Documentation

HLS Streaming

HLS support in Radiant Media Player

Radiant Media Player provides a comprehensive and cross-device solution to display HLS streams for on-demand, live or DVR content. Our HLS to HTML5 video & audio implementation relies on media source extensions (MSE) and is based on hls.js. Where media source extensions are not available (e.g. iOS, older Android) we fallback to native HLS to HTML5 video.

A standard-compliant HLS streaming URL is all you need - the player will take care of opting for the best way to render it based on device capabilities.

Supported HLS features

  • CMAF and MPEG-2 TS container support
  • Live, DVR and on-demand video streaming
  • Low-latency live HLS streaming (LL-HLS)
  • Optimized adaptive bitrate streaming
  • Multiple-audio tracks
  • AES-128/SAMPLE-AES decryption
  • Timed Metadata for HTTP Live Streaming (ID3 format carried in MPEG-2 TS, Emsg in CMAF/Fragmented MP4, and DATERANGE playlist tags)
  • WebVTT, IMSC1 & CEA 608/708 captions
  • Program-date-time
  • SEI packets with resolution payloadType 5
  • Discontinuities
  • Resilience to errors
  • Redundant/Failover Playlists
  • Audio-only: AAC container or MPEG Audio container (MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer III)
  • HLS Content Steering
  • HLS Variable Substitution

Supported environments

See our compatibility table for a list of environments where HLS streaming is supported with Radiant Media Player.

CORS requirements

You must set up your streaming server to return proper CORS settings permitting GET requests for HLS streaming to Radiant Media Player to work as expected.

Player code example

<!-- Include Radiant Media Player - here we use the optimised build for hls.js -->
<script src="https://cdn.radiantmediatechs.com/rmp/9.14.1/js/rmp-hlsjs.min.js"></script>
<!-- Player container element -->
<div id="rmp"></div>
<!-- Set up player configuration options -->
<script>
// Here we set our HLS streaming source
const src = {
  hls: 'https://your-hls-url.m3u8'
};
const settings = {
  licenseKey: 'your-license-key',
  src: src,
  width: 640,
  height: 360,
  contentMetadata: {
    poster: [
      'https://your-poster-url.jpg'
    ]
  }
};
const rmp = new RadiantMP('rmp');
rmp.init(settings);
</script>

HLS player settings

General

capLevelToPlayerSize: Boolean

This setting limits bitrates usable in auto-quality depending on player size (width). Default: true. If set to true, potential rendition width will be compared with the actual player width and only the best match will be used as the maximum available bitrate, hence helping to preserve bandwidth usage while maintaining streaming quality. This setting is ignored in manual mode so all levels can be selected manually. For 360° video this setting is always set to false.

Why is that setting on by default in Radiant Media Player?

Bandwidth can be expensive. Not only for you as a streaming service (cost of CDN and/or origin streaming servers) but also for your viewers. There is very little point to throw a 1080p rendition in a player that is 640x360 sized. This can actually result in a poor viewing experience as more resources will be used by the client device (CPU, memory, network). Therefore we have decided to set capLevelToPlayerSize default to true. This can still be turn off for specific needs.

ignoreDevicePixelRatio: Boolean

When set to true this setting will not take into account devicePixelRatio for ABR logic. Default: true.

hlsJSStopDownloadWhilePaused: Boolean

When set to true this setting will cause the player to stop downloading HLS fragments while it is in a paused or stopped state. This can help to preserve bandwidth. Default: false.

hlsJSAppleAppStoreCompliance: Boolean

For App-store compliant HLS video streams which include an audio-only rendition this setting should be set to true to insure proper playback across devices. Default: false.

hlsJSDefaultAudioCodec: String

If audio codec is not signaled in variant manifest, or if only a stream manifest is provided, the player will try to guess audio codec by parsing audio sampling rate in ADTS header. If sampling rate is less or equal than 22050 Hz, then the player assumes it is HE-AAC, otherwise it assumes it is AAC-LC. This could result in bad guess, leading to audio decode error, ending up in media error. It is possible to hint default audio codec to the player by setting hlsJSDefaultAudioCodec to:

  • 'mp4a.40.2': AAC-LC
  • 'mp4a.40.5': HE-AAC
  • 'auto': the player auto-guesses. This is the default.

