HLS based camera URLs taking time to connect using Mediacaster

[Alok_Kumar2]

Hi,

We have been using RTSP url to ingest into Wowza and convert it to WebRTC and view the streams in a HTML5 based WebPage.

Recently, we have a requirement to ingest HLS based stream to Wowza and convert it to WebRTC. We are able to do that but we have noticed that it takes Wowza longer time to connect to a HLS based stream compared to a RTSP based URL.

Please let us know if this is the expected behavior and how can we reduce this connect time for HLS based URL. I am sharing a public HLS url that you can use for your testing if required.

Sample HLS URL: https://wzmedia.dot.ca.gov/D10/SJ_SB99_OffToJackToneRd.stream/playlist.m3u8

Area: Playback
Engine Version: 4.8.5.05

[Tim_Dougherty]

HTTP/HLS is chunk based. The time it takes WSE to download the chunk(s) and package it to be ready for WebRTC delivery is likely the issue. If your camera/source supports, it may help to reduce the chunk duration to 1-2 seconds (from what’s likely 10) to speed up the download time (that’s how we reduce latency using WSE on the HLS delivery side).

As a best practice, for ultra-low latency, I would suggest not using HTTP and stick with RTMP, RTSP, SRT, etc. for the contribution protocol.

Fun fact: That camera is just a few miles from my home (Lodi, CA).

[Alok_Kumar2]

Thanks @Tim_Dougherty for your response.

We are only provided HLS based input urls to be consumed and these are all public URLs so it would be difficult to change the chunk durations on these cameras.

Apart from this, we have also noticed that many times Wowza is not even able to connect to these streams at all but the HLS stream works natively in a browser. What do you think could be the issue for this? Is there a default timeout setting for HLS based Mediacaster in Wowza that we need to increase so that it gives Wowza more time to pull the chunks.

[Tim_Dougherty]

Pulling HLS using media caster (Stream Files) can be problematic, in some cases. I would suggest you contact Wowza support for analysis.

[Alok_Kumar2]

@Tim_Dougherty, Yes I have opened a support ticket as well. If we have a HLS url, what other options are available in Wowza other than using a stream file to ingest this url?

[Tim_Dougherty]

There isn’t another option for ingesting HLS.