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Livestreaming 1080p VP9/WebM via Icecast – Yes, it works!
For anyone interested in live video streaming using open standards and low resource servers, we’ve got something cool:
✅ 1080p/2K live video
✅ Using Icecast (yes, the audio server!)
✅ Encoded in VP9/WebM via ffmpeg
✅ 100% browser-native — no player, no plugin, no HLS!
🧪 This started as an experiment back in 2017, and today it’s a fully working solution. Even low-end VPS or bare metal servers can handle it, thanks to VP9’s efficiency.
🛠 Tech stack:
- Icecast 2.x
- VP9 via
ffmpeg - Plain HTML5
<video>tag
💡 Who is it for?
- Indie streamers / radios
- Event / science cams
- Education / webinars
- Anyone who wants to go live without OBS or Twitch/YouTube
🎯 Why use this?
- No royalties (open format)
- Lightweight setup
- Works on Chrome/Firefox/Edge/Safari/iOS
- Super low bitrate vs H.264
🔴 Live demo
➡️ Stream: https://rdst.win:59000/dos.webm
➡️ Server status: https://rdst.win:59000
Let me know if you'd like a full setup guide or want to try this on your VPS!
Comments
Interested.
this is cool, interested
Hey @lala_th — glad you're interested! 🙂
I would look at a set up guide.
What do you consider a low resource server in this circumstance?
Hi @lirrr — glad to hear that! Let me know if you want any help with it. 🙂
Hi, interested in the full setup guide.
Complete guides please
AV1 when?
interested!
Interested!
Interested.
+1 for this.. waiting its complete tutorial.
Very interest! Thanks for sharing!
Edit: please share!
So what are you waiting for? Are you testing the water?
Maybe. It seems like the guy is more interested in spreading his post than sharing something useful with the public. Don't hold your breath:
https://www.reddit.com/r/streaming/comments/1kdmy3d/livestreaming_1080p_vp9webm_via_icecast_yes_its/
https://forum.videohelp.com/threads/418269-Live-1080p-VP9-WebM-Streaming-via-Icecast-A-Plugin-Free-Browser-Native#post2774382
https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/livestream-1080p-vp9-webm-video-over-icecast-—-it-actually-works.185981/
https://dev.to/dos_gr/live-streaming-1080p-vp9-via-icecast-no-cdn-just-webm-1g9d
Maybe there are more....
I can't see what is so special about this, a pretty simple setup as far as I can see.
I mean, write a guide if you want to, but it is not like this is a super innovative or complex setup.
Hey all — thanks for the comments and interest!
Just to clarify: the reason this was posted across a few forums is not for promotion, but to help spread the word that you can stream live video using open, free tools like VP9/WebM + Icecast, without needing to pay for expensive platforms or services like Wowza, VdoPanel, etc.
The whole point is to show that anyone with a decent VPS and a bit of time can run a high-quality, browser-native livestream — no plugins, no proprietary players, no licensing fees.
I'm currently putting together a full setup guide tailored for this community — simple, step-by-step, with tips for low-resource servers too.
And @farsighter — about the “don’t hold your breath” comment:
Well... you might want to hold yours after all 😄 because yes, the guide is coming soon and I’ll be posting it right here.
Thanks again to everyone who showed interest — happy to answer any specific questions in the meantime!
Interesting, never knew icecast could do that
I remain to be convinced that this is better than using ffmpeg to output hls/dash and serving that with a standard web server
Interesting
Interested as well in the guide!
Where is the guide?
Yeah, not for promotion at all.
Icecast can stream video in certain formats
• Icecast 2.x is primarily designed for audio streaming (MP3, Ogg Vorbis, etc.), but it can also stream video — as long as the format is encapsulated in a supported container like WebM (which uses VP8/VP9 for video and Opus/Vorbis for audio).
• VP9/WebM over Icecast works because WebM is a streamable container, and Icecast doesn’t care what the actual media is — it just pushes the raw stream to connected clients.
• If the stream is encoded correctly with ffmpeg and sent via HTTP to Icecast, browsers can play it directly with a simple < video> tag.
✅ HTML5 browsers can play VP9/WebM directly
• Modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, even Safari) support native playback of WebM with VP9.
• No need for third-party JavaScript players like HLS.js or Dash.js.
✅ No proprietary servers/plugins needed
• Unlike RTMP or HLS which often require NGINX modules, Wowza, or Media Server software, this setup can work with:
• Icecast
• FFmpeg (for encoding + pushing stream)
• Browser with HTML5 video tag
⚠️ Caveats / Limitations
1. Latency: WebM streaming via Icecast is not low-latency (usually several seconds or more). It’s not suitable for real-time interaction like Zoom or gaming streams.
2. No adaptive bitrate streaming (ABR): Unlike HLS or DASH, you can’t dynamically switch resolutions. Viewers must accept the stream as-is.
3. No rewind/seek or DVR functionality.
4. Browser compatibility: While WebM is widely supported, Safari (especially on iOS) has had rocky support for WebM in the past. Newer versions of iOS (15+) support it better, but not perfectly.
5. Scalability: Icecast is lightweight, but it’s not optimized for large-scale video streaming. There are no CDNs or edge networks unless you manually integrate them.
6. No encryption (unless you use HTTPS): Ensure you’re using HTTPS for privacy/security.
— ChatGPT
Also gave me a tutorial on how to set it up, i’ll try it later.
Why not simply setup an OwnCast instance on a vps?
I’d be happy for you to prove otherwise bro, but your approach is still strange for someone who truly wish to share. Because if it's something you’ve been working on since 2017 like you say, you could have documented it 700 times already from every angle, or just opened a GitHub for it in the first place. But instead, you come and post some teaser on multiple forums (including on Reddit already two weeks ago) without any follow-up tutorial. So it raises questions bro, what’s the purpose of the post...
But forget it because now after your last response I’m sure you’ll do it over the weekend and we’ll see a tutorial here by Monday at the latest right?
Holding my breath again 🙂
No adaptive bitrate though is a big one
It's NOT promotion, right XD
I believe you! Keep it going!
Post the guide as an article here
Hey @farsighter — fair point about being skeptical, and honestly, I get it.
But just to clear the air:
This wasn't something I came up with last week. We've actually been doing this exact setup (Icecast + VP9/WebM) as early as 2017.
Here's archived proof from the official Icecast directory itself:
📅 June 2017, featuring our stream directly:
➡️ https://web.archive.org/web/20170606103556/http://dir.xiph.org/by_format/WebM
➡️ https://web.archive.org/web/20170626062807/http://stgr.info:9554/dos.webm
Screenshot:
So yeah — not “testing the waters”, just revisiting a forgotten trick that still works in 2025.
Back then almost nobody was doing browser-native video streaming with Icecast, and we made it work with full VP9 video + Vorbis audio — plugin-free, 1080p, direct to browser.
I’ll be posting the full setup guide as promised — not for promo, but so more people can do this without using CDNs, NGINX modules, or proprietary servers.
Cheers 🙂