forceNativeHlsOverHlsJS: Boolean

When set to true the player will use native HLS support on the targeted device over Media Source Extensions HLS (provided both are detected as available). This can be useful in OTT environments where Media Source Extensions are known to be less efficient than native HLS (Fire TV, lower-end Android TV). Default: false.

forceHlsJSOnAppleDevices: Boolean

When set to true the player will use hls.js over native HLS on Apple devices (macOS, iPadOS and iOS Safari). This can be used for specific use-cases like DVR or WebRTC-powered solution support where native HLS may not provide full support for those features. For eligible Apple devices (Safari 17.0+ for macOS and iPadOS and Safari 17.1 for iOS) Managed Media Source will be used over classic Media Source Extensions for a better streaming experience and energy savings. Default: false.

manualSwitchingMode: String

Select what mode for manual bitrate switching should be used by the player (works for HLS and DASH). Available values are 'instant', 'smooth', 'conservative'. Default: 'smooth' which provides an intermediary setting between 'instant' (immediate) and 'conservative' (slow) bitrate switching.

hlsJSStartLevel: Number

Defines the preferred initial bitrate when playback starts. Default: -1.

  • -1: automatic start level selection, playback will start from level matching download bandwidth (determined from download of first segment based on first level appearing in manifest) and information provided by rmp-connection when available.
  • n: where n is an integer will cause the player to select the n th level at startup (where 0 is the lowest quality).

Best practice: when hlsJSStartLevel is set to -1, your HLS manifest should include a lower-end rendition (generally this should not exceed 500 kbps audio & video included) and this rendition should be the first listed in your HLS manifest. This should provide optimal performance.

hlsJSMinAutoBitrate: Number

Set the minimum value (in bps) that should be used by the ABR algorithm. Default: 0. For example setting hlsJSMinAutoBitrate to 500000 means that the player - while in auto mode - will pick the best matching level that has a bitrate above or equal to 500000 bps (500 kbps).

preferredVideoHdr: String

By default the player test for HDR support in the targeted environment and then opt for a HDR video track when available and where HDR video is supported. This setting tells the player to prefer a certain flavour of HDR video content or to ignore HDR video tracks even if supported. Possible values are: 'SDR', 'PQ', 'HLG' or 'auto'. Default: 'auto'.

audioPreference: Object

audioPreference.lang: String

Sets the preferred language for audio track upon player load. This is done through the lang property of audioPreference object. If not set player will opt for the 'main' audio track. The audioPreference.lang setting must be specified as a ISO 639 language code (example: 'en', 'de' or 'pt-BR') and must match a MPEG-DASH or HLS manifest value. Default: {}. Example:

const audioPreference = {};
audioPreference.lang = 'fr';
const playerSettings = {
  ...
  audioPreference: audioPreference,
  ...
}

subtitlePreference: Object

subtitlePreference.lang: String

Sets the preferred language for text track upon player load. This is done through the lang property of subtitlePreference object. If not set player will opt for the 'main' text track. The subtitlePreference.lang setting must be specified as a ISO 639 language code (example: 'en', 'de' or 'pt-BR') and must match a MPEG-DASH or HLS manifest value. Default: {}. Example:

const subtitlePreference = {};
subtitlePreference.lang = 'fr';
const playerSettings = {
  ...
  subtitlePreference: subtitlePreference,
  ...
}

Low-latency live settings (LL-HLS)

For more information on low-latency live HLS streaming see our live documentation.

autoLowLatencyMode: Boolean

By default player auto-detect LL-HLS streams and configure itself for LL-HLS support when a LL-HLS stream is detected. If you want to disable LL-HLS detection/configuration set this setting to false. Default: true.

hlsJSProgressive: Boolean

Enables streaming segment data with fetch loaderexperimental (rather than XHR). Default: false.

XMLHttpRequest tuning

hlsJSFetchXhrWithCredentials: Boolean

This setting indicates to the player whether or not cross-site Access-Control requests should be made using credentials such as cookies, authorization headers or TLS client certificates. This applies to all requests (Fetch or XHR) made in the context of HLS streaming. Setting hlsJSFetchXhrWithCredentials has no effect on same-site requests. Default: false. Setting this setting to true will also enable requests with credentials in our Google Cast CAF receiver.

