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What Are the Differences Between DASH, HLS, and MP4 Videos?

Videos in different formats are packaged using different standards. Their playback experience and traffic usage are different as well. Table 1 lists the differences.

Table 1 Differences

Video Format

Playback Experience

Traffic Usage

DASH
  • Videos are segmented and played by segment. Video starts quickly with less freezing.
  • If you drag the time axis to any time point, the corresponding segment can be quickly located and played.

Traffic usage is low.

HLS

Similar to DASH

The overall traffic usage is low because only the segment is downloaded if you want to play a single segment. If a video is at a low bitrate, traffic usage is relatively high due to high packaging costs.

MP4
  • The header file is large, and data is cached during download. As a result, video starts slowly.
  • If you drag the time axis to any time point, it takes some time to cache.
  • Most browser clients can play MP4 videos.

Traffic usage is high. If you drag the time axis to a time point, the entire header file still needs to be downloaded, which consumes a large amount of traffic. You are advised to use this format for short-form videos.
Parent topic: Transcoding