What is SRT?

SRT stands for Secure Reliable Transport. It is an open-source video transport protocol and technology stack that optimizes streaming performance over unpredictable networks with secure streams and easy firewall traversal. It was developed by Haivision and first made public in 2017.

SRT provides end-to-end secure and reliable transport of video and audio data over networks with varying quality, such as the public internet. It compensates for jitter and bandwidth fluctuations due to network congestion, recovering lost packets, and maintaining the integrity of the data.

Key features of SRT include:

1. Secure streams: SRT supports AES encryption for end-to-end security, keeping your live video production safe from prying eyes.

2. Low latency: SRT delivers low latency video and audio streams, making it perfect for remote interviews and production scenarios.

3. Packet loss recovery: SRT can recover from severe packet loss which is common when streaming over the public internet.

4. Firewall traversal: It uses the same outbound port to traverse firewalls, simplifying the setup process.

5. Adaptive bitrate streaming: SRT is capable of adapting to real-time network conditions like packet loss, fluctuating bandwidth, and jitter to maintain the highest quality of stream possible.

SRT is increasingly being used in the broadcast and streaming industries because it provides a good balance of reliability, quality, and latency for professional use cases.