Retry parameters

retryParameters: Object

This represents an Object to pass to the player to specify specific retry parameters when attempting to load HLS content. The following example shows the default player parameters:

retryParameters: {
  manifest: {
    timeout: 20000, // timeout in ms, after which we abort a request
    maxAttempts: 3, // the maximum number of requests before we fail
    delay: 1000 // the base delay in ms between retries
  },
  levels: {
    timeout: 20000,
    maxAttempts: 3,
    delay: 1000
  },
  segment: {
    timeout: 12000,
    maxAttempts: 5,
    delay: 1000
  },
  steering: {
    timeout: 20000,
    maxAttempts: 3,
    delay: 1000
  }
};

CMCD (Common-Media-Client-Data) support

enableCMCD: Boolean

Enables CMCD data to be passed with manifest/chunks/license requests. Default behaviour is to pass those data through URI query string. Default: false.

useHeadersForCMCD: Boolean

Pass CMCD data through HTTP request headers instead of URI query string. Default: false.

cmcdContentId: String

If not specificed the player will try to use contentMetadata.id for cmcdContentId. With this setting you can specify a custom cmcdContentId. Default: ''.

cmcdSessionId: String

If not specificed the player will automatically create a cmcdSessionId (UUID). With this setting you can specify a custom cmcdSessionId. Default: ''.

cmcdIncludeKeys: String[]

Takes an array of CMCD keys to include in client requests.. Default: [].

Custom config

You may pass to the player any parameter available with hls.js using the hlsJSCustomConfig setting:

hlsJSCustomConfig: Object

Allow passing a custom config object to hls.js. As such any hls.js internal setting can be tuned. Note that settings in hlsJSCustomConfig will complement (complement and override if applicable) any other hls.js settings set with other player settings. Default: {}. Example:

const hlsJSCustomConfig = {
  fragLoadingTimeOut: 20000,
  fragLoadingMaxRetry: 6,
  fragLoadingRetryDelay: 500,
  fragLoadingMaxRetryTimeout: 64000
};
const settings = {
  licenseKey: 'your-license-key',
  src: {
    hls: 'https://your-hls-url.m3u8'
  },
  width: 640,
  height: 360,
  hlsJSCustomConfig: hlsJSCustomConfig
};

hlsJSFullCustomConfig: Object

Allow passing a full custom config object to hls.js. All player settings related to hls.js will be overridden with those found in hlsJSFullCustomConfig or otherwise reset to hls.js default if not specified. Default: {}. Example:

See this page for a list of all hls.js options.

Custom HTTP headers

const hlsJSCustomConfig = {
  xhrSetup: (xhr, url) => {
    xhr.setRequestHeader("Authorization", "abc-token-abc")
  }
};
const settings = {
  licenseKey: 'your-license-key',
  src: {
    hls: 'https://your-hls-url.m3u8'
  },
  width: 640,
  height: 360,
  hlsJSCustomConfig: hlsJSCustomConfig
};

Buffer settings

hlsJSMaxBufferAhead: Number

Maximum front buffer size in seconds that the player can reach. When this value is reached the player will stop downloading chunks until further content has been consumed. Default: 30. It generally is best to use the default value but for on-demand content you may increase this value up to 60 seconds.

hlsJSMaxBufferBehind: Number

Maximum back buffer size in seconds that the player can reach. The player will progressively remove already consumed content from the buffer passed that mark. Default: 30. It generally is best to use the default value but for on-demand content you may increase this value up to 60 seconds.

Native HLS support notes

On iOS & macOS Safari and older Android devices, we display HLS to HTML5 video using native device support (this is where media source extensions are not available or not reliable enough). On those devices limitations may apply:

  • DVR controls may not be supported, in which case DVR streams will be treated as simple live streams - on iOS 12+ DVR controls are only available in fullscreen mode.
  • Manual bitrate switching is not supported - the player uses adaptive bitrate streaming in auto mode and the adaptation logic is left to the device.

HLS with ID3 frames

Radiant Media Player supports the retrieval & parsing of ID3 frames when streaming HLS (either through hls.js or native HLS in Safari). Usage examples vary from server-side ad insertion, metadata of audio-only streams (song title, album cover ...), slides attached to a video presentation and so on.

