Bitstreams API.
Control path for software developers.
Bitstreams runs as a Docker container on your Linux host and wraps FFmpeg. Every deployment includes two control paths: a browser UI for operators and a REST API for software.
The API is the highest-level way to integrate NETINT VPUs. You can also integrate through FFmpeg, GStreamer, or libxcoder, but those paths demand expertise. FFmpeg commands are long and complex. New features can mean modifying FFmpeg itself, integrating third-party hardware, and extensive testing to validate the changes.
The API removes that work. Your team builds its own application or UI with no FFmpeg knowledge required. New features arrive as new key/value pairs in the JSON of an API call. NETINT engineering handles the complex integration and validation underneath.
A standard REST API over HTTP.
If your team can integrate any modern web service, they can integrate Bitstreams. This call returns every stream on a server:
# List all streams
curl -LH ‘Authorization: Basic <token>’ http://<server>/api/v3/streams
Any language, any platform.
Plain HTTP requests. No proprietary SDK required.
Token-based authentication.
Generate a token ID and secret on the Access Tokens page, then authenticate with standard Basic Auth.
Versioned endpoints.
Current API version is v3. Integrations stay stable across releases.
Full OpenAPI (Swagger) definition.
Download the JSON spec and generate client code automatically.
WHY USE THE API
What you get by scripting it
instead of clicking it.
01
Integration with existing systems.
Your team drives Bitstreams from the tooling they already use. Learning the Bitstreams UI is optional.
02
Control at scale.
Scripts manage multiple streams at once. The UI handles one action at a time.
03
Workflow automation.
Schedulers and playout systems start and stop streams on time, without a ticket or an operator.
04
Unattended operation.
Routine launches, teardowns, and status checks run without anyone at a keyboard.
Scheduler-driven channel origination.
A single workflow, running unattended and controlled from your own systems. The UI remains available throughout. Operators monitor stream health, VPU telemetry and FFmpeg logs in one view and intervene manually at any point.
1
A scheduler calls the Bitstreams API at the programmed time.
2
The stream launches with a stored encoding template. Configuration is identical on every run and every server.
3
SCTE-35 ad markers and closed captions pass through the encode.
4
At the end of the event, the scheduler stops the stream through the same API.
SPECIFICATIONS
Platform facts.
- Packaging
- Hardware
- Codecs
- Protocols
- Control
- Cloud
- Support
- Docker container on your existing Linux host (x86 or Arm)
- All Quadra VPUs (T1M, T1U, T1A, T2A). Logan also supported.
- H.264, HEVC, AV1, VP9, JPEG. 8-bit and 10-bit. Up to 8K.
- HLS with SCTE-35 passthrough, multicast RTP, unicast RTP
- Browser UI with role-aware access, plus REST API
- Available on Akamai Cloud through the NETINT Cloud Pilot Program
- 24/7 technical support via online ticketing and phone
Test the API against real VPU hardware. At no cost.
Bitstreams is available now for no-cost trial in NETINT’s Cloud Pilot Program. No hardware purchase required. Our field application engineers support the integration.
