Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) is an open source video transport protocol developed by Haivision, that excels at providing stable streaming at relatively low latency. Although SRT is primarily used in broadcasting and corporate environments, SRT is increasingly becoming popular for all kinds of streaming over the internet.

Before going into more details on why the SRT protocol is gaining more adoption compared to the more traditional transport protocol such as RTMP and RTSP, let’s take a brief look at where it fits in the context of live video streaming.

Here is a simplified process of how live streaming works:

Source used for broadcasting video and/or audio

Compresses the raw data from cameras and/or microphones for easier transporting across the internet

Compresses the encoded data to smaller sizes and different formats to be more accessible across different types of devices

Converts and repackages transcoded data as needed to be available for different types of formats chosen to view the video

Quickly distributes the content provided by the media server from the nearest location requested by the viewer

Decodes the data from the CDN and displays it for viewing

SRT is part of the transcoding process that delivers the data to the media server. Due to the nature of data getting transferred constantly in different variations, maintaining the optimum quality from the original source is very important.

There are features in SRT that assists in maintaining high quality data when transferring them.

Here are some unique features provided by SRT that help preserve the quality of data that is being transferred.

The ability to configure the time to synchronize to multiple feeds

The ability to set and adjust the bandwidth

Reconstruct NAK(Negative Acknowledgement) packages to provide a smoother experience

More adaptability by being codec agnostic for audio and video


We like SRT not only because it’s being actively maintained and is open-sourced, but also because SRT is designed to be highly stable and perform well in unpredictable network conditions by adapting to real-time network conditions. Another important aspect is that it also provides for security for the content distribution by using AES encryption.

Simply put: more reliable video means happier viewers.

SRT is still relatively new and not as widespread as RTMP, which means that you can’t stream SRT into popular live-streaming sites like Youtube, Twitch, and Facebook. Livepeer supporting SRT means that your streamers can stream SRT and get all the stability and security improvements that it was designed to deliver.

SRT streaming is simple to use, sign up for a free account at 

Currently, we provide a RTMP ingest URL like the following example:


rtmp://rtmp.livepeer.com/live{stream-key}

To use SRT transport method, simple replace the RTMP ingest URL with:

srt://rtmp.livepeer.com:2935?streamid={stream-key}

Another easy option is that the SRT ingest URL is located right under the RTMP URL in the Livepeer Video Services dashboard. If you are using the SRT URL from the dashboard, there is no need to provide the stream key as it is already included.

Below is an example of using SRT with OBS

Paste in the SRT ingest URL from Livepeer Video Services. 

Note that {stream_key} should be replaced with the given key, e.g. 56g6-xcd1-toox-w70z

SRT is free to use for all accounts. For more information to get started using SRT, check out our documentation. Here is more information on getting started using SRT in 

, also check out our documentation. Happy streaming!

Read SRT docs

How to Analyze Livepeer Video Engagement Metrics with Timeplus

 Lenstube offers video on demand for both long-form and short-form videos

web3 social platform for video sharing built on Lens Protocol

 is a web3 social platform for video sharing that combines the best of traditional video-sharing platforms with the latest web3 functionalities. Whether you're a professional creator or an amateur, Lenstube gives you the ability to upload and monetize your video content with ease. Currently, Lenstube offers video on demand for both long-form videos and short-form videos.

Lenstube sets itself apart from traditional video-sharing platforms by incorporating web3 features such as connecting to a crypto wallet, enabling creators to receive tips in MATIC coins, collecting videos as NFTs, and charging membership fees for subscribers. These features are made possible through Lenstube's implementation of various web3 technologies, including Livepeer, Arweave, IPFS, and Lens. By utilizing decentralized technologies, Lenstube is revolutionizing the way creators can share and monetize their content, and provides a new and exciting way to engage with their audience.

 founded Lenstube with the goal of creating a decentralized video sharing platform for content creators. The idea for Lenstube came about after Sasi saw some of his favorite creators, who were creating and teaching web3, being unjustly removed from traditional web2 platforms. This led Sasi to understand the importance of web3 for content creators, and the significance of permanent data storage and content ownership. With this in mind, Sasi set out to create his own web3 video-sharing platform. The first step in this process was to find a video-on-demand service that transcodes and serves video from Arweave.

“I knew that creating a video delivery infrastructure and transcoding videos would be a significant challenge, and I definitely didn't want to spend all my time and resources on these technicalities, especially in the early stages of development. Luckily, I discovered Livepeer on the sponsor list of one of the EthGlobal hackathons. Livepeer provided exactly what I needed to move Lenstube forward, and integrating it into my platform was one the first, and easiest, decisions I made.”

Lenstube's partnership with Livepeer has been a vital component of the platform's success. Currently, all videos on Lenstube, whether they are long or short form, are powered by Livepeer. This means that Livepeer handles all the technical aspects of video delivery, such as ingesting, processing, and transcoding. This has afforded Sasi and the Lenstube team the freedom to focus on other important growth areas, like attracting new creators to the platform and improving user experience.

