• Not including URL to decryption key in Manifest File

Implementations for this vary widely, and are quite difficult by themselves. This method for protecting HLS content may also cause compatibility issues on devices. If done properly however it is definitely a major improvement in video security.

• Using authenticated cookies for HLS Encryption streaming

In this method, the browser of authorized users stores authentication cookies. These cookies are stored with a digital signature, to ensure that they are not tampered with. This ensures that only the authorised user (and not some external plugin) is seeking to fetch content. The following workflow is used for configuring authentication cookies for HLS encryption:

1. Trusted signers are configured, who have permission to create authentication cookies. This configuration is done at the edge location (content delivery network)
2. Application is developed to send set-cookie headers to authorized viewers
3. Authorized users store name-value pairs in the cookie
4. When user requests protected content, the browser adds the name-value pair in the cookie header to the request
5. The video CDN uses the public key to verify the digital signature in the name-value pair
6. If the authentication cookie is verified, the CDN looks at the authentication cookie’s policy statement. The policy statement determines if the access request is valid. For example, the policy statement could include the beginning and end time for cookie validity.

For further information on authentication cookies for content protection, you can have a look at Amazon Cloudfront’s documentation.

• Signed URLs can be generated for authorized users

The following workflow is used for configuring signed URLs for HLS encryption:

In the CDN trusted signers are created, who have permission to create signed URLs

1. Develop an application to create signed URLs for protected content
2. When user requests protected content by signed URLs, the application verifies if they have the authorization to access it
3. If verified, the application creates a signed URL and sends it to the requesting user
4. On accessing content through a signed URL, the CDN verifies that the URL has not been tampered with. This is done by using the Public Key to verify the digital signature of the URL
5. If the signed URL is valid,
6. The CDN uses the public key to verify the digital signature in the name-value pair
7. If the signed URL is verified, the CDN looks at the signed URL’s policy statement. The policy statement determines if the access request is valid. For example, the policy statement could include the beginning and end times for the signed URL. For protecting content, this period of validity of URLs should be short – as little as a few minutes is optimal. For this you can create dynamic URLs, that change every few minutes.

For further information on signed URLs for content protection, you can have a look at Amazon Cloudfront’s documentation.

All these 3 steps make the video stream considerably immune to direct download through plugins. However, these methods are still breakable by already available codes and tech hacks.

Technical overview of HLS Streaming

HLS streaming or HTTP live streaming is a video streaming protocol to stream audio and video across all major browsers and devices. Here’s a brief overview of how HLS Streaming works.

Source and Encoding: Video content can be either live or recorded and is first encoded into all the relevant formats and quality. The video is also compressed to ensure it can be streamed easily, as raw files are usually pretty big. 

Segmentation and Multiple Formats: After the encoding is done the video is further split into segments of about 10 seconds each. Segmentation makes it easier to switch between video quality, this is done dynamically based on the user’s internet speed. 

Creation of M3U8 Playlist: An M3U8 playlist file is created, which contains information about the video segments of all the different qualities. It guides the player to pick the right segment based on internet speed.

Delivery and Adaptation: All the video chunks and the m3u8 playlist are saved on an HTTP server. When someone streams the video, the m3u8 playlist is downloaded and the video chunks are downloaded. As the internet speed changes, the player chooses the higher or lower-quality video chunks based on it. It ensures a smooth viewing experience with minimal buffering. 

Key Benefits of HLS Streaming

Here are the key benefits of HLS (HTTP Live Streaming):

Compatibility: HLS is compatible with almost all browsers and devices. Initially HLS was limited to Apple devices now it has a much broader range browser it supports.

Adaptive Streaming: HLS ensures a smooth viewing experience by scaling the video quality. It does this based on the user’s internet speed, the quality scales up or down based on the internet speed. This ensures that there is no buffering at lower speeds.

Live and On-Demand: HLS works for both live and recorded streaming. This makes it pretty versatile for streaming different types of content. 

Security: HLS uses AES-128 encryption to encrypt the video chunk, to protect videos from unauthorized access. 

Scalability: HLS offers good scalability to deliver live and record content across global CDN. These CDNs distribute the streaming load among various servers. This distribution strategy efficiently handles sudden increases in viewers, such as unexpected large live audiences, ensuring a stable streaming experience.

Compare HLS with other streaming protocols

Comparing HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) to other video streaming protocols:

MPEG-DASH:

MPEG-DASH is similar to HLS in providing adaptive streaming. But MPEG-DASH is more flexible with different codecs and containers. HLS is more widely supported, especially on Apple devices. MPEG-DASH is gaining popularity due to its open standard nature.

RTMP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol): 

RTMP is older and great for low-latency streaming, like live broadcasts. However, it doesn’t support adaptive streaming and is less compatible with modern devices. HLS, while having slightly higher latency, offers better device compatibility and adaptive streaming.

Microsoft Smooth Streaming: 

This is Microsoft’s version of adaptive streaming. It works well with Microsoft devices and software. However, HLS has wider support across various platforms and devices compared to Microsoft Smooth Streaming.

HDS (HTTP Dynamic Streaming): 

HDS is Adobe’s streaming protocol. It’s similar to HLS in adaptive streaming but is less common. HLS has broader support and is more widely used than HDS.

How is DRM level security for HLS Encryption possible?

DRM requires that the key exchange and licensing mechanism is highly secure and is always out of reach of external tools and hackers. A DRM technology also has additional elements. It delivers a license file, which also specifies the usage rights of the viewer. Usage rights specify the conditions in which the video playback is allowed.
Implementation of these usage rights ensures that the signed key used for decryption can only be used for playback on the viewer’s device. The key would simply fail to decrypt the video stream if the video file is copied to any other device.

DRM adds complex layers of workflow for license management. This workflow includes:

Specifying highly detailed usage rights such as

• Limiting video playback on a device to only a fixed number of times
• Video access can expire after a period of days if the subscription is not renewed
• Limiting the device or screen on which the video can be played. For example usage rights can be used to restrict users to cast their video playback on an external device such as a Smart TV.

The license database is also bound to the user’s device, which means that if shared the license and decryption key becomes redundant.

Licenses are also signed with the digital signature, which means that they cannot tamper with either during transit over HTTP or when stored locally on the device.

Implementing DRM along with HLS streaming entails considerable modification of the HLS Encryption infrastructure.  At VdoCipher, we have been able to do that and provide a full-fledged proprietary + HLS DRM. We cannot technically say that we are streaming an HLS encrypted stream as it is highly modified. We use a combination of other technologies based on different platforms and are able to roll out a cross-device, cross-browser compatible DRM.

VdoCipher HLS DRM Infrastructure Details

1. Upload of Videos (All common formats are supported )
   The content can be uploaded through Dashboard or APIs. Upload from desktop, FTP, DropBox, Box, URL, Server all is supported.
2. Encryption & Transcoding for DRM streaming
   Videos are converted into encrypted files, and multiple qualities & versions for ensuring delivery of quality content at all devices, browsers, and all connection speeds. The encrypted content is stored at our AWS S3 servers and raw videos are never exposed. We have set up our custom EC2 instances for the encoding pipeline, and the resultant files are hosted securely on AWS S3 servers.
3. Encrypted Video Streaming (Modified HLS Encryption & Streaming)
   As discussed above the high-security key and license exchange mechanism supports the transfer of encrypted video data, ensuring HLS DRM level security. Dynamic URLs ensure that each playback is authenticated and the URL cannot be extracted outside the website or app for pirated playback. We use multiple top tier CDNs – Cloudfront, Akamai, Google CDN, Verizon to ensure smooth delivery of content all across the globe
4. Decryption in Video Player & Watermarking
   There is a private communication between our API & the client website. This ensures that its not possible for hackers to decrypt our streams. The One Time encryption that we use is theoretically and practically hack-proof. The website embedding the video content requests a One-time password from the VdoCipher web server using the API. This OTP request is made only after the user is authenticated. The VdoCipher API returns the OTP, which is used to render the embed code. This embed code is valid for a single playback session only. Along with the key a usage policy is specified, ensuring that only a logged-in and authenticated user is allowed to playback the encrypted video. The video would simply fail to play if an external plugin or downloader is used to try to access the video file.We have timely modifications to our licensing and authentication mechanism to keep security updated.
5. Watermarking
   Video licensing and playback are combined to generate customisable viewer specific watermarks. The watermark can be IP address, Email ID  and User ID shown in customisable colour & transparency to identify a playback session by the viewer.
6. Result – Progressive High Secure Streaming
   Through this 6-step Video Hosting, Encryption and Streaming process, VdoCipher, as a video hosting software, is able to provide a progressive high security video streaming with future buffer possible. This is also different from RTMP which does not maintain any buffer and can be quite erratic as a result.

You can find out more about DRM Solution here.

Demo Free Trial for HLS DRM Streaming

You can signup for a free full version trial at VdoCipher.

Online businesses also often require features over and beyond video security. VdoCipher fulfills all major requirements for enterprise video hosting. The complete set of features that VdoCipher offers for enterprise video hosting may be found here.

Also, do read our blog on react native video playback.

FAQs

Is HLS DRM protected?

HLS is not protected with DRM by default. Traditionally, HLS streams could only be protected using Apple FairPlay DRM but with new updates, HLS can be protected by Google Widevine DRM in addition to Apple FairPlay DRM.

Is HLS unicast or multicast?

Traditionally, HLS was designed by Apple for Quicktime, Safari, and iOS devices. It did not used to support multicast but with new updates HLS, has emerged as the de facto multicast format for live streaming and video on demand (VOD).

Is HLS better than RTMP?

Moreover, it depends on the use case but HLS has notable advantages which include embedded closed captions, good advertising standards support, synchronized playback of multiple streams, and DRM support. RTMP has advantages of low latency, flexibility, efficient bandwidth usage, and dynamic content delivery.

Siddhant Jain

CEO, VdoCipher. Writes about video tech, ed tech and media tech.

www.vdocipher.com/

The post HLS DRM, HLS Streaming & HLS Encryption for Content Security appeared first on VdoCipher Blog.

To bring versatility, WHATWG (Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group), on 10 April 2007, joined hands with the Mozilla Foundation, Apple, and Opera Software to begin working on HTML5. This new version of the HTML standard included other web elements like video and audio playback natively. This standard is now commonly known as HTML5 and is the most versatile solution available for video playback. Adding javascript makes the player behavior ubiquitous across various browsers by replacing standard controls with complex and advanced ones. In many cases, it is also possible to add video piracy protection to your videos by using advanced and secure video players.

What is a JavaScript Video Player?

As we discussed the empowerment of < video > HTML tag with the use of javascript, the easiest and most versatile way to accomplish that is using Javascript API. This javascript API is available for < video > tag and gets support through the browsers. All the popular players use this Javascript API to add homogeneous customizations to the HTML5 player for different browsers. The javascript API can be used by placing javascript code in the HTML document or by loading the js file from some CDN or cloud access. This code uses the media elements and available methods, properties, and events to add alterations and additional functionality to the basic player.

The < video > tag, in combination with the use of javascript, becomes powerful enough to contain features such as seek, pause, play, captions, switching video quality, and many more. Players can also be coupled with in-HTML CSS or cloud-hosted stylesheets to change the player’s display presets. Moreover, javascript is self-sufficient to make most of the inclusions, and the combined is more often called a javascript video player. We will discuss some technicalities related to javascript API, like elements, methods, properties, etc, and then we will start with the implementation. We will be discussing the addition of basic features through the javascript API, but complex solutions can also be written by combining other available API features.

Why Do You Need A JavaScript Video Player?

The use of flash for web playback is now nearly replaced by video playback using < video > tag. It is supported by most browsers and can play multiple video formats. The main issue with the < video > tag playback is varied rendering. This happens due to the rendered video player’s dependence on the browser for the requested playback. On some browsers, the user will be able to access basic controls; on others, they might find some missing. This generates inconsistent user experience. To handle this issue, < video > element is empowered by using javascript to control the player’s interface by placing custom video controls in the javascript code instead of using the browser’s default. You can place this javascript code in the HTML document or even call it as a JS file from some CDN.

How To Secure Content with JavaScript Video Player?

Any video player requires security if the media content is suspected to be pirated. The hackers have gone so smart that they easily crack basic encryption by revealing the encryption key through easy to medium hacks. You should encrypt via the best algorithm available in your time and, with that, also use the best key exchange management system. These two requirements plug 99% of the piracy cases, leaving apart the screen recording, which requires additional watermarking features.

You can also find javascript codes like the one below to encrypt and decrypt your video files, but they all have to use a “key” parameter.

var encryptor = require('file-encryptor');
var key = 'SUPER-SECRET-KEY';
var options = { algorithm: 'aes256' };
encryptor.encryptFile('myVideoObject.mp4', 'encrypted.dat', key, options, function(err) {
});
encryptor.decryptFile('encrypted.dat', 'outputfile.mp4', key, options, function(err) {
});

This “key” parameter brings us to one more piece of information: “keys” can only be secured if you control the hardware or OS, and that is only possible if you are the hardware or OS provider. In today’s world, most media devices and browsers are controlled by Apple and Google. That is the reason if you are looking for video security, their help is required. The best way to achieve that will be to acquire Google Widevine and Apple Fairplay licenses and set up a DRM server. Also, DRM solution providers like Vdocipher provide multi-DRM services at the most affordable cost, saving you a lot of coding trouble and capital investment.

Multimedia Elements accessible via JavaScript

Before dealing with the use of HTML5 < video > tags and their customizations via javascript, let us know a bit more about multimedia elements. A video file is a container or a Multimedia container format containing different video data like audio, subtitles, metadata, etc. The multimedia container is then compressed with an algorithm or codec like mp4. In most cases, the recent versions of browsers are now compatible with video tags and provide format support to the following.

