Adaptive Streaming Technology Comparison
Adaptive Streaming Technology Comparison
The following table shows a technology comparison on different use cases and features between the proprietary adaptive streaming technologies Adobe HDS, Apple HLS, Microsoft Smooth Streaming, and the MPEG-DASH standard. Please note that this comparison is based on the standard’s capabilities, and not reflecting the specific implementation from a certain vendor.
Feature | Adobe HDS | Apple HLS | Microsoft Smooth | MPEG DASH |
Deployment on Standard HTTP Servers | ![]() |
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Official International Standard (e.g., ISO/IEC MPEG) | ![]() |
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Multiple Audio Channels (e.g., Languages, Comments, etc.) | ![]() |
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Flexible Content Protection with Common Encryption (DRM) | ![]() |
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Closed Captions / Subtitles | ![]() |
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Efficent Ad Insertion | ![]() |
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Fast Channel Switching | ![]() |
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Protocol Support’s multiple CDNs in parallel | ![]() |
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HTML5 Support | ![]() |
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Support in HbbTV (version 1.5) | ![]() |
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HEVC Ready (UHD/4K) | ![]() |
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Agnostic to Video Codecs | ![]() |
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Agnostic to Audio Codecs | ![]() |
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ISO Base Media File Format Segments | ![]() |
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MPEG-2 TS Segments | ![]() |
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Segment Format Extensions beyond MPEG | ![]() |
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Support for multiplexed (Audio + Video) Content | ![]() |
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Support for non-multiplexed (separate Audio, Video) Content | ![]() |
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Definition of Quality Metrics | ![]() |
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Client Logging & Reporting | ![]() |
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Client Failover | ![]() |
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Remove and add Quality Levels during Streaming | ![]() |
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Multiple Video Views | ![]() |
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Efficient Trick Modes | ![]() |
For more information on adaptive streaming, encoding, HTML5 playback or anything else to do with video infrastructure for the web, visit out support pages.