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Media Capture and Streams API (Media Stream)

The Media Capture and Streams API, often called the Media Streams API or MediaStream API, is an API related to WebRTC which provides support for streaming audio and video data.

It provides the interfaces and methods for working with the streams and their constituent tracks, the constraints associated with data formats, the success and error callbacks when using the data asynchronously, and the events that are fired during the process.

Concepts and usage

The API is based on the manipulation of a MediaStream object representing a flux of audio- or video-related data. See an example in Get the media stream.

A MediaStream consists of zero or more MediaStreamTrack objects, representing various audio or video tracks. Each MediaStreamTrack may have one or more channels. The channel represents the smallest unit of a media stream, such as an audio signal associated with a given speaker, like left or right in a stereo audio track.

MediaStream objects have a single input and a single output. A MediaStream object generated by getUserMedia() is called local, and has as its source input one of the user's cameras or microphones. A non-local MediaStream may be representing a media element, like <video> or <audio>, a stream originating over the network, and obtained via the WebRTC RTCPeerConnection API, or a stream created using the Web Audio API MediaStreamAudioDestinationNode.

The output of the MediaStream object is linked to a consumer. It can be a media element, like <audio> or <video>, the WebRTC RTCPeerConnection API or a Web Audio API MediaStreamAudioSourceNode.

Interfaces

In these reference articles, you'll find the fundamental information you'll need to know about each of the interfaces that make up the Media Capture and Streams API.

Events

Guides and tutorials

The Capabilities, constraints, and settings article discusses the concepts of constraints and capabilities, as well as media settings, and includes a Constraint Exerciser that lets you experiment with the results of different constraint sets being applied to the audio and video tracks coming from the computer's A/V input devices (such as its webcam and microphone).

The Taking still photos with getUserMedia() article shows how to use getUserMedia() to access the camera on a computer or mobile phone with getUserMedia() support and take a photo with it.

Browser compatibility

Desktop Mobile
Chrome Edge Firefox Internet Explorer Opera Safari WebView Android Chrome Android Firefox for Android Opera Android Safari on IOS Samsung Internet
MediaStream 5521 7912 44 No 4215 11 554.4 5525 42 4214 11 6.01.5
Media_Capture_and_Streams_API 5521 7912 15 No 4215 11 554.4 5525 15 4214 11 6.01.5
active 42 12 52 No 29 11 42 42 52 29 11 4.0
active_event 42 12 No No 29 No 42 42 No 29 No 4.0
addTrack 26 12 44 No No 11 37 26 No No 11 1.5
addtrack_event 26 12 50 No No 11 4.4 26 50 No 11 1.5
clone 35 12 48 No 22 11 37 35 48 22 11 3.0
getAudioTracks 26 12
22Before Firefox 64, this method returned an array of AudioStreamTrack objects. However, MediaStreamTrack has now subsumed that interface's functionality.
 No 15 11 37 26
22Before Firefox 64, this method returned an array of AudioStreamTrack objects. However, MediaStreamTrack has now subsumed that interface's functionality.
 No 11 1.5
getTrackById 26 12 49 No No 11 37 26 49 No 11 1.5
getTracks 38 12 34 No 25 11 38 38 34 25 11 3.0
getVideoTracks 26 12
22Before Firefox 64, this method returned an array of VideoStreamTrack objects. However, MediaStreamTrack has now subsumed that interface's functionality.
 No 15 11 37 26
22Before Firefox 64, this method returned an array of VideoStreamTrack objects. However, MediaStreamTrack has now subsumed that interface's functionality.
 No 11 1.5
id 26 12 41 No 15 11 4.4 26 41 14 11 1.5
inactive_event 42 12 No No 29 No 42 42 No 29 No 4.0
removeTrack 26 12 44 No 15 11 37 26 44 No 11 1.5
removetrack_event 26 12 72
59–72Before Firefox 72, the event handler was exposed but had no effect.
 No No 11 4.4 26 79
59–79Before Firefox 72, the event handler was exposed but had no effect.
 No 11 1.5

See also

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Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Media_Capture_and_Streams_API