HLS vs DASH - which is better?

Video API
1

I am considering using adaptive bitrate streaming for the videos on my website. I see ImageKit supports both HLS and DASH protocols in a similar URL-based API. Is there any difference between HLS and DASH in terms of performance, buffering, quality, compatibility, etc. that one should keep in mind before deciding which protocol to use for their videos?

2

It depends on your use case which one to use between HLS and DASH. The underlying technology of how segments are created or referenced by the player are different in both the protocols, but the end result for the user is a similar video stream.

TL;DR

Use HLS for support across a wider set of devices.
Use DASH for access to newer codecs, and wider support for DRM.

Similarities in HLS and DASH

Both of them are protocols for Adaptive Bitrate Streaming. Both of them can stream videos over HTTP and support delivery of high quality videos.

Compatibility of HLS vs DASH

HLS is Apple’s streaming protocol and is natively integrated on all Apple/iOS devices, and is supported on Android as well. Chrome and other web browsers support it with a video player.

DASH is an open streaming standard and is supported on most modern browsers (with a suitable video player), Android and other smart devices. However, DASH is not natively supported on Apple devices.

HLS tends to have wider compatibility, especially within the Apple ecosystem, and is a popular choice for adaptive bitrate streaming because of its native support on iOS and macOS. On the other hand, DASH is more flexible as an open standard, but its lack of native support on Apple devices can limit its adoption in Apple-heavy environments

Codec support of HLS vs DASH

HLS is restrictive here with support for H264/265 and AAC codecs only. If you want to use newer codecs like VP9, AV1 for video streaming, then this can only be done with DASH streaming.

DRM support of HLS vs DASH

HLS only supports FairPlay DRM which is Apple’s proprietary DRM solution. DASH again has wider support here for Widevine, PlayReady, Clearkey apart from FairPlay.

Latency of HLS vs DASH

HLS typically has higher latency than DASH. However with the introduction of Low Latency HLS (LL-HLS) which is now a standard for live streaming of events, this difference is not very big here now.

How to stream videos in HLS and DASH with ImageKit

ImageKit supports both the protocols with simple URL based parameters. ImageKit uses H.264 codec for encoding video and AAC for encoding audio for both HLS and DASH.

If the original video is

https://ik.imagekit.io/ikmedia/docs_images/examples/Videos/example_video_3.mp4

HLS Streaming M3U8 Manifest URL

https://ik.imagekit.io/ikmedia/docs_images/examples/Videos/example_video_3.mp4/ik-master.m3u8?tr=sr-360_480_720

DASH Streaming MPD Manifest URL

https://ik.imagekit.io/ikmedia/docs_images/examples/Videos/example_video_3.mp4/ik-master.mpd?tr=sr-360_480_720

You can read more about Adaptive Streaming with ImageKit here.