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    ApsaraVideo Live:What is ApsaraVideo Live?

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    ApsaraVideo Live:What is ApsaraVideo Live?

    Last Updated:Feb 25, 2025

    ApsaraVideo Live is a PaaS solution for live streaming. It leverages advanced stream ingestion and distribution capabilities and supports distributed real-time media processing, such as transcoding. With ApsaraVideo Live, you can quickly upload your live content to the cloud and distribute it to a large audience at ultra-low latency, ensuring a high-quality and smooth viewing experience.

    Architecture

    The server of ApsaraVideo Live can ingest, process, and distribute live streams in real time.

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    1. A streamer collects live content with a video capture device and pushes the live stream using the Push SDK. The live stream is initially pushed to the Alibaba Cloud CDN point of presence (POP) nearest to the streamer. Then, ApsaraVideo Live uses edge ingest to ingest the live stream from POP to its live center. This enhances the speed and stability of data transfer from the streamer to the live center.

    2. After the live stream is pushed to the live center, you can process the stream based on your business requirements. For example, you can transcode the stream, configure time shifting, record the live content, or capture snapshots.

    3. The processed stream is distributed to CDN POPs, which then deliver the stream to viewers' devices for playback. You can integrate ApsaraVideo Player SDK into your mobile app used by viewers to play the stream.

    4. You can also use the Live-to-VOD feature to store the recorded stream as a video-on-demand asset in ApsaraVideo VOD. Then, you can edit the recorded live content to produce short videos and deliver the VOD content to your target audience in a convenient manner.

    Features

    ApsaraVideo Live supports standard streaming and Real-Time Streaming (RTS). The following table describes the differences between the applicable scenarios of standard streaming and RTS.

    Feature

    Scenario

    Standard streaming

    Suitable for scenarios where the audience mainly watch the live content, and little interaction is involved. Different viewers may experience slight desynchronization of the video content due to varying network conditions. 

    RTS

    • Suitable for scenarios where low latency and strong interaction are required, such as livestream shopping, group live streaming, live online classes, and enterprise live events. RTS helps improve lead conversion and user engagement.

    • Suitable for scenarios that require screen consistency among multiple viewers, such as live streaming of sports event. RTS allows the audience to receive real-time updates without discrepancies in the stream timing among different viewers.

    In addition, ApsaraVideo Live provides media processing features such as transcoding, recording, time shifting, snapshotting, and content moderation. It also provides useful tools, such as production studios for live management and Queen SDK for face retouching. For more information, see Functions and features.

    Billing

    • You are charged fees for data transfer, media processing, and other services when you use ApsaraVideo Live. For more information, see Billing overview.

    • For pricing information, visit the ApsaraVideo Live pricing page.

    References

    To activate ApsaraVideo Live, see Activate ApsaraVideo Live and purchase resource plans.

    To learn how to use the basic features of ApsaraVideo Live, see Get started with ApsaraVideo Live.