Streaming using adaptive bitrateAdaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming came on the market in a big way during the last 10 years. Its main innovations compared to traditional IP delivery were:
Using HTTP communication rather than UDP multicast - lowering the impact of individual packet loss events and supporting delivery over the Internet
Having multiple bitrates of the video available, called profiles or renditions
As network conditions change, this enables a device or app to seamlessly switch between different versions of the stream with higher or lower resolution or more or less compression. This is what makes adaptive bitrate streaming adaptive. Every version of the stream is split into pieces of up to a few seconds in duration, which are called segments, fragments, or chunks.
The most impactful formats are HLS from Apple and MPEG-DASH, defined by the MPEG standards group.
Why was CMAF created?Adaptive Bitrate Streaming as originally designed had several challenges.
The first one is latency. With a traditional HLS setup, the latency from the live signal can be as much as 30 to 60 seconds. This is problematic with content such as sports, where the viewer gets the action later than the neighbors.
A second challenge was fragmentation in the media formats used. HLS typically used Transport Stream segments, while DASH and Smooth Streaming opted for MP4. Supporting multiple formats meant that packaging must be duplicated with both TS and MP4. This leads to extra expenses in both packaging and CDN delivery. A way to handle this is just-in-time packaging where a single mezzanine format (say MP4) is encoded and then transmuxed to another container format such as TS on the fly. This lowers the encoding costs but not the CDN delivery costs.
In 2016, Apple added MP4 support to HLS in protocol version 7, and the same year, Microsoft and Apple jointly proposed a new standard based on MP4, called the Common Media Application Format. CMAF was officially published through MPEG in 2018 with support from HLS, Smooth Streaming and MPEG-DASH, thus allowing fragments to be reused across all technologies.
In parallel with this container format harmonization, there has also been a move towards standardizing the encryption of assets. CMAF is frequently used with Common Encryption, another harmonizing MPEG standard. This standard specifies how to encrypt the mdat payload and how to signal the encryption while allowing each DRM vendor to use its own method for retrieving the actual decryption keys. This way, the same fragments can be decrypted on multiple platforms with different DRM vendors.
How is it structured, and how does it enable lower latency?CMAF is based on the ISO Base Media File Format, which is a subset of the MP4 container format. The format uses the same concept of boxes as MP4, and many of the boxes used with traditional fragmented MP4 are still present in CMAF. A notable difference is that there is a hierarchy of smaller subdivisions:
The ability to divide a movie or live stream into smaller pieces is key in streaming applications. Rather than waiting for a full MP4 file to download, we want to download no more than a few seconds of content at a time, so that we can play and download at the same time.
But how does CMAF lower the latency from that baseline approach?
The key difference is what is called Chunked encoding . This means that a segment is internally subdivided into smaller units, called fragments and chunks. This allows a player to start decoding video without having to download the full segment (which could be between a few seconds to 10 seconds). For that to happen, the partial segment must be made available to the player via the CDN and origin. That part of the infrastructure must support the continuous transfer of the segments and fragments as the individual chunks are added to it.
SummaryCMAF enables both lower latency and more efficient use of resources, making it an important step towards a broadcast-like experience delivered over the top.
Additional technologies are also being developed to further improve latency numbers, for instance HESP, and the Low Latency HLS technology from Apple.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
01/12/2025
L3Harris and PentenAmio formalise their teaming agreement at MilCIS 2025, streng...
01/12/2025
Artemis II is NASA's first crewed flight test of the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft. The crew, from left: Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Vic...
01/12/2025
IRVINE, Calif. Wooden Camera has introduced its new Accessory Collection for the Canon EOS C50. The new lineup includes a low-profile, gimbal-ready cage, expand...
01/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for its Dec. 18 Open Commission Meeting that will include a vote on a report an...
01/12/2025
In most years, a graph of annual local TV ad spending is about as predictable as an electrocardiogram of a reasonably healthy patient in a doctor's office. ...
01/12/2025
Many industries have seen big-ticket hardware turn into software. Switchers, though, demand a combination of real-time performance and sheer bandwidth that has ...
01/12/2025
GENEVA Shanghai will host the next quadrennial Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-27) and World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27), Oct. 11-Nov. 12, 2027. This...
01/12/2025
NEW YORK Just in time for Giving Tuesday tomorrow (Dec. 2), the Broadcasters Foundation of America is seeking out donations to help television and radio industr...
01/12/2025
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Net Insight CEO Crister Fritzson has informed the company's board that he will retire from the video transport and media cloud technology ...
01/12/2025
01 Dec 2025
Kyivstar and Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation Select Go...
01/12/2025
The prequel to the global hit Sky Original mob crime saga, Gomorrah' is a s...
01/12/2025
Featuring Florence Welch, Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Flea, designer Bella Freud...
01/12/2025
Back to All News
A Down to Earth, All Too Relatable Hero: Cashero' Teaser ...
01/12/2025
In the rush to deliver content to every screen, many broadcasters overlook one of the most crucial steps in the workflow: format and frame rate conversion. Get ...
01/12/2025
Fox Corporation Chief Financial Officer Steve Tomsic to Participate in Upcoming ...
01/12/2025
Arvato Systems' Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Receives BSI C5 Certification (T...
01/12/2025
Summary This short video gives you an summary of the changes in under two minutes.
--...
01/12/2025
As the festive season approaches, RT Supporting the Arts is proud to showcase a...
01/12/2025
Researchers worldwide rely on open-source technologies as the foundation of their work. To equip the community with the latest advancements in digital and physi...
01/12/2025
Festive specials of Christmas in Kilmainham presented by Marty Whelan, High Road Low Road, Callan Kicks the Year and Keys to My Life
Ring in the New Year with ...
01/12/2025
Architect and television presenter Hugh Wallace, best known to RT audiences as a long-serving judge on Home of the Year, has died at the age of 68.
In a state...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
Streaming using adaptive bitrateAdaptive bitrate (ABR) streaming came on the market in a big way during the last 10 years. Its main innovations compared to traditional IP delivery were:
