MPEG-DASH

MPEG-DASH is an adaptive bit-rate streaming technology where a media presentation is partitioned into segments and delivered from a server to a client via HTTP.

The content exists on the server in two parts: a Media Presentation Description (MPD), and segmented content. The MPD is a manifest of the available content, its various alternatives, their URL addresses, and other characteristics (including timing information and media characteristics such as video resolution and bit rates). The content fragments are the actual media bitstreams in the form of chunks, in single or multiple files.

The MPEG-DASH specification defines the MPD and the segment formats only. The delivery of the MPD and the media-encoding formats containing the segments—as well as the client behavior for segment retrieval, adaptation heuristics, and content playback—are not regulated by the MPEG-DASH standard. This diagram shows the content preparation process for MPEG-DASH.

Figure: Adaptive streaming content preparation for MPEG-DASH

Adaptive streaming content preparation for MPEG-DASH