In this article
After reading, you'll understand:
- What a live stream is and how it differs from VoD
- The live pipeline: capture → encode → deliver
- Ingest protocols: RTMP vs SRT vs WebRTC
- How recording and scale work
What is a live stream?
A live stream is video delivered to viewers in real time as it is captured, rather than uploaded in advance. The camera or screen feed is encoded, cut into short segments and sent out continuously, so an audience anywhere can watch an event as it unfolds.
The opposite is video on demand (VoD) — pre-recorded video a viewer starts whenever they like. The two often connect: most live streams are recorded and become a VoD replay afterwards. Live is defined by two hard constraints — latency (how far behind real time) and reliability under sudden load.
How a live stream works
A camera or screen feed goes into an encoder (OBS, vMix, or hardware) that sends it to the platform over RTMP or SRT.
The platform transcodes the incoming feed into multiple quality levels in real time, so the player can adapt to each viewer's connection.
The stream is segmented and served through a CDN, which fans it out to viewers near them — the key to scaling to large audiences.
The session is recorded automatically and becomes an on-demand replay when it ends.
Ingest protocols: RTMP, SRT, WebRTC
"Ingest" is how your encoder gets the feed into the platform — separate from how viewers watch it (which is HLS/DASH). The common options:
| Protocol | Strength | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| RTMP | Universal encoder support | The default for most streams |
| SRT | Reliable over unstable networks (recovers packet loss) | Remote / field production |
| WebRTC | Sub-second, browser-native | Two-way, conversational live |
Whichever you send in on, viewers still receive an adaptive HLS/DASH stream — ingest and playback are two different halves of the pipeline.
How Kinescope handles this
Kinescope live streaming ingests your RTMP/sRTMP feed, transcodes it into adaptive quality in real time, and delivers it from its own global CDN at roughly 5–10 seconds of latency (Low-Latency HLS for interactive events). Recording to an on-demand replay is automatic, and concurrency scales with the CDN rather than a fixed cap.
Read the Kinescope docsFrequently asked questions
What is a live stream?
A live stream is video delivered in real time as it is captured — the feed is encoded, segmented and sent to viewers on the fly, rather than uploaded in advance. Webinars, events, product launches and broadcasts are live streams; the opposite is video on demand (VoD).
What is the difference between live streaming and VoD?
A live stream is delivered in real time as it happens; VoD (video on demand) is pre-recorded and can be started any time. Many live streams are recorded and become VoD afterwards — the replay. Live is about latency and reliability under load; VoD is about storage and instant access.
What do I need to start a live stream?
A source (camera or screen), an encoder that sends the feed over RTMP or SRT (OBS, vMix, or hardware), and a platform to transcode and deliver it to viewers. Kinescope ingests your RTMP/sRTMP stream, transcodes it into adaptive quality levels, and delivers it via its own CDN.
What is the difference between RTMP and SRT?
Both carry the feed from your encoder to the platform (ingest). RTMP is the long-standing default — universally supported by encoders, but built on TCP. SRT is a newer protocol designed for reliable delivery over unstable networks, recovering from packet loss better. You send in over one of them; viewers still watch over HLS/DASH.
Is a live stream automatically recorded?
On Kinescope, yes. Every live stream is recorded automatically and becomes a normal on-demand video the moment it ends, so the replay is ready to embed or gate without any manual export.
How many viewers can a live stream handle?
That depends on the delivery network. Because Kinescope serves live from its own global CDN, concurrency scales with bandwidth rather than a fixed cap — large events are fanned out across many edge servers, not served from one origin.
Further reading
- Live streaming — Wikipedia — a vendor-neutral overview.
