RTMP is a protocol, created by Macromedia and now owned by Adobe, that provides high-performance transmission of video, audio, and data between encoder and server across the internet. The acronym stands for Real-Time Messaging Protocol. This TCP-based protocol delivers streams smoothly and with a lot of information by splitting it into chunks. Bottom line is, RTMP is an essential part of live streaming. Therefore, most streaming providers and encoder software developers support RTMP streaming, including Videolinq.
Videolinq accepts RTMP streams originated from any hardware or software encoder. When creating a channel and selecting RTMP as a video source, we present you with the RTMP path that uses by default TCP port 1935 in a path that looks like this, followed by a stream key:
rtmp://go-xx.videolinq.net:1935/ingest?user=login-information
Customers who want to secure their stream need to change this path to:
rtmps://go-xx.videolinq.net:443/ingest?user=login-information
RTMP can be generated by software encoders, hardware encoders, and 3rd party streaming service providers and media platforms. Regardless of what your RTMP source is, for proper capture and signal re-distribution, the RTMP stream must meet the following requirements:
Resolution between 720p to 1080p
Video bitrate between 2 - 8 MBps
Audio bitrate between 60 to 128 KBps
Video encoded with H.264 Main, Baseline, or High profile
Video frame-rate up to 60 frames per second
Insert a keyframe (GOP) every 1 or 2 seconds
No Adaptive Bitrate supported
No multi-bitrate supported
A RTMP stream that is losing packets on the way will be rejected by Videolinq after a few minutes of transmission.
The channel preview player provides a good indication of the incoming RTMP stream. The stream you see in the preview player was received by Videolinq and distributed to the Videolinq content delivery network (CDN). The stream is then pulled back into the preview player providing a simulation of what quality you can expect to see when you point to the stream with a player, or distribute the feed to social media or 3rd party platforms. A "universal" stream settings that will work with all platforms will use 1280x720 pixels resolution (720p), 4 MBps video, 128 KBps audio, and 30 frames-per-second. Remember to insert 1 key frame every 2 seconds to start playback faster.
If you have questions about this article contact technical support.