[vlc] Re: VLC and MPEG-4

[Peter Maersk-Moller]

Hi Sunil.

sunil bhargo wrote:
> Hi all,
>         regrets if the following questions comes
> across as a newbie one. 
> 1) Can VLC when used as a server stream both VOD and
> LIVE MPEG-4 content ?

VLC is a player/encoder, not a (stream) server as such.

Use Darwin Streaming Server or similar as a Stream Server.

> 2) I just wanted to clarify that if i use the VLC as a
> server to stream the MPEG-4 VOD or LIVE then can i use
> any other player like QT/Real to receive the MPEG-4
> stream served by VLC(as a server).

There are a quadrillion ways you can set it up so it won't
work. You can use VLC as an encoder, but in case anybody wrote
a stream server plugin I would still not recommend it as a stream
server.

If you use multicast (or directed unicast to a single receiver), then
you can use VLC as a source of streamed content, but that does not
turn it into a stream server. In general you do

    encoder---->multicast------->receiving clients

or

    encoder--->multicast server--->multicast--->receiving clients

or

    encoder---->StreamServer----->receiving clients

The latter can use multicast or unicast on either networks.

All that said, RealPlayer can not play Live RTSP Streamed MPEG-4
because they handle RTCP wrong. One day they may fix it, but until
recently, they refused for 1.5 year that they had a problem.

QT is limited on what audio codecs you can use when it comes to
streaming, but MPEG-4 Visual Simple Profile and AAC Low Complexity works
fine.

I recommend you use VLC as a client, DSS as a stream server and mp4live as
as an encoder. VLC might work as an encoder, but I haven't tested the
stability.

Kind regards

--PMM

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