HLS vs MPEG DASH: Which Streaming Protocol offers Low Latency Streaming?

Muvi
3 min readMar 23, 2020

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HLS vs MPEG-DASH-which streaming protocol should you choose if you want to deliver low latency streaming? Well, for both live streams and on-demand video, this blog will focus on comparing MPEG-DASH vs. HLS as two of the top streaming protocols.

What is HLS?

HLS or HTTP Live Streaming is one of the most popular streaming protocols for streaming live video content over the internet. As the name suggests, HLS protocol delivers video content via standard HTTP web servers. This means that you don’t have to integrate any special infrastructure to deliver HLS content.

Playback support:

  • iOS, Android, Linux, Microsoft and macOS devices
  • Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge web browsers
  • Various set-top boxes like Roku, smart TVs

What is MPEG-DASH?

MPEG-DASH is the latest and by far, the best competitor of HLS. Created by Moving Picture Experts Group between 2009 and 2012, DASH is also a streaming protocol and it uses standard HTTP web servers like HLS. DASH is short for Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP which means that like HLS, it’s an adaptive bitrate protocol.

Playback Support:

  • Native support on Android devices
  • Playback support on LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Philips, and Sony TVs
  • Playback on Chromecast
  • Supported on Netflix and YouTube
  • Not natively supported in HTML5, but players can be implemented via Media Source Extensions (MSEs) and Javascript.

HLS vs MPEG-Which is more widely supported

Although HLS and MPEG-DASH are two of the most widely popular streaming protocols, HLS is more widely supported than MPEG-DASH. It stands as the most dominant streaming format in 2018. In terms of compatibility, HLS beats MPEG-DASH in the sense that DASH is not supported in the Safari browser which is a major disadvantage for macOS users.

HLS vs MPEG-DASH: The situation so far

Both HLS and DASH offer latencies between 30 and 45 seconds due to sequential buffering of multiple media delivery segments. Thankfully, the streaming industry had come up with a solution a couple of years ago with the MPEG Common Media Application Format (CMAF).

What is CMAF?

Common Media Application Format (CMAF) is basically a new format to simplify delivery of HTTP-based streaming media. It is an emerging standard to help reduce cost, complexity and latency issues that content owners or broadcasters face while streaming live or on-demand content.

HLS vs MPEG-DASH: which offers low latency streaming?

Apple, during its annual developer conference in June 2019, announced an important update which would act as a complete solution to address latency issues. This solution will be based on CMAF segments as a result of which delivering low latency videos would become easy and at par with broadcast (5–10 seconds).

So, HLS or MPEG-DASH- which one should you choose?

The kind of streaming protocol you choose mostly depends on your requirements like scalability, codec requirements, latency requirements, adaptive bitrate streaming etc. While HLS scores high in terms of compatibility, supporting almost all browsers and devices, MPEG-DASH is codec agnostic enabling you to employ any codec you want to playback video streams.

For more information on HLS and MPEG-DASH, read our blog HLS vs MPEG DASH: Which Streaming Protocol Should You Choose?

Muvi supports both RTMP and HLS feeds for your Live Streaming service. You just have to enter your live feed URL in the backend and Muvi’s video player will embed the feed for immediate playback to end-users.

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Muvi
Muvi

Written by Muvi

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