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    Apsara Video SDK:Overview

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    Apsara Video SDK:Overview

    Last Updated:Jun 11, 2024

    ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web can be integrated with your web applications. This allows you to play videos in live streaming and video-on-demand (VOD) scenarios. This topic describes the features of ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web and its compatibility with browsers.

    Introduction

    ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web plays videos in web applications by using the <video> tag of the HTML5 player and the Flash player. ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web is compatible with multiple browsers such as Google Chrome and Safari to provide unified video playback effects on diverse platforms. ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web can also be used together with ApsaraVideo Live and ApsaraVideo VOD to provide features such as hotlink protection, encrypted playback of copyrighted videos, and video quality monitoring.

    Supported protocols

    VOD scenarios

    Player

    Encoding protocol

    Video protocol

    Audio coding format

    Audio file format

    HTML5

    H.264

    MP4, Flash Video (FLV), and HTTP Live Streaming (HLS)

    Advanced Audio Coding (AAC)

    MP3

    H.265

    MP4 and FLV

    AAC

    -

    Flash

    (This playback mode is no longer updated.)

    H.264

    MP4, FLV, HLS, and Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP)

    AAC and MP3

    MP3

    Note

    • To play H.265-encoded videos, submit a request to apply for a license.

    • Specific browsers do not support the playback of H.265-encoded videos.

    • If you enable the playback of H.265-encoded videos, the startup loading time is extended and traffic consumption increases.

    Live streaming scenarios

    Encoding protocol

    Video protocol

    Audio coding format

    Audio file format

    H.264

    HLS, FLV, and Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTS)

    AAC

    -

    H.265

    FLV (The value of codec ID is 12.)

    AAC

    -

    The following table describes the advantages and disadvantages of live streaming protocols.

    Protocol

    Advantage

    Disadvantage

    Latency

    HLS

    HLS is compatible with more browsers.

    HLS has a relatively higher latency.

    > 10s

    FLV

    FLV supports high concurrency and is suitable for native applications.

    Browsers require integration with ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web to play videos.

    1s to 3s

    RTS

    RTS has high performance under poor network conditions. You can smoothly play streams even at a packet loss rate of 30%.

    Browsers require integration with ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web to play videos.

    < 1s

    Supported browsers

    HTML5 player

    Browsers supported by the HTML5 player

    Supported desktop browsers

    Note

    To play videos in the FLV or HLS format by using desktop browsers, you must enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS). For more information, see Configure CORS.

    Browser

    MP4

    FLV

    HLS

    MP3

    Google Chrome

    √

    Google Chrome 34 and later

    Google Chrome 34 and later

    √

    Firefox

    √

    Firefox 49 and later

    Firefox 49 and later

    √

    Internet Explorer

    Internet Explorer 9 and later

    • VOD playback: Internet Explorer 11 and later for Windows 8.1 and later

    • Live streaming: Internet Explorer 11 and later for Windows 8.1 and later

    Note

    The live streams in the FLV format cannot be played in Internet Explorer 11 for Windows 8 and later. This is because the value of mseLiveFlvPlayback is false in the flv.js file for Internet Explorer 11.

    Internet Explorer 11 and later for Windows 8.1 and later

    Internet Explorer 9 and later

    Microsoft Edge

    √

    √

    √

    √

    Opera

    √

    √

    √

    √

    Safari

    √

    Safari 8 and later

    Safari 8 and later

    √

    Supported mobile browsers

    Note

    ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web does not allow you to play video streams in the FLV format by using the HTML5 player on mobile browsers.

    • Android

      Browser

      MP4

      FLV

      HLS

      MP3

      Google Chrome

      √

      ×

      Google Chrome 34 and later

      √

      Firefox

      √

      ×

      Firefox 49 and later

      √

      WeChat

      √

      ×

      √

      √

      Microsoft Edge

      √

      ×

      √

      √

      Opera

      √

      ×

      √

      √

    • iOS

      Browser

      MP4

      FLV

      HLS

      MP3

      Google Chrome

      √

      ×

      Google Chrome 34 and later

      √

      Firefox

      √

      ×

      Firefox 49 and later

      √

      WeChat

      √

      ×

      √

      √

      Microsoft Edge

      √

      ×

      √

      √

      Opera

      √

      ×

      √

      √

      Safari

      √

      ×

      Safari 8 and later

      √

    Supported features

    Feature

    Desktop browser

    Mobile browser

    References

    Full-screen playback

    By default, the full-screen playback feature is disabled.

    By default, the full-screen playback feature is enabled. You can disable the feature based on your business requirements.

      Note

      • The full-screen playback feature cannot be disabled in Safari on iOS 10 and earlier versions.

      • If you play videos in inline mode, you need to modify the video size based on the resolution of transcoded videos. Otherwise, black bars may be displayed.

    Common Settings

    Autoplay

    The autoplay feature provided by ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web is not supported in specific browsers.

    • Autoplay is not supported in Safari 11 and later versions in macOS High Sierra.

    • Autoplay is not supported in Google Chrome 55 and later versions.

    By default, autoplay is disabled. You can configure specific settings to enable this feature.