“Working with Livepeer has definitely been a great experience, and we receive tons of support from the team. Recently, Livepeer launched a feature that displays view counts beneath the video player. We were able to implement this feature pretty quickly, and the team was available to answer any questions we had. Although, most of the time we don’t really need the support, as the guides and docs for the Livepeer SDK and API are awesome.”

Today, Lenstube is thriving and making significant strides in its development. The platform has reached notable milestones, such as surpassing 10,000 video uploads in December 2022, averaging more than 1,000 daily sessions, and reaching more than 50,000 average monthly users in January 2023. These milestones demonstrate the effectiveness of the Lenstube team's efforts and the growing appeal of the platform among content creators and viewers alike.

Lenstube boasts a user-friendly interface that includes all of the features commonly found on traditional web2 video sharing platforms. The front page prominently showcases the most recent and popular short-form (Bytes) and long-form videos hosted on the platform, which can be filtered by video category for easy browsing. Users can log in with their Lens handle on the top right corner of the page. Additionally, various exploration tools can be found on the left-hand menu bar for easy access.

Bytes are short-form, vertical videos that are similar to TikToks and YouTube Shorts. Users can scroll through a feed, like and dislike videos, subscribe to channels, and share Bytes via URL or embed videos directly on websites. Additionally, Bytes can be easily shared on Lenster, Twitter, Reddit, and LinkedIn.

Sasi and the Lenstube team have recently made a concerted effort to develop the Bytes feature. This effort was motivated by the increasing popularity of short-form videos on web2 platforms. Not only do short videos have high user retention rates, but they also provide creators with an effective way to capture an audience and lead them to content on other platforms.

“In my opinion, short-form videos are one of the most effective ways to share content with a wide audience, and they offer creators greater opportunities for engagement. We predict that the use of short-form videos as NFTs will become a popular trend in the web3 community."

Do you want to build your own web3 short-form video app? Disrupt TikTok with this 

 walking through the key components of building a social app with quick, bite-sized video.

Lenstube also enables creators to upload long-form, horizontal videos that are similar to standard YouTube videos. In addition to features found on Bytes, these long-form videos also include view counts, video descriptions, and a comment section.

Every video hosted on Lenstube is equipped with a variety of web3 features. These features not only enable content creators to earn revenue from their videos, but also provide fans with a way to support their favorite creators. This is what sets Lenstube apart from traditional web2 video sharing platforms. Some of the web3 features that Lenstube offers include:

Mirroring across Lens, with custom referral fees

Default sharing of all Lenstube videos across Lens ecosystem apps

Lenstube’s frontend was built using Next.Js, an open-source React framework for web applications. Lenstube uses Apollo Client to manage local and remote data, and to fetch data and do mutations through the Lens Protocol’s GraphQL backend.

Middleware is like a “software glue” that acts as a bridge between different technologies, tools, and databases so they can be integrated into a single system. Lenstube uses Lens Protocol’s indexer for its middleware, and this indexer streamlines data between Lens contracts and viewers. The Lens indexer is a GraphQL server that listens to events from Lens contracts and stores the data into a database. This indexer enables viewers to quickly and efficiently access video data, which leads to a better user experience.

Lenstube’s backend consists of four main components: Livepeer, Arweave, IPFS, and Lens

Lenstube uses Livepeer to process and play back video. Livepeer is a protocol built on Ethereum that distributes video transcoding work throughout its decentralized network. The protocol provides cost efficient, secure, and reliable infrastructure. Livepeer's mainnet launch took place in 2018 and the network now processes millions of minutes of video each week.

Lenstube stores its video files on Arweave and IPFS, web3 protocols that offer data storage on decentralized networks. Arweave and IPFS offer permanent and immutable data storage, and anyone can store data in the networks or offer storage space, without there being a centralized point of failure.

Lenstube uses Lens for its social graph. The Lens social graph is fully composable, open source, and decentralized. This helps transfer full rights and complete ownership of content into the hands of creators.

Sasi intends to improve the Lenstube platform by adding new features, with the primary objective of providing exceptional user experience and boosting user engagement on the platform. Furthermore, Sasi is currently building a mobile application that specifically caters to short-form videos, which will be released soon. This further solidifies his belief that short-form videos represent a rapidly expanding area in the video industry and is positioning Lenstube to capitalize on this growth potential.

If you’re a developer that would like to build your own web3 video app, check out these 

 to get started. If you have any questions about building, 

Lenstube is a web3 social platform for video sharing that combines the best of traditional video-sharing platforms with the latest web3 functionalities. Whether you're a professional creator or an amateur, Lenstube gives you the ability to upload and monetize your video content with ease. Currently, Lenstube offers video on demand for both long-form videos and short-form videos.

How Lenstube Changed Video Sharing in Web3

Livepeer Video Services supporting SRT means that your streamers can stream SRT and get all the stability and security improvements that it was designed to deliver.

Livepeer Video Services now supports SRT