Larix Broadcaster

App for capturing and streaming from mobile devices

Larix provides the best set of capabilities for remote contribution

Live encoding and streaming

Larix mobile streaming library enables live transmission from mobile:

• SRT publishing in Push (Caller), Listen and Rendezvous modes
  with streamid, latency, maxbw parameters and more via libsrt version 1.5.0.
• RTMP publishing, including SSL support (RTMPS)
• Enhanced RTMP spec is supported to deliver HEVC via RTMP (premium)
  Watch How to stream HEVC to YouTube via RTMP video tutorial for Larix Broadcaster
• New: Zixi output (iOS only)
  Use Larix to deliver live streams via Zixi protocol.
  See more details below.
• NDI®|HX2 output
  You can use your device as NDI source.
  See more details below.
• WebRTC output with WHIP signaling.
  See more details below.
• RIST protocol Push mode support: RIST Main and Simple Profile, librist 0.2.7.
  Use "rist://ipaddress:port" for new connection URL.
• RTSP publishing, including SSL support (RTSPS).
• Talkback for Larix Broadcaster allows getting audio return feed from studio.
  (premium feature)
• Multiple simultaneous connections to several destinations.
  (premium feature for 3+ connections)
• Pause and Stand-by modes, see description below.
• Adaptive bitrate (ABR) video is supported via logarithmic descend, ladder ascend, hybrid approach and variable FPS.
  Read respective question in Larix FAQ to learn more technical details.
• Talkback for Larix Broadcaster allows getting audio return feed from studio. (premium feature)
• Insert SEI time metadata and specify NTP server, this allows synchronizing streams on server side.
  (premium feature)

You can stream to services like Facebook Live, YouTube Live, Twitch, Amazon Interactive Video Service, Dacast, Limelight, Akamai. Check docs reference below for more.

Codecs for SRT, RTMP, RTSP and RIST:

• Video is encoded with interleaved H.264/AVC everywhere.
• H.265/HEVC is available on supporting devices.
  This includes transmission over Enhanced RTMP which allows publishing HEVC into YouTube, with HDR on supported devices.
  HEVC is a premium feature
• Audio is encoded with AAC.

Zixi live streaming (premium feature)
Larix supports live streaming via Zixi protocol from iPhone and iPads.

• iOS only at the moment
• AVC/H.264 and HEVC/H.265 codecs are supported
• SEI timestamps
• Change bitrate according to network conditions
• Use Wifi + Cellular bonding
• FEC control and other specific parameters

NDI®|HX2 output (premium feature)
You can turn your mobile device into NDI source:

• Output streaming via NDI®|HX2
• AVC/H.264 and HEVC/H.265 codecs are supported
• Preview stream support
• Discovery Server and connection metadata
• Handle zoom from NDI Studio Monitor
• NDI SDK 2023-04-10 r134150 v5.5.4

WebRTC (premium feature)
Larix Broadcaster supports WebRTC output.

• WHIP signaling is used for communication with server side.
• Video is encoded with H.264/AVC.
• VP8 and VP9 video encoding is supported on Android but depends on your hardware capabilities.
• Audio is encoded with Opus.
• Multiple simultaneous connections as described above.
• Tested with Nimble Streamer, Cloudflare Stream and Dolby.io.
• Watch Ingesting WebRTC from Larix Broadcaster into Nimble Streamer, video tutorial featuring iPhone low latency output via WHIP.
• Read Broadcasting Mobile Native WebRTC Streams by Dolby.io showing Larix WebRTC usage example.

Larix Broadcaster uses Pion implementation of WebRTC API. Special thanks to Sean DuBois and all Pion contributors.

Larix Grove
Larix Grove format allows you easily distribute your connection and encoder settings via deep links and QR codes.

Image, audio and other features

Larix Broadcaster uses full power of mobile devices cameras to stream live content, basic features include:

• Larix streaming library capabilities.
• Landscape/portrait orientation.
• Live rotation support.
• Front/back cameras hot switch.
• "Always vertical" and "Always horizontal" modes support.
• Content recording and screenshots saving support.
• Pause the stream: long tap on Start will pause the stream without disconnecting it.
  Video track will contain a black screen, audio track will contain silence.
• Stand-by mode: when stopped, long tap on Start will start stream in pause mode, waiting to start with the camera image.
  A separate set of overlays can be mapped onto stand-by.
• Input audio gain control.
• Audio-only capture mode: disable preview, stream from background, no video in output stream.
• Overlays support:
  • Image layers with external URL and local images;
  • Web widgets;
  • Text and HTML widgets;
  • GPS-based data like coordinates, speed and more
  • Timestamp support as defined on unicode.org, e.g. <%date('MMM dd, HH:mm:ss', en_US) %>
  • Assign layers for all mode: streaming, pause and stand-by;

Other platform-specific features are listed on Android and iOS pages.
For example, those are UVC OTG USB and background streaming on Android or HDR streaming on iOS.

Mentions

You can see Larix Broadcaster usage in a number of use cases.

• Sports Video Group News has two articles regarding NFL Draft of 2020. Both have Larix Broadcaster mentioned as part of streaming setup:
  "NFL Draft 2020: NFL Media Deploys iPhone Production Kits..." and "NFL Draft Reflections ..."
• SVG News also covered MLB Draft of 2020 in MLB Draft 2020: MLB Network Embraces Virtual Event... article mentioning Larix Broadcaster usage.
• The Ultimate Guide To DJ Livestreaming In 2020 gives full overview of DJ tool set including Larix Broadcaster.
• AT&T, Media Links Go to Extremes (and Embrace CBRS) To Help ARA Racing Go Live From Remote Locations featuring Larix.

Try documentation below to find out more.

Documentation and videos

• Documentation reference shows a lot of examples of Larix setup and usage.
• Larix Broadcaster FAQ answers most popular questions about our mobile streaming technologies.
• Best practices for Larix Broadcaster production deployment for live streaming from mobile devices.
• Watch our YouTube playlist with various video tutorials.
• Contact our helpdesk regarding our mobile technologies.

Larix Screencaster app

Both Android and iOS allow capturing the screen of user device, so Larix Screencaster captures it and uses streaming capabilities of Larix library to encode and stream it.
All protocols and codecs of Larix Broadcaster are available for Larix Screencaster.

Read Larix iOS page and docs reference for iOS Screencaster setup details.

Larix Broadcaster SDK

For those who need to add live streaming functionality into their mobile apps, we provide Larix Broadcaster SDK.
You can create your own mobile apps or just customize our apps to your use cases. SDKs are avaIlable for Android and iOS.

Go to Larix Broadcaster SDK for iOS
Go to Larix Broadcaster SDK for Android

Larix Player

If you need not only to produce but to play live stream on your mobile device, check out Larix Player for Android and iOS.