Softvelum is proud to announce the first public beta release of Nimio, an open-source live streaming player built for the evolving demands of low-latency media delivery.
This release marks the first milestone in our long-term plan to reimagine how playback is handled across the browser stack, as we introduced it in our recent roadmap.
Rethinking Playback with WebSockets and WebCodecs
Today’s playback landscape is shaped largely by Media Source Extensions (MSE), which abstract away much of the buffering, decoding, and error handling. While MSE works well for many use cases, it can limit developers’ ability to fine-tune playback for ultra-low-latency or custom transport protocols.
Nimio takes a new direction:
- Transport is handled entirely SLDP protocol over WebSockets, allowing persistent, low-latency communication between the server and the player.
- Decoding is performed using the WebCodecs API, giving developers direct access to video and audio decoders in the browser, with frame-level control.
This model gives engineers full visibility and control over how media flows from network to screen—ideal for custom playback logic, experimental protocols, or highly optimized delivery workflows.
What’s in the First Release
The initial release of Nimio provides:
- WebSocket-based ingestion of media over SLDP
- WebCodecs-based decoding and rendering in real time
- Supported codecs are H.264 for video and AAC for audio at the moment.
- Open source implementation for allow further extension
- Working demo example and setup instructions
- Basic playback functionality to show the concept
The player work in most modern browsers:
- Chrome – all latest stable releases with no limitations.
- Firefox – all latest stable releases with no limitations.
- Safari – audio is played in the latest tech preview build. It will play WebCodecs audio in the nearest releases. The stable Safari release supports only video playback.
You can explore the player and its source code on GitHub. Any feedback and contributions are welcomed!
What Comes Next
The next phase of development will focus on expanding Nimio to match the feature set of the SLDP Player, including but not limited to:
- More codecs
- Enhanced buffering and recovery logic
- Fullscreen and UI integration options
- Support for alternate audio tracks and subtitles
- Stream synchronization and latency control
- Playback statistics and performance monitoring
- Compatibility with secure content protection workflows
By aligning with SLDP Player capabilities, Nimio will become a fully functional low-latency playback solution for professional-grade deployments, while maintaining the transparency and flexibility of its open-source foundation.
We encourage streaming media engineers to try Nimio, contribute feedback, and help us build a player stack that is transparent, adaptable, and ready for the future of streaming.
Feel free to contact us with any feedback or questions.