CMAF

Single segments for both HLS and DASH delivery — eliminating duplicate storage.

Overview

What is CMAF

Common Media Application Format (CMAF) is an ISO/IEC standard (23000-19) that defines a single media segment format — fragmented MP4 (fmp4) — compatible with both HLS and MPEG-DASH manifests. Before CMAF, serving both HLS and DASH required encoding two separate sets of segments: .ts files for HLS and .m4s files for DASH. CMAF eliminates this duplication by producing one set of fmp4 segments that work with both an .m3u8 (HLS) and .mpd (DASH) manifest. CMAF also supports Common Encryption (CENC), enabling Widevine, FairPlay, and PlayReady DRM from a single encrypted source.

Decision Guide

When to Choose CMAF

Choose CMAF when:

You serve both HLS and DASH audiences — CMAF halves your segment storage by using one set of fmp4 files with two manifests.
You need multi-DRM from a single encrypted source — CMAF with CENC supports FairPlay, Widevine, and PlayReady without separate encryption passes.
You want low-latency delivery with chunked segments — CMAF chunked transfer encoding enables 2–5 second latency for both HLS and DASH.

Consider alternatives when:

You only serve HLS (Apple-only audience) — Standard HLS with .ts segments is simpler and equally effective.
You only serve DASH (no Apple devices) — Standard MPEG-DASH with .m4s segments avoids CMAF packaging complexity.
You need progressive download — MP4 is simpler for single-file delivery without adaptive streaming.

Try it

Transcoding Demo

Source video

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Select a source video and click “Convert” to see CMAF output in action.

Reference

Key Characteristics

Type	Segment format + packaging standard
File extension(s)	Typically served as .m4s
Supported video codecs	H.264, H.265 (HEVC), AV1
Supported audio codecs	AAC
DRM support	All — Widevine, PlayReady via Common Encryption (CENC)
Adaptive bitrate	Yes — via HLS or DASH manifest layer
Typical use case	Unified HLS + DASH delivery, multi-DRM from single encryption, storage cost reduction

Compatibility

Browser & Device Support

Platform	CMAF	HLS	DASH
Chrome (desktop)	via MSE	via MSE	via MSE
Firefox (desktop)	via MSE	via MSE	via MSE
Safari (macOS)	via HLS	native	via MSE
Edge	via MSE	via MSE	via MSE
iOS Safari	via HLS	native
Android Chrome	via MSE	via MSE	via MSE

Implementation

How Qencode Handles CMAF

Qencode produces CMAF-compatible output by generating fmp4 segments with both HLS (.m3u8) and DASH (.mpd) manifests from a single encoding job. Enable CMAF by specifying the fmp4 segment format in your HLS or DASH output configuration.

Pair CMAF with DRM to encrypt once and serve to all DRM systems, or combine with Per-Title Encoding to optimize the bitrate ladder before CMAF packaging.

Request Example

CMAF-compatible output for HLS

{
  "query": {
    "source": "https://your-storage.com/video.mp4",
    "format": [
      {
        "output": "advanced_dash",
        "create_m3u8_playlist": 1,
        "stream": [
          {
            "video_codec": "libx264",
            "resolution": 2160,
            "optimize_bitrate": 1,
            "framerate": "30",
            "keyframe": "90"
          }
        ],
        "segment_duration": "6"
      }
    ]
  }
}

Copy this payload and use it with your API key to generate CMAF-compatible output from any video source.

View Parameter Reference

comparison

CMAF vs. Separate HLS + DASH

	CMAF (unified)	Separate HLS + DASH
Segment storage	1 set of fmp4	2 sets (.ts + .m4s)
Storage cost	~50% less	Baseline (duplicated)
Manifest support	Both .m3u8 and .mpd	Separate manifests per format
Complexity	Moderate	Higher (two pipelines)
Compatibility	Broad (requires fmp4-capable players)	Maximum (legacy .ts support)

Explore More

Related Features

HLS

The adaptive streaming format that uses CMAF fmp4 segments with .m3u8 manifests

MPEG-DASH

The open-standard format that uses CMAF fmp4 segments with .mpd manifests

DRM

Encrypt CMAF content once for FairPlay, Widevine, and PlayReady with Common Encryption

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