• .webm extension
• .mp4 extension
• .ogg extension

The < video > tag acts like a < img > tag for displaying an image on the frontend. You can playback multiple supported formats and control the JS player via attributes and for homogeneity via javascript. This < video > tag also provides various APIs like play, pause, change the speed, or seek during video playback and these APIs are directly accessible via javascript. The JS players we usually see, like videojs and other open-source alternatives, have complex javascript to make the rendering common to all viewers. For example, features like switching between video quality and support for multi-language captions are the evolved and necessary demands of today’s world.

The Media Elements which API provides can be categorized as,

• Methods like play() that reads the media
• Properties like currentTime to obtain or modify some properties
• Events like timeupdate to trigger specific behavior for specific media events

How to build a custom JavaScript video player for streaming?

Two categories of the workflow are required for creating a custom javascript video player. One controls the player, and another instantiates those controls with some added HTML elements. Let us discuss both with examples,

Control player’s video with JavaScript

There are 3 methods to control media elements via JavaScript API, they are:

• play() to start or restart playing of media file
• pause() to stop playback at the current location
• load() allows substituting the active video in the player with another

As a method, like functions of an object, to execute them, you need to identify the video through the document.getElementById(id) and then instantiate the method with the dot notation.

For example:

var myVideoObject = document.getElementById ("myVideo");

myVideoObject.play()
myVideoObject.pause()
myVideoObject.load()

In addition, as objects, video elements also have several properties, like,

• currentTime : time at a given time in seconds
• duration : duration of the video file in seconds
• volume : volume level between 0.0 and 1.0

For example:

console.log (myVideoObject.currentTime);
console.log (myVideoObject.duration);
console.log (myVideoObject.volume);

Create controls in HTML5 javascript video player

Using the javascript API’s methods and properties associated with < video > tag, we can easily add custom html5 video controls in place of standard controls by the browser. In the previous section, we discussed using the play, pause, and load method directly with a video object. In that case, the code acts as instantiated, and repeating requires another instantiation. To make it user-friendly, we use HTML handles that can run that code for you. These handles can be buttons, clickable SVGs, or any other interactive HTML element. For example, we will create buttons to access play and pause methods through a button handler. These HTML buttons will access the API through javascript and will enable the required feature.

// Adding Video Tag with multiple source
<video id = "myVideoObject">
<source src = "1920x1080.mp4">
</video>

// Adding the HTML buttons with ID
<button id = "playButton"> Play </button>
<button id = "pauseButton"> Pause </button>

// Adding the JavaScript to identify HTML elements
var myVideoObject = document.getElementById ("myVideoObject");
var playBtn = document.getElementById ("playButton");
var pauseBtn = document.getElementById ("pauseButton");

playButton.onclick = function () {
myVideoObject.play ();
}

pauseButton.onclick = function () {
myVideoObject.pause ();
}

Note: For complex operations, you will have to combine functions of various methods and arrange them in logic to form a complex function.

Adding a Video in JavaScript with multiple sources and subtitles

We have now understood the controls and handler, but adding dynamic information through an API can also be fulfilled through javascript. Media Source Extensions and Source Buffers are used for advanced features to recalibrate the audio and video files separately, etc.

The < video > tag can also be created using a document.createElement(“video”), and then its attributes like source, controls, etc., can be modified. We will discuss an example of creating a video element and modifying it to add multiple sources and subtitles.

// HTML code

<div id="myVideoObject"></div>

// JavaScript code:
var video = document.createElement ("video");
vc.controls = true;
var source1 = document.createElement("source");
source1.src = "video.mp4";
var source2 = document.createElement("source");
source2.src = "video.ogg";
var track1 = document.createElement("track");
track1.kind = "subtitles";
track1.src = "subtitles_en.srt";
track1.label = "English";
track1.srclang = "en";
track1.type = "text/srt";
var track2 = document.createElement("track");
track2.kind = "subtitles";
track2.src = "subtitles_es.srt";
track2.label = "Spanish";
track2.srclang = "br";
track2.type = "text/srt";
vc.appendChild(source1);
vc.appendChild(source2);
vc.appendChild(track1);
vc.appendChild(track2);
cc.appendChild(video);

// Output HTML
<video controls = "">
<source src = "video.mp4">
<source src = "video.ogg">
<track kind = "subtitles" src = "subtitles_en.srt" label = "English" srclang = "en">
<track kind = "subtitles" src = "subtitles_es.srt" label = "English" srclang = "es">
</video>

Note: For complex operations, you will have to use multiple handles, combine functions of various methods, and arrange them in logic to form a complex function.

