ApsaraVideo Live:Feature overview

Category

Feature

Description

How to use

Core live streaming services

Domain configuration

Configure domains. Associate ingest domains with streaming domains. Associate main streaming domains with sub-streaming domains as needed.

• Core live streaming workflow

Stream ingest and playback

Ingest and play live streams.

Stream management

View active and historical streams. Interrupt or disable live streams.

• Manage live streams

Live streaming security

RAM user management

Resource Access Management (RAM) is an Alibaba Cloud service for identity management and resource access control. You can grant permissions to RAM users so they can use features within their authorized scope.

• Permission management

Video encryption

Alibaba Cloud video encryption encrypts video data. Even if downloaded locally, the video remains encrypted and cannot be maliciously redistributed. This prevents unauthorized sharing and hotlinking.

• Alibaba Cloud video encryption

Access control

Access control supports URL signing, Referer-based hotlink protection, IP blacklists and whitelists, protocol-based playback blocking, and remote authentication.

• Signed ingest and streaming URLs

• Access control

HTTPS

ApsaraVideo Live supports HTTPS secure acceleration and force redirects.

• Secure acceleration

Automated review for live streaming content

Automated review captures frames and analyzes audio from live streams to detect violations automatically. When used with stream management, it can interrupt or disable streams that contain violations.

• Content moderation for live streaming

Live stream acceleration

Edge ingest

ApsaraVideo Live uses edge ingest to push live streams to optimal acceleration nodes first.

• Edge ingest

Latency configuration

Configure latency based on the streaming protocol.

• Latency configuration

Ultra-Low-Latency Real-Time Streaming

RTS delivers easy-to-integrate, millisecond-level latency, highly concurrent, high-definition, and smooth audio and video live streaming.

• Real-Time Streaming (RTS)

Live Stream Processing

Live stream recording

Record live streams to preserve content and enable later playback.

• Live stream recording

Live stream transcoding

Transcode live streams to adjust resolution, encoding format, bitrate, and other parameters for different playback requirements.

• Live stream transcoding

Live stream watermarking

Add watermarks to live streams for copyright protection or to label broadcast information.

• Live stream watermarking

Live stream snapshots

Capture and save live stream frames during a broadcast.

• Live stream snapshots

Time shifting

Replay live streams from the start time to the current time.

• Time shifting

Live stream encapsulation

Core live streaming services support RTMP, HTTP-FLV, and HLS. The live stream encapsulation feature adds support for more protocols (LL-HLS/DASH) and segment formats (TS/CMAF).

• Live stream encapsulation

Real-time captioning (public preview)

Real-time captioning converts speech in live streams into captions using real-time speech recognition. It also supports translation.

• Real-time captioning (public preview)

Callback management

ApsaraVideo Live supports callbacks for stream ingest status, live stream recording, live stream snapshots, and automated review.

• Callback management

Live+

Ultra-Low Latency Live Streaming

RTS delivers easy-to-integrate, ultra-low-latency, highly concurrent, high-definition, and smooth video live streaming.

• Real-Time Streaming (RTS)

ApsaraVideo Real-time Communication

Build on traditional live streaming by adding interactive elements such as voice chat, video co-hosting, and game interactions. Turn viewers into participants and strengthen connections among platform users.

• ApsaraVideo Real-time Communication

Interactive messages

Use rich, easy-to-integrate SDKs to add comments, live comments, and likes to your live streaming apps.

• Interactive messages for live streaming

Production studio

Cloud-based production studio reimagines traditional video production tools in the cloud using Alibaba Cloud’s live streaming and media processing services. It integrates video AI detection, bilingual translation, and interactive capabilities to innovate live production effects. It supports dynamic tagging, ET bilingual captions, and ad replacement.

• Cloud-based production studio

BroadEye monitoring

BroadEye monitoring provides real-time broadcast monitoring for all types of live streaming projects. It alerts you to anomalies such as frame rate changes, bitrate fluctuations, audio-video sync issues, latency, and stuttering—ensuring professional broadcast reliability.

• BroadEye monitoring

Stream forwarding

Central forwarding

Forward live streams to other platforms through the live center. Central forwarding can trigger stream processing tasks such as recording and transcoding.

• Central forwarding

Pull-and-forward

Use pull-and-forward to forward third-party live streams or convert recorded videos into live streams. Pull content from various live or on-demand sources and broadcast it in real time to your audience.

• Pull-and-forward

Origin fetch

Origin fetch pulls third-party live streams into the Alibaba Cloud live center for stream processing and accelerated distribution.

• Origin fetch

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Primary/backup stream mixing

A single live center supports automatic mixing of two streams. It plays the primary stream first and switches to the backup stream if the primary stream fails.

• Primary/backup stream mixing

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Dual-stream disaster recovery

Dual-stream disaster recovery lets you push two identical live streams to the same URL path during critical events or high-traffic scenarios. The system monitors both streams’ availability and quality in real time and switches when necessary to ensure continuous, stable broadcasts.

• Dual-stream disaster recovery

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HTTP message headers

HTTP headers are fields included in HTTP requests and responses.

• Configure HTTP request headers

Data center

Usage query

Query usage for bandwidth and traffic, transcoding, watermarking, stream forwarding, content moderation, and snapshots at specified time granularities.

• Usage query

Operations analytics

View metrics such as playback bandwidth and traffic, unique visitors, user distribution, and origin fetch data.

• Operations analytics

Real-time monitoring

Monitor stream ingest and bandwidth usage in real time.

• Real-time monitoring

Log management

Log management provides log download.

• Log management

SDK quality monitoring

Query stream ingest data for the ApsaraVideo Live SDK over the past three days.

Metrics such as playback success rate, instant playback rate, and stuttering rate help you assess live streaming playback quality quickly.

• SDK quality monitoring

Toolbox

URL generator

Generate ingest and streaming URLs using the URL generator.

• URL generator

Self-service troubleshooting

Diagnose common stream ingest and playback issues and get resolution suggestions for specific anomalies.

• Self-service troubleshooting

Certificate Service

Enable HTTPS acceleration by uploading custom certificates or deploying certificates managed by Alibaba Cloud SSL Certificate Service to the acceleration platform. This ensures end-to-end encrypted data transmission.

• Certificate Service

IP address check

Check whether a specified IP address belongs to an Alibaba Cloud acceleration node, and identify its region and ISP.

• IP address check