• Business
    • Biz Tech
  • Cloud
  • Social Media
  • Alternatives
    • Movie Streaming Sites
      • 1MoviesHD
      • Hurawatch
      • Ifvod
      • Bflix
      • Couchtuner
    • Anime Streaming Sites
      • Animesuge
      • Animekisa
      • Animedao
      • Anilinkz
    • Manga Sites
      • Asurascans
      • Comick.fun
      • Webtoon XYZ
    • Sports Streaming Sites
      • Streameast
    • Photos & Graphics
  • Software
  • Gaming

Subscribe to Updates

Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

What's Hot

How to Boost Instagram Followers?

Mar 30, 2023

From Spender to Saver – Building a Healthy Savings Account

Mar 30, 2023

How to Automate Your Software Documentation Process

Mar 30, 2023
Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
  • Write For Us
  • Contact Us
Facebook Twitter
Digital Edge
  • Business
    • Biz Tech
  • Cloud
  • Social Media
  • Alternatives
    • Movie Streaming Sites
      • 1MoviesHD
      • Hurawatch
      • Ifvod
      • Bflix
      • Couchtuner
    • Anime Streaming Sites
      • Animesuge
      • Animekisa
      • Animedao
      • Anilinkz
    • Manga Sites
      • Asurascans
      • Comick.fun
      • Webtoon XYZ
    • Sports Streaming Sites
      • Streameast
    • Photos & Graphics
  • Software
  • Gaming
Digital Edge
Home»Guide»What Is RTMP Streaming?
Guide

What Is RTMP Streaming?

Michael JenningsBy Michael JenningsSep 21, 2020No Comments5 Mins Read

Streaming video content is now more popular than ever, and there is now no shortage of video streaming protocol options we can use to stream our content.

If you are just streaming your content for fun, then using software encoders to stream your content might be enough. However, if you want to reliably stream your content in high-quality, then using RMTP as your streaming protocol is recommended.

Here, we will discuss a relatively technical topic: what is RMTP streaming, its benefits, and how we can implement it when live streaming our videos.

Let us begin with the first one: what is RMTP streaming?

What Is RMTP Streaming? 

RMTP stands for Real-Time Messaging Protocol, and in a nutshell, is a content delivery method that is specially designed and optimized for video live-streaming. RTMP is a part of Adobe’s proprietary protocol and was originally developed by Macromedia before it was purchased by Adobe. So, it is actually a fairly old protocol.

A common misconception is to think that RTMP is a codec, but it’s not. Instead, it typically leverages the H.264 advanced video coding. RMTP is instead based on TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and is versatile enough to stream not only video, but also audio, text, and even text content. 

A key characteristic of RTMP is that it splits data/files into chunks so it can deliver the stream smoothly. RTMP, albeit being a relatively old protocol, is still the standard for streaming your videos to your online video platform (like Viloud player or YouTube). However, it’s no longer the preferred protocol to deliver streams to viewers (where newer protocols like HLS) is preferred. So, RTMP works together with another protocol (like HLS) to make a seamless, fast live-streaming possible.

So, when streaming with RTMP, video content typically follows the following workflow: 

  • Streamed by camera/video source to an RTMP encoder
  • The RTMP encoder prepares the content for delivery
  • After it is prepared into a ready-to-stream format, it is then sent to a video hosting platform (like Viloud or directly to YouTube).
  • It is then encoded for delivery to viewers using HLS protocol
  • Distributed to viewers

Pros and Cons of RTMP Streaming

While RTMP is, as discussed, the most common protocol used for delivering content from a video source (camera) to a video hosting platform at the moment, it’s not 100% perfect. Below are some of the benefits and disadvantages of RTMP streaming. 

Pros: 

  • Being an Adobe proprietary protocol, it is natively supported by flash players and various Adobe products. Flash-based players are still one of the most common forms of internet video streaming players at the moment. 
  • Being a passive protocol, it doesn’t have any limitation with active client connection (this doesn’t apply to RTMFP) 
  • Optimized for live streaming and allows dynamic streaming (where video quality is automatically adjusted based on the viewer’s available bandwidth)
  • Widely adopted, so it has a broad DRM support

Cons: 

  • RTMP only works in Flash players and won’t work in HTML 5 players which are rapidly increasing in popularity
  • Newer codecs like H.265 are not supported by RTMP
  • RTMP data is streamed to the player (not directly to the viewer), so it requires higher bandwidth than the video’s actual bitrate. As a result of this, when there’s a drop in connection, the stream will stutter.
  • Most RTMP content is sent via port 1935, which is a non-standard port. So it’s often blocked by firewalls. We can bypass this issue by tunneling the content over HTTP (via RTMPT), but it will burden the server and result in a drop in performance.

