Video · Live Streaming

HTTP Live Streaming: broadcast at scale.

Stream live video to web, mobile, and TV apps over HLS with adaptive bitrate, low-latency encoding, and geography-aware origins. Built for product launches, town halls, sports, e-learning, and live commerce. Pairs with the EnableX Video Call API for hybrid interactive + broadcast events.

HLS · Adaptive bitrate · Low-latency · DRM · Geo-routing · Live + on-demand · Web / iOS / Android / Smart TV
HLS adaptive bitrate
Low-latency encoding
Encrypted delivery
4 platforms Web · iOS · Android · TV
When to use HLS

HLS for scale, WebRTC for interaction

Use WebRTC rooms when participants talk to each other. Use HLS when a large audience watches. The two pair for events that mix an interactive panel with a view-only audience.

FeatureHTTP Live StreamingWebRTC rooms
Best forLarge view-only audiencesInteractive sessions where participants talk
DirectionOne-to-many broadcastMany-to-many, real-time
Player supportAny browser, mobile app or smart TV over HTTPBrowsers and mobile apps with the EnableX SDK
AdaptabilityAdaptive bitrate per viewer, CDN deliveryAdaptive bitrate per participant, media server routing
LatencySeconds, tuned for scaleReal-time, tuned for conversation
TogetherRun the panel in a WebRTC room and broadcast it over HLS to the audience

The right choice for every broadcast

HLS scales from a classroom of 30 to a stadium of thousands, on the same API.

Education

Virtual classrooms

Reach more students live and on-demand without expanding physical infrastructure.

Events & experiences

Stage shows & concerts

For awards shows, concerts, or performances, offer a front-row experience to global audiences at scale.

Retail

Shoppable streams

Reduce barriers to purchase and build deeper customer connections via a live streaming SDK.

Virtual events

Ticketed broadcasts

Sell more virtual tickets and sponsorships with broadcast-quality, low-latency streams.

Live commerce

Shoppable product demos

Convert viewers to buyers with interactive, shoppable live product demonstrations.

Healthcare

Training & consultations

Scale training and consultations while reducing travel, facility, and downtime costs.

HR

Town halls & training

Broadcast leadership town halls and training sessions to every employee, with a WebRTC room for the presenters and HLS for the audience.

Pricing

Pay only for viewers and minutes you use.

Pay for what you use, priced on viewer count and streaming duration. HLS broadcast is billed as part of the Video Call API rate card.

HTTP Live Streaming FAQs

HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) is a video streaming protocol that breaks video content into small chunks and delivers them over HTTP. It works by splitting the video into short segments and creating a playlist that contains the URLs of these segments. The playlist is delivered to the player, which requests the segments one by one and plays them back in sequence. EnableX's Video SDK for live streaming supports adaptive bitrate streaming and CDN integration, with a simple API for adding HLS playback to your website or app.

The HTTP Live Streaming format uses MPEG-2 Transport Stream (TS) containers for video and audio data, along with an index file that contains metadata and URLs for the video segments. The video segments are typically encoded in H.264 or H.265 codecs and delivered in various resolutions and bitrates to support adaptive bitrate streaming.

HTTP Live Streaming works by breaking video content into short segments and creating a playlist that contains the URLs of these segments. The playlist is delivered to the player, which requests the video segments one by one and plays them back in sequence. This allows the player to adjust video quality based on the viewer's connection speed, reducing buffering.

To create an HTTP Live Streaming, you need to encode your video content in H.264 or H.265 codecs and segment it into short pieces. You also need an index file with metadata and URLs for the video segments, hosted on a web server that supports HTTP delivery.

Use an HLS solution that supports adaptive bitrate streaming, so the player automatically adjusts quality to the viewer's connection speed, plus a CDN to distribute content to edge locations and reduce buffering. EnableX's Video Streaming solution offers both adaptive bitrate streaming and CDN integration.

Build with HTTP Live Streaming: Developer Docs

See EnableX in action.

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