    Note

    Specific browsers and WebView-based applications support autoplay. These browsers and applications are generally on Android devices.

    Autoplay

    Volume adjustment

    Supported

    The video.volume property is read-only in iOS and specific Android systems. Therefore, the getVolume and setVolume methods provided by ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web are invalid for iOS and specific Android systems.

    Set the volume

    Playback speed

    Supported

    You cannot set the playback speed in specific mobile browsers, such as the WeChat browser for Android.

    Specify the playback speed

    HLS-encrypted video playback

    • Google Chrome

    • Firefox

    • Safari

    • Microsoft Edge

    • Internet Explorer 11 and later versions for Windows 8.1 and later versions

    Supported

    Play an encrypted video

    Playback of videos encrypted by using Alibaba Cloud proprietary cryptography

    Note

    For security reasons, you cannot use Alibaba Cloud proprietary cryptography to debug encrypted videos.

    • Google Chrome (recommended)

    • Firefox

    • Safari

    • Microsoft Edge

    • Internet Explorer 11 and later versions for Windows 8.1 and later versions

    Note

    Specific third-party browsers may modify the settings of ApsaraVideo Player SDK without your authorization or knowledge. In this case, videos encrypted by using Alibaba Cloud proprietary cryptography cannot be played. To resolve this issue, we recommend that you use the HLS or digital rights management (DRM) encryption method to encrypt videos.

    This feature is not supported in browsers for iOS.

    This feature is supported only in Google Chrome for Android.

    Playback of DRM-encrypted live streams

    Windows

    • Google Chrome

    • Opera

    • Firefox

    • Microsoft Edge

    macOS

    • Google Chrome

    • Safari

    • Firefox

    • Opera

    • Microsoft Edge

    iOS

    • Google Chrome

    • Safari

    Android

    • Google Chrome for Android 10 and later

    • Microsoft Edge

    Playback of DRM-encrypted VOD files

    Windows

    • Google Chrome

    • Opera

    • Firefox

    • Microsoft Edge

    macOS

    • Google Chrome

    • Safari

    • Firefox

    • Opera

    • Microsoft Edge

    iOS

    • Google Chrome

    • Safari

    Android

    • Google Chrome for Android 10 and later

    • Microsoft Edge

    Flash player

    The Flash player is supported only by desktop browsers. The following table describes the supported browsers.

    Note

    To use the Flash player in Internet Explorer 8, you must add the reference to the json.min.js file in the browser. For more information, see Integrate ApsaraVideo Player SDK for web.

    Browser

    MP4

    FLV

    HLS

    RTMP

    MP3

    Google Chrome

    √

    √

    √

    √

    √

    Firefox

    √

    √

    √

    √

    √

    Internet Explorer

    Internet Explorer 8 and later

    Internet Explorer 8 and later

    Internet Explorer 8 and later

    Internet Explorer 8 and later

    Internet Explorer 8 and later

    Microsoft Edge

    √

    √

    √

    √

    √

    Opera

    √

    √

    √

    √

    √

    Safari

    √

    √

    √

    √

    √

    Version status division and technical support policies

    To optimize user experience, ApsaraVideo Player keeps updating player SDKs to release new features, improve player performance, and fix issues. ApsaraVideo VOD preserves the API compatibility to a great extent during version updates. We recommend that you update your player SDK to the latest version at your earliest opportunity to improve your playback experience.

    ApsaraVideo Player SDK versions are classified into four states based on the release date: Recommended, Supported, Not Recommended, and Not Supported. ApsaraVideo VOD provides different technical support services for player SDKs in different states.

    For more information about the versions of ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web, see Release notes for ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web. The following table describes the version states and technical support policies for ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web.

    Version state

    Classification

    Description

    Recommended

    RECOMMENDED

    The latest version.

    • The latest version contains the newest features and bug fixes. We recommend that you update your player SDK to the latest version.

    • ApsaraVideo VOD provides comprehensive technical support for the latest version of player SDK.

    Supported

    SUPPORTED

    The versions that are released within 6 months before the latest version.

    • These versions contain the relatively new features and fix major issues.

    • ApsaraVideo VOD provides general technical support for these versions of player SDKs.

    Not Recommended

    DEPRECATED

    The versions that are released 6 to 12 months before the latest version.

    • These versions may contain deprecated features, underlying issues, or unknown issues caused by the updates of browsers.

    • ApsaraVideo VOD provides general technical support for these versions of player SDKs, but the efficiency or accuracy of troubleshooting cannot be guaranteed. We recommend that you update your player SDK to the latest version. Besides new features and bug fixes, the new version optimizes troubleshooting. This improves the efficiency of self-troubleshooting and technical support.

    Not Supported

    UNSUPPORTED

    The versions that are released more than 12 months before the latest version.

    • The features in these versions are most likely deprecated and no optimization is performed based on your current browser environment. We recommend that you do not use these versions of player SDKs for production.

    • ApsaraVideo VOD does not provide technical support for these versions unless serious issues occur. We recommend that you update your player SDK to the latest version at your earliest opportunity.