Since the release of player version v5.2, Bitmovin has improved support for HLS streams, including playback on Chromecast and enhanced DRM handling. This support carries across to the latest implementation – Web SDK v8
Chromecast HLS Playback
After introducing HLS streaming to our HTML5 based player, we took the next step and ported it to Chromecast making our HLS streams Chromecast compatible. We have been supporting MPEG-DASH on Chromecast for a while and it has been very well adopted by our customers. Why did we go the extra mile to port our own HTML5/JS-based implementation of an HLS player to Chromecast instead of using the existing Media Player Library (MPL)? Features! Using the HLS support of Chromecast’s MPL might be sufficient for some use-cases, but we wanted to empower our customers to make use of all of the great features from the desktop and mobile player, such as support of separated audio and video tracks, subtitles, and comprehensive API just to mention a few.
Enhanced Configuration Options for DRM
Player version v5.2 also features some important improvements to our DRM support. The player is now capable of interpreting DRM initialization information, usually present in the PSSH box of a segment, given in the manifest file instead. This makes our support for DRM-protected content even more versatile and increases our encoder compliance further.
In addition, we introduced a configuration object that allows the specification of advanced options of the DRM key system, such as distinctiveIdentifier or persistentState. More information about possible configuration options can also be found in our HTML5 Player configuration documentation.
We also introduced the support of HLS segments, not starting with key-frames, improved the startup performance and added additional events and API calls.
What’s Next?
For the next player version, we have planned another major step in the area of increased subtitle support with full WebVTT enablement. The latest improvement to the v8 Web Player includes better Edge browser support. As we see advertising capabilities getting more and more important for many of our customers, we will also extend our VAST support and introduce VPAID to the Bitmovin Video Player. So stay tuned.
To learn more about the Bitmovin Video Player please check out the following pages
