SRT (Secure Reliable Transport)
SRT is a modern streaming protocol designed to reliably transmit video over unpredictable networks—particularly useful for live streaming from remote locations with unstable internet, field coverage during events, and contribution feeds from distributed sources.
Traditional RTMP was designed for reliable internet in controlled environments (studios with stable fiber connectivity). RTMP assumes packet loss is rare and doesn't gracefully handle variable latency or congestion. If your connection hiccups, RTMP drops frames or rebuffers. SRT handles network imperfection through adaptive bitrate adjustment, packet retransmission, and forward error correction—mechanisms that maintain stream continuity even when bandwidth is fluctuating or packets are being lost.
Creative Broadcast Agency is an SRT Alliance member, meaning we're committed to the protocol and actively participate in its development and standardization. This isn't just vendor preference—SRT is open-source and backed by an ecosystem of manufacturers (Haivision, TVU Networks, Teradek, LiveU, Univisio, Blackmagic, and others) ensuring it remains supported and improved.
SRT introduces latency compared to RTMP—typically 1-3 seconds for encrypted, resilient streaming. For low-latency streaming applications where milliseconds matter (live esports, interactive broadcasts), this latency is sometimes unacceptable. For remote speaker integration, corporate streaming, and field coverage, 2-3 second latency is comfortable.
The practical advantage: during the Esports World Cup, remote commentary feeds and arena backup camera feeds used SRT. If a camera operator's internet dropped for a moment, SRT gracefully adapted bitrate and recovered without visible disruption. RTMP would have dropped the feed entirely.
SRT also provides military-grade AES 256 encryption, securing contribution feeds from unauthorized viewing. For corporate events with sensitive content or financial announcements, encrypted SRT feeds prevent eavesdropping.
Equipment supporting SRT continues to expand. Haivision — as co-developer of SRT — offers native SRT across their entire Makito and KB encoder range. TVU Networks supports SRT alongside their proprietary bonding protocols. Teradek Prism encoders, LiveU units, Univisio encoding blades, BlackMagic studio cameras, and vMix all support SRT natively. Open-source implementations exist for specialised applications. This broad ecosystem is why we standardise on SRT for contribution feeds across most production scenarios.