Video Streaming

The Video Streaming widget bundle plays live video from IP cameras directly inside a ThingsBoard dashboard. The bundle ships two players that share the same data shape (a single string data key holding a stream URL) and differ only in the streaming protocol they speak.

Widget	Protocol	Latency	When to use
HLS Video Stream	HLS (.m3u8)	typically a few seconds	Wide browser support, fewer NAT considerations, tolerates restrictive networks.
WebRTC Video Stream	WebRTC over WHEP signaling	typically sub-second once connected	Live monitoring where latency matters. Needs UDP reachability between viewer and the stream server.

Both widgets read the stream URL from a configured data key and fall back to an optional static URL when the key is empty. Neither widget sends video through ThingsBoard — the browser fetches video bytes directly from the URL it is given. ThingsBoard only delivers the URL string to the browser as part of the dashboard subscription.

Do you already have a public, browser-reachable HTTPS stream URL?

• Yes — go to Configure the widget and plug in the URL.
• No — work through Build a public stream URL first, then continue with Configure the widget.

How do I know which one I am?

Answer three questions to classify your situation:

1. Is your stream URL served over HTTPS and does it end in .m3u8 (HLS) or respond to a WHEP POST (WebRTC)?
2. Is the URL reachable from a browser outside your LAN, not only from inside your network?
3. Does the URL match the widget you want to use — .m3u8 for the HLS Video Stream widget, WHEP for the WebRTC Video Stream widget?

If the answer to all three is yes, you’re ready to Configure the widget. If any are missing — for instance, your camera only speaks RTSP on your LAN, or your only existing URL is http:// (browsers block mixed content under HTTPS) — start with Build a public stream URL.