SetStream.io is a WebRTC-based infrastructure. We distribute globally to our viewer portal via WebRTC which is a fast and reliable way to deliver to viewers. This delivery system is what makes SetStream so successful at delivering high quality content in low latency, whether you use WebRTC or RTMP for the camera uplink. This article discusses the camera uplink methods that we offer, each of which provides specific benefits for your workflow. Lets dive into the implications of these different protocols.

WebRTC is a Real Time Communication protocol that is implemented directly in your web browser. You don’t need any plugins or special apps. To send a camera signal to SetStream with the Web Broadcaster, all you need is a capture device and a supported browser. It’s the simplest way to get going, and there are very few settings you need to worry about. It’s also going to be your lowest latency option (200-500ms). If simplicity and realtime broadcast is important to you, this should be your go-to choice. Check out our Streaming via Web Browser article for more details.

Traditional implementations of RTMP can have several seconds of delay, or even minutes. Therefore RTMP gets a bad rap. But RTMP doesn’t inherently mean multi-second latency when implemented certain ways. With a WebRTC-based delivery system, we are able to reduce the latency of the RTMP uplink down to approximately 1/2 – 2 seconds. With such low latency, RTMP becomes an attractive option.

Our RTMP uplink option gives you as much customizability of the stream as your encoder allows, enabling you to get an extremely high quality image. This should be your option if image quality is most important. RTMP works with both software and hardware encoders, giving you all the flexibility you need in different shooting scenarios.