Our HLS direct low latency streaming solution is working with any HLS compatible encoder.

The advantage of using our own HLS compatible software encoder based on OBS Studio is the cost (free for everyone) and the super fast set-up with preset encoding settings.However you are more than welcome to use your own HLS encoder if you do have one.

Below is an example of the settings we used with a Haivision HLS compatible encoder to stream on a Dacast low latency channel:

Note: For a minimal latency you might want to use :
segment duration: 2000 ms
segment count: 3

If you have tips and suggestions, please contact us or post it in the community section.

Closed captions refer to the visual display of the audio in a program, such as a TV broadcast.
The standards widely used for online video are:
– CEA-608, also known as Line 21
– CEA-708, the latest standard for digital television.

Live captioning with 608 and 708 is possible with Dacast’s latest default player.
Note that broadcasters need to have their own infrastructure to insert closed captions to their live streams.

There is no limit of live channels in your Dacast account.
However, by default, you cannot create more than 20 live channels (all types) in your Dacast account without contacting us.
If you do need more than 20 live channels in your account, please contact us and we will make it happen.

How to contact us?
– via our 24/7 live chat (directly in your Dacast account)
– via email (support@dacast.com)
– via phone (+1 855 896 9300).

At this time you receive notifications in the back office when your live recording has ended and your recorded file is being integrated. There are currently no event handlers or callbacks to directly notify you elsewhere when the recorded file has been created and is ready to be played.

Many encoders will get out of sync, in terms of the video and audio feeds, if the CPU of the machine running the encoder is being taxed.

Adobe, for the Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder, states the following:

• Ensure that the CPU usage of the encoding computer and the subscriber computer is not more than 75%.

If you are running into this problem, please try to close other programs (including possibly your virus scanner) to see if it improves performance and sync.

This also applies for the resulting file archive these encoders might be saving to your computer.

Short answer: no you do not.

When you buy a Dacast Streaming Plan you are buying access to a range of Dacast platform features and services for a period of time and with a certain level of usage (bandwidth) included. This includes the player, broadcast manager software, content management, access to support, and more.

Dacast is unique from most other existing services in the way that we allow unused bandwidth to roll over from month-to-month for up to 12 months.

So if you only used half of your Starter plan bandwidth, the remaining 50% would roll over into the next month. However, this bandwidth only remains available for the life of the plan.

So an account can not continue to be used, or unused bandwidth reserved for later, when the service is canceled or suspended.