What is shaka-player?
Shaka Player is an open-source JavaScript library for adaptive media streaming. It supports DASH and HLS formats and provides a wide range of features for media playback, including DRM support, offline storage, and live streaming.
What are shaka-player's main functionalities?
Basic Playback
This code demonstrates how to set up basic video playback using Shaka Player. It initializes the player with a video element and loads a DASH manifest.
const video = document.getElementById('video');
const player = new shaka.Player(video);
player.load('https://example.com/manifest.mpd').then(function() {
console.log('The video has now been loaded!');
}).catch(function(error) {
console.error('Error loading video', error);
});
DRM Support
This code demonstrates how to configure Shaka Player to support DRM (Digital Rights Management). It sets up license servers for Widevine and PlayReady and loads a DASH manifest.
const video = document.getElementById('video');
const player = new shaka.Player(video);
player.configure({
drm: {
servers: {
'com.widevine.alpha': 'https://example.com/widevine_license',
'com.microsoft.playready': 'https://example.com/playready_license'
}
}
});
player.load('https://example.com/manifest.mpd').then(function() {
console.log('The video with DRM has now been loaded!');
}).catch(function(error) {
console.error('Error loading video with DRM', error);
});
Offline Storage
This code demonstrates how to use Shaka Player's offline storage feature. It initializes the storage module and stores a DASH manifest for offline playback.
const video = document.getElementById('video');
const player = new shaka.Player(video);
const storage = new shaka.offline.Storage(player);
storage.store('https://example.com/manifest.mpd').then(function(content) {
console.log('The content has been stored offline!', content);
}).catch(function(error) {
console.error('Error storing content offline', error);
});
Live Streaming
This code demonstrates how to set up live streaming using Shaka Player. It initializes the player with a video element and loads a live DASH manifest.
const video = document.getElementById('video');
const player = new shaka.Player(video);
player.load('https://example.com/live.mpd').then(function() {
console.log('The live stream has now been loaded!');
}).catch(function(error) {
console.error('Error loading live stream', error);
});
Other packages similar to shaka-player
video.js
Video.js is a popular open-source HTML5 video player that supports a wide range of video formats and provides a plugin architecture for extending its functionality. Compared to Shaka Player, Video.js has a larger community and more plugins available, but it does not natively support DASH or HLS streaming.
hls.js
Hls.js is a JavaScript library that brings HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) to browsers with support for MSE (Media Source Extensions). It is specifically designed for HLS streaming, whereas Shaka Player supports both DASH and HLS. Hls.js is a good choice if you only need HLS support.
dash.js
Dash.js is an open-source reference client for the playback of MPEG-DASH content. It is maintained by the DASH Industry Forum and provides extensive support for DASH streaming. Compared to Shaka Player, Dash.js is more focused on DASH and may not have as many features for HLS or DRM.
Shaka Player is an open-source JavaScript library for adaptive media. It plays
adaptive media formats (such as DASH, HLS and MSS) in a browser,
without using plugins or Flash. Instead, Shaka Player uses the open web
standards MediaSource Extensions and Encrypted Media Extensions.
Shaka Player also supports offline storage and playback of media using
IndexedDB. Content can be stored on any browser. Storage of licenses
depends on browser support.
Our main goal is to make it as easy as possible to stream adaptive bitrate
video and audio using modern browser technologies. We try to keep the library
light, simple, and free from third-party dependencies. Everything you need to
build and deploy is in the sources.
For details on what's coming next, see our development roadmap.
Maintained branches
See maintained-branches.md
for the up-to-date list of maintained branches of Shaka Player.
Platform and browser support matrix
Browser | Windows | Mac | Linux | Android | iOS >= 9 | iOS >= 17.1 | iPadOS >= 13 | ChromeOS | Other |
---|
Chrome¹ | Y | Y | Y | Y | Native | Native | Native | Y | - |
Firefox¹ | Y | Y | Y | untested⁵ | Native | Native | Native | - | - |
Edge¹ | Y | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Edge Chromium | Y | Y | Y | untested⁵ | Native | Native | Native | - | - |
IE | N | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Safari¹ | - | Y | - | - | Native | Y | Y | - | - |
Opera¹ | untested⁵ | untested⁵ | untested⁵ | untested⁵ | Native | - | - | - | - |
Chromecast². | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Y |
Tizen TV³ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Y |
WebOS⁶ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Y |
Hisense⁷ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Y |
Xbox One | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Y |
Playstation 4⁷ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Y |
Playstation 5⁷ | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Y |
NOTES:
- ¹: On macOS, only Safari 9+ is supported. On iOS, only iOS 9+ is
supported. Older versions will be rejected.
- ²: The latest stable Chromecast firmware is tested. Both sender and receiver
can be implemented with Shaka Player.
- ³: Tizen 2017 model is actively tested and supported by the Shaka Player
team. Tizen 2016 model is community-supported and untested by us.
