With the rise of video streaming services, the question of which protocol is better for live streaming has come up a lot. Since multiple streaming protocols exist, it can be hard to decide which one is best for your needs. In this blog post, we will compare two of the most popular protocols – SRT and RTMP – and see which is better for live streaming.
SRT is a newer protocol that Haivision developed. It’s more efficient than other protocols and uses less bandwidth. SRT can also recover from network issues, making it a good choice for live streaming.
On the other hand, RTMP is an older protocol that Adobe developed. It’s been around for longer and is more widely used than SRT. RTMP is a bit less efficient than SRT, but it’s still a good choice for live streaming.
In this blog, we will compare these two protocols and see which is better for live streaming. We’ll look at their efficiency, ability to recover from network issues, and overall usability. By the end of this blog post, you should have a good idea of which protocol is better for live streaming.
Understanding Streaming Protocols and How They Work
A streaming protocol is a technique for streaming multimedia over the Internet. It also relates to data transfers and handling errors that users could encounter in these processes. Let me clarify something. First, streaming protocols do not resemble codes. Those two techniques help in reducing the size of a video file. Codecs delete irrelevant videos to reduce file sizes. Second, people confuse streaming protocols with container formats, meaning the data is retrieved.
What is SRT?
SRT is a transmission management solution from Haivision designed for low-latency transmission over noisy networks. It’s an open-source protocol that provides a solution for remote video contributions but maintains a speed of delivery. An SRT streaming server can receive and deliver live content with ultra-low latency.
SRT is a great solution for live streaming because it uses less bandwidth than other protocols. It’s also able to recover from network issues, making it a good choice for live streaming.
History of SRT
In most situations, live streams are carried through protected networks. This is unrealistic for applications such as remote TV shows and live sports. Haivision began developing SRT for its products in 2012. It was initially introduced by Haivision to IBC in the following years and quickly released in their product range for sale. Even with this in mind, streaming has a long history of clashing with other proprietary technology, causing a massive problem with video streaming. If the SRT technology remains closed, widespread acceptance will be stifled in many countries.
RTMP Protocol
This protocol uses TCP. It combines data from different stream formats to simplify its delivery, increasing flexibility and faster delivery. RTMP is an excellent platform for most streaming platforms. A project of Macromedia, RTMP allows users to stream video, audio, and data from servers to Flash players. RTMP is the standard protocol used for live video streaming. As an ingesting protocol, RTMP is accessed via Facebook Live, YouTube, Twitch, and others. RTM allows you to view the video at lower speeds.
Advantages of RTMP Streaming Protocol
- Efficient use of bandwidth
- Ability to stream at lower speeds
- Flexibility and faster delivery
Drawbacks of RTMP
But in reality, RTMP is insufficient to meet the current demand for streaming video content. The RTMP’s support has fallen drastically. CDNs favor HLS and MPEG-DASH over entry points to the Internet. It supports neither HEVC encoding nor advanced resolutions. A bandwidth limitation prevents use at higher bitrates.
Comparing SRT and RTMP
Both protocols have their strengths and weaknesses, so it’s essential to understand their differences to choose the right one for your needs.
SRT is a newer protocol explicitly designed for streaming video over the Internet. It is much more efficient than RTMP and can be used with lower bandwidths. However, it does require more CPU power from the server to encode the video.
RTMP has been around for much longer and is commonly used for streaming live video. It is not as efficient as SRT but does not require as much CPU power. However, RTMP does have some drawbacks. It is not as resilient to packet loss and latency, which can cause issues with streaming quality. In addition, RTMP streams are typically limited to 720p or 1080p resolutions.
So, which protocol should you use? If you need to stream high-quality video with low latency, then SRT is the better choice. However, if you’re just streaming live video without any significant concerns about quality or latency, then RTMP may be the better option.
How to Stream Netflix on Discord
Conclusion
SRT is the better choice for a live streaming solution if you need to stream high-quality video with low latency. However, RTMP may be better if you stream live video without significant concerns about quality or latency. Whichever protocol you choose, make sure you test it thoroughly before using it for your live stream. Thanks for reading!
We hope this article helped to understand the difference between SRT and RTMP. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below! Happy streaming!