For more information on ID3 tags you can visit the id3.org site. A list of ID3 frames (id3v2.4) can be found here.

ID3 frames through player API

Since Radiant Media Player version 5.1.14 we provide native and easy-to-use extraction of ID3 frames through our player API:

ID3 API event

meta

Fires each time ID3 metadata are updated.

ID3 API method

getMetadata()

When invoked, this method will return Object representing the current ID3 metadata. The returned Object when available will have the following structure:

{
  data: {
    albumTitle: String, // TALB frame
    recordingTime: String, // TDRC frame
    releaseTime: String, // TDRL frame
    composer: String, // TCOM frame
    contentType: String, // TCON frame
    fileType: String, // TFLT frame
    contentGroup: String, // TIT1 frame
    title: String, // TIT2 frame
    duration: String, // TLEN frame
    artist: String, // TPE1 frame
    band: String, // TPE2 frame
    conductor: String, // TPE3 frame
    radioStationName: String, // TRSN frame
    radioStationOwner: String, // TRSO frame
    isrc: String, // TSRC frame
    commercialInfo: String, // WCOM frame
    copyrightInfo: String, // WCOP frame
    url: String, // WXXX frame (poster frame)
    start: Number, // start time of the metadata in seconds
    end: Number // end time of the metadata in seconds
  },
  type: "id3",
  raw: { rawData } // raw ID3 tags data
}

Depending on your HLS stream not all attributes from the data object may be available

Player code example
<script src="https://cdn.radiantmediatechs.com/rmp/9.14.1/js/rmp.min.js"></script>
<div id="rmp"></div>
<script>
  const src = {
    // Test stream - courtesy of our partner indexcom.com
    hls: 'https://db2.indexcom.com/bucket/ram/00/05/05.m3u8'
  };
  const settings = {
    licenseKey: 'your-license-key',
    src: src,
    width: 640,
    height: 360,
    audioOnly: true
  };
  const elementID = 'rmp';
  const rmp = new RadiantMP(elementID);
  // We listen to meta API event
  rmp.on('meta', () => {
    // Each time meta event fires, getMetadata API method is updated and can be queried
    console.log(rmp.getMetadata());
  });
  rmp.init(settings);
</script>

ID3 frames through player settings

audioOnlyID3UI: Boolean

When set to true this setting will display ID3 tags data to the player UI automatically. This only works when audioOnly and audioOnlyUseVideoLayout settings are set to true. This includes song title, artwork (if any), song duration, artist name, album title, recording time.

Player code example - see this example here
<script src="https://cdn.radiantmediatechs.com/rmp/9.14.1/js/rmp.min.js"></script>
<div id="rmp"></div>
<script>
  const src = {
    // Test stream - courtesy of our partner indexcom.com
    hls: 'https://db2.indexcom.com/bucket/ram/00/05/05.m3u8'
  };
  const settings = {
    licenseKey: 'your-license-key',
    src: src,
    width: 640,
    height: 360,
    audioOnly: true,
    // Automatic display of ID3 tags data in player UI
    audioOnlyID3UI: true,
    audioOnlyUseVideoLayout: true
  };
  const elementID = 'rmp';
  const rmp = new RadiantMP(elementID);
  rmp.init(settings);
</script>

SEI packets with resolution payloadType 5 with HLS

The player will parse SEI packets with resolution payloadType 5 based on H.264 specification for HLS (for default hls.js based streaming). Now you can write custom data to a HLS H.264 stream and get those data from API method getMetadata upon meta API event.

Getting SEI packets custom data through player API

SEI packets custom data API event

meta

Fires each time new SEI packets custom data are available

SEI packets custom data API method

getMetadata()

When invoked, this method will return Object representing the current SEI packets custom data. The returned Object when available will have the following structure:

{
  data: {
    samples: [
      {
        pts: 0,
        payloadType: 5,
        uuid: "8fbb6c74-7c3e-4f78-9f7-8cb35d3c177e",
        userDataBytes: Object,
        userData: "some user data"
      }
    ]
  },
  type: "sei"
}
Player code example
<script src="https://cdn.radiantmediatechs.com/rmp/9.14.1/js/rmp.min.js"></script>
<div id="rmp"></div>
<script>
  const src = {
    hls: 'your-hls-stream-with-sei-packets-with-resolution-payloadType-5'
  };
  const settings = {
    licenseKey: 'your-license-key',
    src: src,
    width: 640,
    height: 360
  };
  const elementID = 'rmp';
  const rmp = new RadiantMP(elementID);
  rmp.on('meta', () => {
    // Each time meta event fires, getMetadata API method is updated and can be queried
    console.log(rmp.getMetadata());
  });
  rmp.init(settings);
</script>

HLS with program date time

The EXT-X-PROGRAM-DATE-TIME tag in HLS associates the first sample of a Media Segment with an absolute date and/or time. It applies only to the next Media Segment. More information can be found in HLS specification.

Program date time metadata through player API

Since Radiant Media Player version 5.2.1 we provide native and easy-to-use extraction of program date time metadata through our player API:

Program date time API event

meta

Fires each time program date time metadata are updated.

Program date time API method

getMetadata()

When invoked, this method will return Object representing the current program date time metadata. The returned Object when available will have the following structure:

{
  data: {
    programDateTime: Number, // epoch time in seconds for start of program date time
    rawProgramDateTime: String, // Date time for program date time (ISO/IEC 8601:2004)
    endProgramDateTime: Number, // epoch time in seconds for end of program date time
    start: Number, // start time of the metadata in seconds
    end: Number // end time of the metadata in seconds
  },
  type: "program-date-time"
}

On Apple devices (iOS, iPadOS and macOS Safari), we use the getStartDate method native to the HTML5 video tag to get program date time data - this is the only way to access program date time data on Apple devices. If there is a program date time in the HLS stream the first one will be stored as the date returned by this method. From there, you should be able to combine it with the player getCurrentTime or getLiveCurrentTime API methods to get the current program date time. With those two values you should be able to measure the delay time specific to your context.

Depending on your HLS stream not all attributes from the data object may be available - check property before usage

Player code example
<script src="https://cdn.radiantmediatechs.com/rmp/9.14.1/js/rmp.min.js"></script>
<div id="rmp"></div>
<script>
  const src = {
    hls: 'https://your-live-hls-stream-with-program-date-time-metadata.m3u8'
  };
  const settings = {
    licenseKey: 'your-license-key',
    src: src,
    width: 640,
    height: 360
  };
  const elementID = 'rmp';
  const rmp = new RadiantMP(elementID);
  rmp.on('meta', () => {
    // Each time meta event fires, getMetadata API method is updated and can be queried
    console.log(rmp.getMetadata());
  });
  rmp.init(settings);
</script>

HLS with EXT-X-DATERANGE SCTE-35 metadata

In HLS, SCTE-35 tags are visible in the .m3u8 manifests. Two main types of tags are used in HLS to signal ad opportunities in a manifest: EXT-X-DATERANGE tag and EXT-X-CUE-OUT/EXT-X-CUE-IN tags. The main difference between the two is how they handle timing: EXT-X-DATERANGE relies on UTC, and EXT-X-CUE-IN/OUT depends on the position in the playlist. In the next sections we describe how to extract EXT-X-DATERANGE SCTE-35 metadata with our player.

Getting EXT-X-DATERANGE SCTE-35 metadata through player API

EXT-X-DATERANGE SCTE-35 metadata API event

meta

Fires each time the player enters a EXT-X-DATERANGE tag

EXT-X-DATERANGE SCTE-35 metadata API method

getMetadata()

When invoked, this method will return Object representing the current EXT-X-DATERANGE SCTE-35 metadata. The returned Object when available will have the following structure:

{
  data: {
    duration: 3.1999999999999886,
    end: 391.99999999701976,
    start: 388.79999999701977,
    metadata: {
      attributes: [
        {name: 'ID', value: '956380'},
        {name: 'START-DATE', value: '2023-08-18T13:14:12.520Z'},
        {name: 'PLANNED-DURATION', value: '31.000'},
        {name: 'SCTE35-OUT', value: '0xFC302500013254351800FFF01405000E97DC7FEFFF8B183380FE002A929100010101000067A7D3D6'}
      ],
      content: "ID=\"956380\",START-DATE=\"2023-08-18T13:14:12.520Z\",PLANNED-DURATION=31.000,SCTE35-OUT=0xFC302500013254351800FFF01405000E97DC7FEFFF8B183380FE002A929100010101000067A7D3D6",
      tag: "EXT-X-DATERANGE"
    }
  },
  type: "date-range"
}