- ⁵: These are expected to work, but are not actively tested by the Shaka
Player team.
- ⁶: These are expected to work, but are community-supported and untested by
us.
- ⁷: These are expected to work, but are community-supported and untested by
us.
NOTES for iOS and iPadOS:
- We support iOS 9+ through Apple's native HLS player. We provide the same
top-level API, but we just set the video's
src
element to the manifest/media.
So we are dependent on the browser supporting the manifests. - Since iPadOS 13 MediaSource Extensions is supported
- Since iPadOS 17 and iOS 17.1 ManagedMediaSource Extensions is supported
Manifest format support matrix
Format | Video On-Demand | Live | Event | In-Progress Recording |
---|
DASH | Y | Y | - | Y |
HLS | Y | Y | Y | - |
MSS | Y | - | - | - |
You can also create a manifest parser plugin to support custom manifest
formats.
DASH features
DASH features supported:
- VOD, Live, and In-Progress Recordings (dynamic VOD content)
- MPD@timeShiftBufferDepth for seeking backward in Live streams
- Multi-period content (static and dynamic)
- Xlink elements (actuate=onLoad only, resolve-to-zero, fallback content)
- All forms of segment index info: SegmentBase@indexRange, SegmentTimeline,
SegmentTemplate@duration, SegmentTemplate@index, SegmentList
- Multi-codec/multi-container manifests (we will negotiate support with the
browser and choose the best ones)
- Encrypted content (including custom ContentProtection schemas, PSSH in the
manifest)
- Key rotation
- Trick mode tracks
- WebVTT and TTML
- CEA-608/708 captions
- Multi-codec variants (on platforms with changeType support)
- MPD chaining
- MPD Patch updates for SegmentTemplate with $Number$, SegmentTimeline with
$Number$ and SegmentTimeline with $Time$
DASH features not supported:
HLS features
HLS features supported:
- VOD, Live, and Event types
- Low-latency streaming with partial segments, preload hints, delta updates and
blocking playlist reload
- Discontinuity
- ISO-BMFF / MP4 / CMAF support
- MPEG-2 TS support
- WebVTT and TTML
- CEA-608/708 captions
- Encrypted content with PlayReady and Widevine
- Encrypted content with FairPlay (Safari on macOS and iOS 9+ only)
- AES-128, AES-256 and AES-256-CTR support on browsers with Web Crypto API support
- SAMPLE-AES and SAMPLE-AES-CTR (identity) support on browsers with ClearKey support
- Key rotation
- Raw AAC, MP3, AC-3 and EC-3 (without an MP4 container)
- I-frame-only playlists with mjpg codec for thumbnails
- #EXT-X-IMAGE-STREAM-INF for thumbnails
MPEG-5 Part2 LCEVC Support
Only supported on browsers with Media Source Extensions SourceBuffer support
MSS features
MSS features supported:
- VOD
- AAC and H.264
- Encrypted content (PlayReady)
- TTML/DFXP
- Only supported with codem-isoboxer
MSS features not supported:
DRM support matrix
Browser | Widevine | PlayReady | FairPlay | ClearKey⁶ |
---|
Chrome¹ | Y | - | - | Y |
Firefox² | Y | - | - | Y |
Edge³ | - | Y | - | - |
Edge Chromium | Y | Y | - | Y |
Safari | - | - | Y | - |
Opera | untested⁵ | - | - | untested⁵ |
Chromecast | Y | Y | - | Y |
Tizen TV | Y | Y | - | Y |
WebOS⁷ | untested⁷ | untested⁷ | - | untested⁷ |
Hisense⁷ | untested⁷ | untested⁷ | - | untested⁷ |
Xbox One | - | Y | - | - |
Playstation 4⁷ | - | untested⁷ | - | untested⁷ |
Playstation 5⁷ | - | untested⁷ | - | untested⁷ |
Other DRM systems should work out of the box if they are interoperable and
compliant to the EME spec.
NOTES:
- ¹: Only official Chrome builds contain the Widevine CDM. Chromium built from
source does not support DRM.
- ²: DRM must be enabled by the user. The first time a Firefox user visits a
site with encrypted media, the user will be prompted to enable DRM.
- ³: PlayReady in Edge does not seem to work on a VM or over Remote Desktop.
- ⁵: These are expected to work, but are not actively tested by the Shaka
Player team.
- ⁶: ClearKey is a useful tool for debugging, and does not provide actual
content security.
- ⁷: These are expected to work, but are community-supported and untested by
us.
Manifest | Widevine | PlayReady | FairPlay | ClearKey |
---|
DASH | Y | Y | - | Y |
HLS | Y | Y | Y ¹ | - |
MSS | - | Y | - | - |
NOTES:
- ¹: By default, FairPlay is handled using Apple's native HLS player, when on
Safari. We do support FairPlay through MSE/EME, however. See the
streaming.useNativeHlsForFairPlay
configuration value.
