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Software EngineeringSystem DesignTopicsStreaming protocol

Streaming protocol

This is a standardized way to control data transfer for video streaming.

Popular streaming protocols are:

  • MPEG–DASH. MPEG stands for “Moving Picture Experts Group” and DASH stands for “Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP”.
  • Apple HLS. HLS stands for “HTTP Live Streaming”.
  • Microsoft Smooth Streaming.
  • Adobe HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS).

You do not need to fully understand or even remember those streaming protocol names as they are low-level details that require specific domain knowledge. The important thing here is to understand that different streaming protocols support different video encodings and playback players. When we design a video streaming service, we have to choose the right streaming protocol to support our use cases.

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