Originally developed for Apple, HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) is a video-streaming protocol, supported by Android and other mobile platforms. HLS uses adaptive bitrate to adjust video quality to each viewer’s internet speed and device capabilities. Presently, HLS is mandatory for live streaming on certain mobile devices and most HTML5 video players.
Video is an increasingly important component for websites - whether it’s to inform visitors, enhance user experience or support sales and marketing efforts. But delivering high-quality video at large scale can be quite a challenge. You need to consider encoding, format, bandwidth usage, delivery and the devices on which visitors may be watching the video, to name just a few concerns.
Update:
In this post, we clarify that not all browsers natively support HLS or MPEG-DASH, and thus in order to deliver adaptive streaming video to all devices, you should deliver it using a video player that supports your chosen format. In December of 2017, Cloudinary released its own Video Player, which enables you to easily embed a player in your web page that can stream any HLS or MPEG-DASH video. For details, see the Video Player announcement blog post and the Video Player documentation.