Root

The Player.Root component is the React Context wrapper for the Player.

The Player.Root component is a React Context wrapper which passes the player state store down to all of the child components. It is responsible for creating the zustand store which is consumed by the children, and which handles browser events and keeps state in sync.

It automatically handles different source types, such as WebRTC, MP4, and HLS. These are seamlessly integrated so that playback has low latency under all network conditions.

It is compatible with WebRTC WHEP endpoints, HLS (and low latency HLS), or typical media file playable by an HTML5 video element (MP4, WebM).

Compatibility

The compatibility table below applies to the Player broadly, since the Root component is only a React context.

Browser	Version
Chrome	102+
Chrome for Android	105+
iOS Safari	12.2+
Edge	103+
Safari	13.1+
Firefox	103+
Opera	89+
Samsung Internet	17+
UC Browser	13.4+
Firefox Android	104+
Opera Mini	all

We aim to support ~93% of browsers tracked on caniuse. We use browserslist to track compatibility.

Introduction

Player.Root

Player.Root acts as the primary context provider for the media playback system. It does not render any HTML elements - only React Context.

Props

The component accepts a variety of props:

src

Defines the source for the Player. It accepts Src[], which can be derived from various sources like Livepeer playback info, Cloudflare stream data, Mux URLs, or simple strings.

See getSrc for docs on how to easily generate this parameter.

aspectRatio

Specifies the aspect ratio of the content. Recommended for an optimal broadcasting experience to minimize Cumulative Layout Shift. The default value is 16 / 9.

Set to null to disable the aspect ratio container (see Container).

<Player.Root aspectRatio={16 / 9}>{...}</Player.Root>

hotkeys

Enables keyboard hotkeys for controlling the player. Enabled by default (true). It’s recommended to follow ARIA guidelines by keeping this enabled unless you’re implementing custom hotkeys or there’s a conflict with existing ones.

<Player.Root hotkeys={false}>{...}</Player.Root>

viewerId

Sets the viewer ID for the broadcast, useful for metrics and viewership API integration.

<Player.Root viewerId="viewer123">{...}</Player.Root>

onError

An optional callback for handling broadcasting errors. It’s called with null when the previous error is resolved. The callback receives the parameter:

type PlaybackError = {
  type: "offline" | "access-control" | "fallback" | "permissions" | "unknown";
  message: string;
};

<Player.Root onError={(error) => console.log(error)}>{...}</Player.Root>

jwt or accessKey

These define ways to play back a video which has a playback policy applied to it. Your application can prevent playback unless the user meets application-specific requirements. This can be done either with JWTs or webhooks.

Defines the JSON Web Token (JWT) or access key used to access media gated by a jwt or webhook playback policy respectively. It’s crucial for implementing application-specific access control like restricting viewership based on certain criteria (e.g., having an activated account, etc.).

<Player.Root jwt={jwt}>{...}</Player.Root>
<Player.Root accessKey="access-key">{...}</Player.Root>

lowLatency

Enables low-latency playback for live streams via WebRTC by default. If set to "force", it forces WebRTC playback and disables fallback to HLS. This is ideal for applications requiring low latency and can tolerate possible connectivity issues inherent to WebRTC.

Defaults to true. If this does not succeed in playing back (commonly due to a slow network or connectivity issues), the Player will automatically fall back to HLS playback. Also, if the stream contains B-frames (bidirectional frames, which are common for users streaming with OBS or other streaming apps), the Player will automatically switch to HLS, so that out-of-order frames are not displayed.

OBS users should be instructed to use the Livepeer stream profile, or to manually turn off B-frames in their stream. See our Stream from OBS docs for more information.

<Player.Root lowLatency="force">{...}</Player.Root>

timeout

Sets the timeout duration for playback before switching to the next source, including SDP negotiation for WebRTC, waiting for WebRTC to play, and server responses. The default is 10000 milliseconds.

<Player.Root timeout={15000}>{...}</Player.Root>

storage

Configures the storage option for saving persistent states like volume and video quality. The default is localStorage in the browser. Set to null to disable storage.

<Player.Root storage={null}>{...}</Player.Root>

Usage

Here’s a generalized example of how the Player component might be used:

import * as Player from "@livepeer/react/player";

function MediaPlayerComponent() {
  return (
    <Player.Root src={sourceArray} aspectRatio={16 / 9}>
      {/* Child components like Container, Controls, PlayPauseTrigger, Volume, Poster, etc. */}
    </Player.Root>
  );
}

In this example, Player is configured with a media source and an aspect ratio, and hotkey support.