This topic defines common terms used in ApsaraVideo Live.
Stream ingest
Stream ingest is the process of pushing an encapsulated audio and video live stream to the Alibaba Cloud live center.
Stream pulling
Stream pulling is the process of pulling a third-party live stream to the Alibaba Cloud live center for accelerated delivery.
Streaming
Streaming is the process of distributing existing live content from the live center to a player for playback.
Edge ingest
Edge ingest schedules streaming data to the optimal point of presence (POP) that is closest to a user. The Alibaba Cloud CDN mapping system then quickly sends the data to the live center for content delivery. This feature uses the wide coverage of Alibaba Cloud Content Delivery Network (CDN) POPs to send content over the optimal path. This provides users with an optimal upstream network and reduces stuttering or slow stream pulling caused by upstream transmission.
Real-Time Streaming (RTS)
RTS (RTS) is built on ApsaraVideo Live. It uses underlying technology optimizations, such as end-to-end latency monitoring and changing the CDN transport protocol to User Datagram Protocol (UDP). By integrating the live playback SDK, RTS supports millisecond-level latency for live streaming with tens of millions of concurrent users. This ensures an ultra-low latency, low stuttering, and smooth playback experience that starts in seconds.
Live stream transcoding
Live stream transcoding is a feature that transforms one video stream into another. Transcoding can change parameters of the source stream, such as the encoding format, resolution, and bitrate. This adapts the stream for playback on different devices and in various network environments. This feature meets user needs by adapting to different network bandwidths, device processing capabilities, and latency requirements.
Narrowband HD™
Narrowband HD™ technology optimizes video encoding based on the content of the video. This allows users to watch clearer videos using the same amount of bandwidth. Based on the human visual system model, it provides a clearer viewing experience while saving bitrate. For the same video quality, it can save 30% to 50% of bandwidth.
Time shifting
Time shifting is a feature that allows users to review previous content at any time while watching a live stream. It supports time-shifted playback with segment-level granularity. Strong validation prevents issues such as dirty data and discontinuous playback, which can be caused by incorrect timestamps in the live stream source.
Ingest domain
An ingest domain is a domain name used for stream ingest. This configuration is required. Before you use ApsaraVideo Live, you must register the domain name and complete its Internet Content Provider (ICP) filing. After you resolve the domain name with a CNAME record, associate the ingest and streaming domains, and configure authentication (optional), you can use the URL generator in the console to generate the corresponding ingest URL.
Streaming domain
A streaming domain is a domain name used for stream pulling. This configuration is required. Before you use ApsaraVideo Live, you must register the domain name and complete its ICP filing. After you resolve the domain name with a CNAME record, associate the ingest and streaming domains, and configure authentication (optional), you can use the URL generator in the console to generate the corresponding streaming URL.
CNAME
A CNAME is a domain name that is assigned to you after you add an accelerated domain name in the Alibaba Cloud Management Console. The CNAME is in the format *.*kunlun*.com. You must add a CNAME record with your DNS provider to point your accelerated domain name to the *.*kunlun*.com domain name. After the record takes effect, domain name resolution is handled by ApsaraVideo Live. All requests for the domain name are then directed to ApsaraVideo Live edge nodes for acceleration.
H.264
H.264 is a standard for a highly compressed digital video codec. It was proposed by the Joint Video Team (JVT), a collaboration between the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG). H.264 is also known as MPEG-4 Part 10. It offers advantages such as a low bitrate, high image quality, strong fault tolerance, and high network adaptability.
H.265
H.265 is a new video encoding standard developed by the ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) as a successor to H.264. The H.265 standard is based on H.264. It retains some of the original technologies and improves on others. The new standard uses advanced technologies to optimize the balance among stream quality, encoding quality, latency, and algorithmic complexity.
Streaming URL
Streaming URLs include ingest URLs and playback URLs. A streaming URL consists of a domain name, AppName, StreamName, and an optional access token. You can create multiple applications under each domain name and multiple live streams under each application. The console provides a URL generator to quickly generate ingest and playback URLs. You can use these URLs for stream ingest with third-party software, such as Open Broadcaster Software (OBS).
AppName
The name of an application for a live stream. It is used to distinguish the storage path for live streaming media files.
StreamName
The StreamName is the name of a live stream. It is an identifier for a stream and is usually combined with a domain name to uniquely identify that stream.
Dual-stream disaster recovery
Dual-stream disaster recovery is a live streaming policy. This policy involves pushing two streams, a primary and a backup, with the same content to the same URL path simultaneously. If one stream is interrupted, the system seamlessly switches to the other. This ensures uninterrupted, high-quality transmission of the live service.