HLS Streaming with manual video quality selection in iOS SDK - AVPlayer?

Question

We have implemented HLS streaming with AVPlayer,

 fileURL = [NSURL URLWithString:@"https://devstreaming-cdn.apple.com/videos/streaming/examples/img_bipbop_adv_example_ts/master.m3u8"];
 avAsset = [AVURLAsset assetWithURL:fileURL];
 AVPlayerItem *avPlayerItem =[[AVPlayerItem alloc]initWithAsset:self->avAsset];
 self->avPlayer = [AVPlayer playerWithPlayerItem:avPlayerItem];

It was automatically select the video quality based on the network speed, also we need to manually select the video quality by user selection. But we can't able to select the media files manually(Quality 1080p,720p,270p etc..).

If anybody knows about HLS streaming with the manual quality selection, Kindly share your ideas. Thanks in advance!

Review this : https://stackoverflow.com/questions/43095311/how-can-i-change-avplayer-video-quality-while-playing — Kuldeep, Oct 03 '18 at 12:34
@Kuldeep We have only one URL with .m3u8 format, automatically it chose the quality when the network changes, we don't have multiple URL. If any other way available for choosing specific quality from HLS URL, Kindly explain — Ramkumar Paulraj, Oct 04 '18 at 06:33

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 28 '20 at 16:07

Yes, We can but I am not sure it's the right way. But it works for me

First, we need to get all the qualities need for the video. There are two ways to get this option

Get it from the back end itself via API
The "m3u8" you can actually download it and read its contents. All you have to do is get the value for the key "RESOLUTION"

It will be like this

After you got the list of resolutions. You have to show it as a list or as an option to the users.

Then comes the second point. How to make the selected resolution to play in AVPlayer.

There is an option AVPlayer has called PreferredPeakBitRate

After that, we have to set the bit rate by these values I calculated. Apply it to the current player

 open func setBitRate(_ definition: String) {
    // 1. 240p = 700000
    // 2. 360p = 1500000
    // 3. 480p = 2000000
    // 4. 720p = 4000000
    // 5. 1080p = 6000000
    // 6. 2k = 16000000
    // 7. 4k = 45000000
    var maxBitRate: Double = 0
    switch definition {
    case "240p":
        maxBitRate = 700000
    case "360p":
        maxBitRate = 1500000
    case "480p":
        maxBitRate = 2000000
    case "720p":
        maxBitRate = 4000000
    case "1080p":
        maxBitRate = 6000000
    case "2k":
        maxBitRate = 16000000
    case "4k":
        maxBitRate = 45000000
    case "Auto":
        maxBitRate = 0
    default:
        maxBitRate = 0
    }
    player?.currentItem?.preferredPeakBitRate = maxBitRate
    print("Playing in Bit Rate \(String(describing: player?.currentItem?.preferredPeakBitRate))")
}

Though it takes a little second by the player to update the bit rate but it will definitely work.

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 20 '21 at 08:21

You can set the quality by specifying:

currentPlayerItem.preferredMaximumResolution = your value
currentPlayerItem.preferredForwardBufferDuration = your value

but in the end the player will adjust the quality by itself because HLS is an adaptive stream that adjusts its quality depending on the available bandwidth.

HLS Streaming with manual video quality selection in iOS SDK - AVPlayer?

2 Answers2