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ApsaraVideo VOD:Overview

Last Updated:Nov 07, 2023

ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web allows you to play audio and video streams by using the HTML5 player or Flash player. Flash Player is out of service and not supported by mainstream browsers. If you use a browser such as Internet Explorer or another browser that does not support the HTML5 player, you can use the Flash player. This topic describes the features and supported browsers of the HTML5 and Flash players provided by ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web.

Supported audio and video formats

Important

If you want to play H.265 videos, you must submit a request on Yida to apply for a license.

Supported protocols and formats for video-on-demand

The following table describes the audio and video protocols and codecs supported by ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web.

Note

You must use earlier browsers that support a Flash Player plug-in to play videos in the Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) format. RTMP videos cannot be played by using the HTML5 player. The HTML5 player can be used to play videos in the Flash Video (FLV) format.

Player

Video codec

Video protocol

Audio codec

Audio file format

H5

H.264

MP4, FLV, and HTTP-Live-Streaming (HLS)

AAC

MP3

H.265

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

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

MP4, FLV, and HTTP-Live-Streaming (HLS)

AAC

-

Flash player (update stopped)

H.264

MP4, FLV, HLS, and RTMP

AAC and MP3

MP3

Supported protocols for live streaming

The following table describes the live streaming protocols and codecs supported by ApsaraVideo Player SDK for Web.

Video codec

Video protocol

Audio codec

Audio file format

H.264

HLS, FLV, RTMP, and RTS

AAC

-

H.265

HLS, FLV (codec ID=12)

AAC

-

The following table describes the benefits and limits of each live streaming protocol.

Protocol

Benefit

Limit

Latency

HLS

HLS is compatible with a variety of browsers.

HLS has a considerably 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~3s

RTMP

RTMP has a considerably lower latency.

RTMP is prone to stability issues in high-concurrency scenarios.

1s~3s

RTS

RTS performs well 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

Browsers supported by the HTML5 player

The HTML5 player can be used in browsers on PCs and mobile devices.

Note

We recommend that you use the browsers described in the following table for video playback. Otherwise, the playback may fail.

Supported browsers on PCs

Note

To play video streams in the FLV or HLS format by using the HTML5 player on a PC browser, you must enable cross-origin resource sharing (CORS) for the domain name . 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

  • Video-on-demand (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

Important

You cannot play video streams in the FLV format 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 browsers on mobile devices

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.

Table 1. Supported browsers on Android devices

Browser

MP4

FLV

HLS

MP3

Google Chrome

×

Google Chrome 34 and later

Firefox

×

Firefox 49 and later

WeChat

×

Microsoft Edge

×

Opera

×

Table 2. Supported browsers on iOS devices

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

Features of the HTML5 player supported by browsers

Feature

PC

Mobile device

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 needs.

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

  • 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.

Advanced features

Autoplay

The autoplay feature that is 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 apps allow autoplay. This commonly occurs on Android devices.

Advanced features

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.

Basic features

Playback speed

Supported

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

Basic features

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 encrypt actual videos in use for debugging.

  • 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 iOS browsers.

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 VOD files encrypted by using DRM

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

Browsers supported by the Flash player

The Flash player is supported only by PC browsers. The following table describes the videos in different formats that can be played in the Flash player on specific 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 Quick integration.

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