HDS (HTTP Dynamic Streaming)
HDS (HTTP Dynamic Streaming) is Adobe's legacy adaptive streaming protocol that delivered video in fragments over standard web servers to Flash Player. It used an F4M manifest file and F4F fragment files. HDS worked much like HLS and DASH, but it depended on Flash, which Adobe stopped supporting in 2020, so it is now effectively obsolete.
Why it matters
HDS matters today only as legacy. Video libraries and CDN settings built for Flash may still contain HDS files that no modern device can play. Migrating them to HLS or DASH is required to keep that content viewable.
How it works
- Video was packaged into F4F fragment files at several quality levels.
- An F4M manifest file listed the available levels and fragment locations.
- Flash Player read the manifest, requested fragments over HTTP and switched quality as bandwidth changed.
Is HDS still supported?
No, HDS is effectively obsolete. It relied on Adobe Flash Player, which Adobe stopped supporting at the end of 2020, and current browsers and devices do not play it. Any content still stored as HDS should be repackaged or re-encoded into HLS or DASH so it can play on modern phones, browsers and TVs.
How do I convert HDS to HLS?
The usual route is to go back to the original source files and encode them fresh into HLS. If sources are lost, tools such as FFmpeg can sometimes read the HDS fragments and rewrap them, but results vary. For large libraries, teams usually run a batch migration and update old player embeds at the same time.
Where it's used
Older media companies and video platforms mainly meet HDS when migrating Flash-era libraries or old CDN settings; new streaming services and learning platforms do not need it.
By the numbers
- Adobe stopped supporting Flash Player on December 31, 2020, and blocked Flash content from running starting January 12, 2021. (Adobe Flash Player EOL General Information)