Media container and subtitle support
Shaka Player supports:
- ISO-BMFF / CMAF / MP4
- Depends on browser support for the container via MediaSource
- Can parse "sidx" box for DASH's SegmentBase@indexRange and
SegmentTemplate@index
- Can find and parse "tfdt" box to find segment start time in HLS
- For MSS, codem-isoboxer v0.3.7+ is required
- WebM
- Depends on browser support for the container via MediaSource
- Can parse cueing data elements for DASH's SegmentBase@indexRange and
SegmentTemplate@index
- Not supported in HLS
- MPEG-2 TS
- Can be played on any browser which supports MP4
- Can find and parse timestamps to find segment start time in HLS
- WebVTT
- Supported in both text form and embedded in MP4
- TTML
- Supported in both XML form and embedded in MP4
- CEA-608
- Supported embedded in MP4 and TS
- CEA-708
- Supported embedded in MP4 and TS
- Raw AAC
- Supported in raw AAC container and transmuxing to AAC in MP4 container
(depends on browser support via MediaSource).
- Raw MP3
- Supported in raw MP3 container and transmuxing to MP3 in MP4 container
(depends on browser support via MediaSource).
- Raw AC-3
- Supported in raw AC-3 container and transmuxing to AC-3 in MP4 container
(depends on browser support via MediaSource).
- Raw EC-3
- Supported in raw EC-3 container and transmuxing to EC-3 in MP4 container
(depends on browser support via MediaSource).
- SubRip (SRT)
- LyRiCs (LRC)
- SubStation Alpha (SSA, ASS)
- SubViewer (SBV)
Subtitles are rendered by the browser by default. Applications can create a
text display plugin for customer rendering to go beyond browser-supported
attributes.
Transmuxer support
Shaka Player supports:
- Raw AAC to AAC in MP4
- Raw MP3 to MP3 in MP4
- Raw AC-3 to AC-3 in MP4
- Raw EC-3 to EC-3 in MP4
- AAC in MPEG-2 TS to AAC in MP4
- AC-3 in MPEG-2 TS to AC-3 in MP4
- EC-3 in MPEG-2 TS to EC-3 in MP4
- MP3 in MPEG-2 TS to MP3 in MP4
- MP3 in MPEG-2 TS to raw MP3
- Opus in MPEG-2 TS to MP3 in MP4
- H.264 in MPEG-2 TS to H.264 in MP4
- H.265 in MPEG-2 TS to H.265 in MP4
- Muxed content in MPEG-2 TS with the previous codecs
Thumbnails support
Shaka Player supports:
- Internal DASH thumbnails. Using DASH-IF IOP Image Adaptation Set
- Internal HLS thumbnails. Using HLS Image Media Playlist
- Internal HLS thumbnails. Using I-frame-only playlists with mjpg codec
- External WebVTT with images/sprites (only for VoD)
Monetization with Ads
Shaka Player supports:
- IMA SDK for Client-Side Ad Insertion
- IMA DAI SDK for Server-Side Ad Insertion
- AWS MediaTailor for Client-Side
- AWS MediaTailor for Server-Side
- AWS MediaTailor overlays
Content Steering support
Shaka Player supports Content Steering (v1) in DASH and HLS.
Content Steering features supported:
- TTL, if missing, the default value is 300 seconds.
- RELOAD-URI, if missing we use the url provided in the manifest as fallback.
- PATHWAY-PRIORITY only HOST replacement
Content Steering features not supported:
- PATHWAY-CLONES other replacements than HOST.
VR support
Shaka Player supports VR when:
- Content is automatically treated as VR if it fits the following criteria:
- HLS or DASH manifest
- fMP4 segments
- Init segment contains
prji
and hfov
boxes
- Or, if it is manually enabled via the UI config.
VR modes supported:
- Equirectangular projection with 360 degrees of horizontal field of view.
- Cubemap projection with 360 degrees of horizontal field of view.
NOTES:
- VR is only supported for clear streams or HLS-AES stream. DRM prevents
access to the video pixels for transformation.
Documentation & Important Links
FAQ
For general help and before filing any bugs, please read the
FAQ.
Contributing
If you have improvements or fixes, we would love to have your contributions.
Please read CONTRIBUTING.md
for more information on the process we would like contributors to follow.
Framework Integrations
The Shaka team doesn't have the bandwidth and experience to provide guidance and
support for integrating Shaka Player with specific frameworks, but some of our
users have successfully done so and created tutorials to help other beginners.
Shaka + ReactJS Library
Shaka + ReactJS integrations:
Shaka + Next.js integration:
Shaka + Vue.js integrations:
Shaka + Nuxt.js integration:
Shaka + video.js integration:
Shaka + Angular integration:
If you have published Shaka Integration code/tutorials, please feel free to submit PRs
to add them to this list, we will gladly approve!