HLS with EXT-X-CUE-IN and EXT-X-CUE-OUT SCTE-35 metadata

In HLS, SCTE-35 tags are visible in the .m3u8 manifests. Two main types of tags are used in HLS to signal ad opportunities in a manifest: EXT-X-DATERANGE tag and EXT-X-CUE-OUT/EXT-X-CUE-IN tags. The main difference between the two is how they handle timing: EXT-X-DATERANGE relies on UTC, and EXT-X-CUE-IN/OUT depends on the position in the playlist. In the next sections we describe how to extract EXT-X-CUE-IN and EXT-X-CUE-OUT SCTE-35 metadata with our player.

Getting EXT-X-CUE-IN and EXT-X-CUE-OUT SCTE-35 metadata through player API

EXT-X-CUE-IN and EXT-X-CUE-OUT SCTE-35 metadata API event

meta

Fires each time the player enters a EXT-X-CUE-IN or EXT-X-CUE-OUT tag

EXT-X-CUE-IN and EXT-X-CUE-OUT SCTE-35 metadata API method

getMetadata()

When invoked, this method will return Object representing the current EXT-X-CUE-IN or EXT-X-CUE-OUT SCTE-35 metadata. The returned Object when available will have the following structure:

{
  data: {
    duration: 8.717333333333329,
    end: 200.75733333333332,
    start: 192.04,
    metadata: {
      content: "DURATION=120.04",
      tag: "EXT-X-CUE-OUT"
    }
  },
  type: "scte-35"
}

HLS with Shaka Player

HLS streaming with Shaka player is only reserved to specific use-cases: HLS with DRM, offline HLS, HLS with embedded TTML captions. For all other use-cases please use the default hls.js engine.

As an alternative to hls.js for streaming HLS content to Radiant Media Player, it is also possible to use Shaka player to support specific use-cases.

Supported HLS features with Shaka Player

  • Playback of H.264 or H.265 video in fmp4 fragments (CMAF / fragmented MP4 container)
  • Playback of H.264 or H.265 video in HLS MPEG-2 TS
  • Live, DVR and on-demand media content
  • Optimized adaptive bitrate streaming with automatic or manual bitrate selection
  • Low-latency streaming with partial segments, preload hints, delta updates and blocking playlist reload
  • Multiple-audio tracks
  • Multiple WebVTT or TTML tracks (subtitles/captions)
  • DRM Encrypted content with PlayReady and Widevine - requires fmp4 HLS
  • Discontinuity
  • Raw AAC, MP3, AC-3 and EC-3 (without an MP4 container)
  • I-frame-only playlists with mjpg codec for thumbnails
  • #EXT-X-IMAGE-STREAM-INF for thumbnails
  • Resilience to errors

Player settings for HLS with Shaka Player

hlsEngine: String

Selects the HLS rendering engine. Default: 'hlsjs'. Other possible value is 'shakaplayer'.

All other player settings that apply to Shaka player can all be used even if they are not explicitly marked as compatible with HLS streaming.

Player code examples for HLS with Shaka Player

<!-- Include Radiant Media Player - here we use the optimised build for Shaka player -->
<script src="https://cdn.radiantmediatechs.com/rmp/9.14.1/js/rmp-shaka.min.js"></script>
<!-- Player container element -->
<div id="rmp"></div>
<!-- Set up player configuration options -->
<script>
// Here we pass our HLS streaming source
  const src = {
    hls: 'https://your-fmp4-hls-url.m3u8'
  };
  const settings = {
    licenseKey: 'your-license-key',
    src: src,
    width: 640,
    height: 360,
    // Here we tell the player to use Shaka Player for HLS streaming
    hlsEngine: 'shakaplayer',
    contentMetadata: {
      poster: [
        'https://your-poster-url.jpg'
      ]
    }
  };
  const rmp = new RadiantMP('rmp');
  rmp.init(settings);
</script>
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