Best JavaScript or JS video player

There are many javascript players in the market, and many are even open source. Thus, the important decision here of choosing the best one is dependent upon the features it provides. It also depends on your use case; for example, if security is your concern, a secure video player will be the only choice.

VdoCipher – Secure Video Player

VdoCipher provides a JavaScript video player for HTML5 playback with the added advantage of DRM encryption to secure videos from being illegally downloaded. As discussed in the need of security section, the “key” parameter can only be secured if you are in control of the hardware or OS, and that is only possible if you are the hardware or OS provider. In today’s world, most media devices and browsers are controlled by Apple and Google. That is the reason if you are looking for video security, their help is required. VdoCipher is already a partner with Google Widevine and helps you set up a multi-DRM setup for secure video playback. In addition to DRM, VdoCipher also adds a layer of dynamic watermarking and a safety net to deter rooted devices and compromised apps from hacking and screen capture. We’ve also written a blog on how to stream videos on iOS using AVPlayer, do check it out to know more about video streaming in iOS.

Apart from security, VdoCipher smart player has all many more customization features, like,

• Enable Caption Search
• Multi-Language Subtitles
• Adaptive Bitrate Streaming
• Show Progress Bar
• Show Scrubbing Preview
• Auto Resume
• Enable Keyboard Shortcuts
• Primary Color change via Hex color code
• Show Time Text
• Show Quality Control
• Hide Controls on Pause
• Lock Controls
• Enable Save Offline

VideoJS

Video.js is an HTML5 web video player which supports modern streaming file formats such as MP4 and WebM, as well as YouTube, Vimeo, etc. It also supports adaptive bitrate streaming formats like HLS and DASH. It is designed to keep the styling customizations open, thus having a consistent base to build on top of, and can be easily modified with a little bit of extra CSS. This open-source project which was started in mid-2010, supports not only desktop devices but also mobile devices. Users can also use plugin architecture with documentation support to add additional functionalities to the player. The VideoJS community also has hundreds of skins and plugins built-in to be installed for Chromecast, IMA, VR, etc.

Plyr

Plyr is a simple, lightweight, and customizable HTML5 Video player with YouTube and Vimeo media playback support. It is supported on all modern browsers with full VTT captions, responsiveness, monetization options, HLS streaming and playback, API support, keyboard shortcuts, Picture-in-Picture, speed controls, and much more. YouTube and Vimeo playback is supported and functions much like an HTML5 video.

Projekktor

Projekktor is a free and open-source (GPL) HTML5 web video player written in Javascript. It acts similarly for cross-browser player compatibility issues and provides ubiquitous behavior across devices. This HTML5 video player automatically detects the best way to play your favorite video with its impressive and attractive styling elements. You can use the player for your live streaming platform and integrate Pre- & Postroll Ads, build playlists of your videos, stream multiple channels, Youtube HTML5 support, easy to integrate, theme customization, and also comes with Unified Javascript API.

Xgplayer

Xgplayer is an HTML5 video and audio player library designed with separate and detachable UI components. The UI layer is very flexible and has multiple good functionalities for improving video loading, buffering, and multiple file format support for video dependence. It provides features to load control, seamless switching without artifacts, and Adaptive bandwidth for video bandwidth savings. Xgplayer also provides support for plugins which can be divided into two categories: one is self-starting, and another inherits the player’s core class named xgplayer. The official plugins are self-starting, and the packaged third-party libraries get inherited.

FAQs

Can you play mp4 using a JavaScript player?

MP4 file format or MPEG-4 playback is supported by all browsers and is also gets used in video cameras and other video media Hardware. This format was developed by the Moving Pictures Expert Group. This is also the most recommended format by YouTube.

Is it possible to stream audio via a JavaScript player?

Yes, audio can be streamed on a javascript player and can also be separated from the video for handling buffers or adding additional capabilities via javascript.

Can JavaScript handle video piracy through encryption?

JavaScript allows you to use various libraries to encrypt files through aes256 and other algorithms, but this is only partially secure. You need a dynamic key exchange mechanism and encryption like DRM for the best video protection.

Vishal Sharma

My expertise focuses on DRM encryption, CDN technologies, and streamlining marketing campaigns to drive engagement and growth. At VdoCipher, I’ve significantly enhanced digital experiences and contributed to in-depth technical discussions in the eLearning, Media, and Security sectors, showcasing a commitment to innovation and excellence in the digital landscape.

The post JavaScript Video Player for HTML5 Streaming – Create or Choose Best? appeared first on VdoCipher Blog.