General availability: Azure Media Services low-latency live streaming

Azure Media Services is announcing the general availability of low-latency live streaming (LL-HLS). This offers glass-to-glass latency **as low as 4 seconds** with any player capable of supporting Apple’s low-latency HLS (LL-HLS) specification. With low latency in the 4-7 second range, you can build a variety of interactive applications that allow you to engage seamlessly with your audiences at scale. **What kinds of applications can you build with low-latency live streaming?** Low-latency support can enable you to stream a variety of interactive scenarios including: * Retail live shopping. * Fitness and educational instruction classes. * Social streaming and user generated live where audiences can chat and react with emojis. **What are the key features of low-latency live streaming in Media Services?** * Latencies in the **4** **\-7 second range** (upper end latency can vary by network conditions and geography). * **Automatic live transcription** in over 50 languages. * Dynamic encryption and **d** **igital rights management (DRM) support** for PlayReady, Widevine and FairPlay. * **Player friendly** – Works natively with Apple devices (MacOS 12 and iOS15 and above) with no additional player work needed. Playback has been evaluated with the latest version of HLS.js, Video.js, Shaka and more. * **No additional costs** over existing encoding live events. * **Major improvements** in latency for DASH delivery when not using LL-HLS playback (LL-DASH support is not available at this time). For more details [see the live demo and links to documentation.](https://media.microsoft.com/live ) * Media Services * Features * [ Media Services](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/services/media-services/)