The Current State of RTMP

Although Flash players are still pretty common on many websites, it has been steadily replaced especially by HTML 5 players. In fact, Adobe itself will stop supporting Flash after 2020. So, what will it mean for RTMP?

It’s important to note that despite the decline of Flash, this won’t mean RTMP will completely go away. Mainly due to its widespread popularity until recent years, and the versatility of the protocol, RTMP is still used by Facebook Live, YouTube, and Twitch, among other popular platforms. 

Although RTMP has its disadvantages (like what we’ve discussed above), we can still expect widespread use of RTMP at least for the next five years. 

RTMP Streaming With Viloud

With Viloud, you can broadcast live video via any RTMP hardware encoder or software encoders like OBS and Wirecast. This way, you can embed a Viloud player on a website or send the live feed to your Viloud channel(s). The channel will automatically switch to a live state, and when the live broadcast ends it will switch into its normal (VOD or linear) state. 

End Words

Even with the decline of flash players, RTMP encoders will still be the leading protocol to deliver your video content to the video hosting solution, at least for the next five years. So, getting a video hosting service that supports RTMP, like Viloud, is very important if you want to ensure a stable, high-quality live broadcast whether on your website or in third-party platforms like Facebook Live or a Roku Channel.

Michael Jennings

Micheal wrote his first article for Digitaledge.org in 2015 and now calls himself a “tech cupid.” Proud owner of a weird collection of cocktail ingredients and rings, along with a fascination for AI and algorithms. He loves to write about devices that make our life easier and occasionally about movies. “Would love to witness the Zombie Apocalypse before I die.”- Michael

Related Posts

3 Accident Prevention Tips To Avoid Collisions With Trucks

Mar 29, 2023

Myths About Student Loans: What Is True and What Is Not

Feb 22, 2023

Step-by-Step Guide on How to Choose a Good Bank in the USA

Jan 24, 2023
Top Posts

SockShare – Is it Working? 22 Best Alternatives in 2023

Feb 14, 2023

12 Zooqle Alternative Torrent Sites That Work In 2023

Feb 20, 2023

17 Working TheWatchSeries Alternatives in 2023

Feb 6, 2023

Is TVMuse Working? 100% Working TVMuse Alternatives And Mirror Sites In 2023

Feb 18, 2023

15 Games Like Free Cities You Should Check Out

Sep 22, 2022

15 Cucirca Alternatives That Work in 2023

Feb 15, 2023

22 Rainierland Alternatives in 2023

Feb 13, 2023
About Us

Digital Edge is the freshest voice in the field of technology and digital media. Our editorial staff is really passionate in their efforts to curate the latest technological breakthroughs in new and emerging technologies from all over the world to help businesses, IT professionals and consumers to stay abreast with all the latest developments.

We pride ourselves in providing quality content from reputed authors and bloggers as well as from passionate observers like you! If you have a unique voice that you would like to unleash on the rest of the world, then please let us know! Our editors go over everything with a fine tooth comb as a result of which any proverbial cracks are paper-thin from which no inaccuracies ever seep through! However, if there is anything you do not agree with or if you want to comment on the swell job that we are doing, feel free to reach out to us as well. We love hearing from you!

Most Popular

SockShare – Is it Working? 22 Best Alternatives in 2023

Feb 14, 2023337 Views

12 Zooqle Alternative Torrent Sites That Work In 2023

Feb 20, 2023222 Views

17 Working TheWatchSeries Alternatives in 2023

Feb 6, 2023142 Views
Our Picks

How to Boost Instagram Followers?

Mar 30, 2023

From Spender to Saver – Building a Healthy Savings Account

Mar 30, 2023

How to Automate Your Software Documentation Process

Mar 30, 2023
Facebook Twitter
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise
  • Write For Us
  • Contact Us
© 2023 ThemeSphere. Designed by ThemeSphere.

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.