Streaming video in HTML5/JS

Question

I currently have an IPTV subscription and as a fun little side project I decided to create a multiplatform IPTV app. However, I'm running into some trouble when trying to stream video.

The .m3u playlist I am currently using has streaming links, however they do not end in .m3u8 as I am usually accustom to.

When I do a get request to the link in insomnia, it begins to download content with a MIME type of video/mp2t.

I have tried using hls.js along with a few other html video players however I cannot seem to get it to work.

The playlist does work with VLC!

I feel like I am missing something, just not sure what.

Thanks!!

Answer 1

If your IPTV service has content that the service provider wants to restrict then they may encrypt the content, use DRM and/or obfuscate the access to the manifest files and segments streams.

The reason they do this is to ensure that only their apps can be used to playback the content - this does not always have to be just for paid services as the content owner may require the content to be encrypted even for free IPTV services.

You can still do your experiment and build your multiscreen project using test streams which are available online - there are both DASH and HLS online streams available in a number of places. see here for a useful list:

• https://bitmovin.com/mpeg-dash-hls-examples-sample-streams/