Litchi VUE and RTMP difference?

1

Hello,
I am wondering, what is the technical difference between Litchi-VUE and RTMP (besides that Litchi-VUE can switch to VR-mode).
Both need a wireless connection over a hotspot and both are using a transfer protocol.

If not using Litchi-VUE, I can use RTMP, starting a RTMP listener on my second device and a viewer (like VLC, OBS or similar) to see the stream. This is working well in Linux witch apache or any other RTMP sever, who can listen on the required port (did not try with Windows, as I do not use Windows). How to do this, I described in another thread.

A RTMP listener can also be started on android phones, there is an app for it. Then doing the same way as on PCs. However, I believe, on Android using Litchi-VUE is much easier.

My question is aimed for the technical site: Is Litchi-VUE using also RTMP and is just a “ready made solution” or is Litchi-VUE using some other protocol (maybe proprietrary), to increase transport speed and inhibit lagging.

Using the RTMP-method I described above will show a little delay between first and second video (about estimated 100-300ms), but maybe also be caused, as my notebook is old and not so fast.

Apart from the delay, using RTMP to other computers might be interesting, if you want see or show your video on a big screen, because it is working on ANY hardware.

Have a nice day!

Hans

2

Litchi Vue uses a proprietary protocol, it does not use RTMP. Latency should be similar in a local setup, perhaps faster with Litchi Vue but we did not compare.
Which app on Android allows you to create a local RTMP server? Interested to try it out, please let us know!
Litchi Vue obviously supports telemetry and VR which are not streamed with RTMP only

3

Hi vico,

thanks for the answer. The App on Android is called “Servers Ultimate”. It can several protocols including RTMP. There are not many of these apps available, this one was looking best for me.

What was not quite clear for me: Litchi VUE is the server, and the client for it is Litchi Magic Leach, is this correct?

Best regards

Hans

4

Litchi Vue is the name of the feature. The ‘server’ is the main Litchi app, the ‘client’ is the Litchi Vue app: Help - Litchi

Litchi Magic Leash is unrelated, it is for following another device in Follow mode

If you are able to stream to ‘Servers Ultimate’ using Litchi, please let me know how! I could not get it to work (not rooted)

5

Hi vico,

tried again yesterday, but sadly in the meantime the trial periode of Servers Ultimate is gone off.
Tried do deinstall and reinstall without any success - the trieal period stays off.

Maybe I will find a cracked version somewhere… If not, then bad.

There is another app, which should do it, called NAMP, it is nginx for android, but it might not work.
First, I believe you must pay for an activation (I am not quite sure about that, the expanation looks very weird), and second, although you can edit the nginx.conf and add RTMP as protocol,
it is notz clear, that this will work.

For PC you need the addon module “nginx-rtmp” to activate rtmp-server in nginx, so it might not work on android.

I will see, if I will find another solution, however, just for testing purposes.

Oh, by the way: The app Servers Ultimate does NOT need a rooted device! So you can play around with it during the trial periode.

Best regards and happy hacking!

Hans

6

Hi, Hans!

I installed Servers Ultimate after reading about the RTMP server. But I can’t figure out the program settings, I ask for help. What should be the link to the broadcast? I tried smtp://my_IP:1935/simple1rtmp1/2 or smtp://my_IP:1935/simple1rtmp1/8OU, but the broadcast did not start. Which link is correct?

photo1665402573
photo1665402573565×1238 98 KB

Thanks a lot,
Alex

7

Hi Alex,

there is a description of me, how to install a server and client with RTMP-protocol. In this description you will see the correct link. Check for the title “RTMP: Receive video on linux”.

Here I am unsing a linux (debian/stable) and litchi. You will have to do the same way with android.

First you need an rtmp-server and a video-viewer (I am using VLC, as it is also available on linux, android, even shitty windows).

However, you should also be able, to use any software, which is capable, to show a video stream· for example smplayer, mplayer whatever.

In thle link, the last part is a temporary file, which is read by vlc. I believe, you can change its name, but it must be the same as in the nginx.conf. I did not test this, as I made my description in the forum from several other blogs, but the description from me is tested and working.

And does the filename really matter?

Hope this helps, if not please feel free to ask again.

Best regards

Hans

8

Hi Hans,
with nginx-servers (gryphon and mono server) there is no problems, translations from Litchi/Fly works correctly. But I need rtmp-server on my android for wireless connection for my controller

wlan
wlan2289×486 84.2 KB

Servers Ultimate app looks good for this, but have problems with correct link. I also tried:
rtmp://my_IP:1935/storage/emulated/0/rtmpserver/, but it’s work incorrect too. Whats wrong?

Thanks a lot,
Alex

9

Hi Alex,

I never got success with Servers Ultimate, because this is a paid app and I did not want to pay for it. However, any rtmp server should work.

For me, it looks like the link is not quite correct, because the filename is missing.

It should be

rtmp://my_IP:1935/storage/emulated/0/rtmpserver/live

where the word “live” is the filename, which is created on the server (the streaming file). The name is set in the servers configuration (see the example from me in my post with nginx).

Then, when this is set correctly, it should create a file on the server, named “live”.

Now point ithe streaming viewer to it (in my case VLC, but any other streaming viewer should do, too.)

Please note: It is NOT the drone, who sends to the mobile, it is the received stream sent fron the drone to the mobile, and then this mobile is sending the stream to another mobile (or pc or whatever)!

What I did not test, if this is working without a router (I checked with a router), but thisis more a routing problem and maybe fixed with generell network settings of the devices. However, if you need a router in the fields, some old mobile should work as a hotspot, or you can buy some GSM-Router (you know these things: one side wifi, the other side GSM or LTE. But you need no LTE! Just wifi).

The configuration you send, I believe, will not work. You need:

drone → Android → Android with RTMP-Server → second monitor.

But, when you just want to ise a bigger monitor, then I suggest using LitchiVue:

drone → Android → Android with LitchiVue → second monitor

The RTMP-Solution is only needed, if you want to use a device NOT capable running LitchiVue like computers with linux, windows or macOs.

Hope, I could help at least a little bit.

Best regards

Hans

10

So, tried to compare Litchi-Vue and RTMP with my new Mini 2 today. Both devices are connected to the same router (FritzBox 7530). The device A (the one connected to the controller) is a Samsung S7, device B running Litchi-Vue is a Samsung Tab SM-T580.

Connection worked like a charm. It appears, there is a slight delay between the video on device B compared with the video of device A. However, this is really short and would not deminish the flight experience.

The second test was with the same router, same device A, but device B is now a Lenovo T520 (3,2GHz, two CPU’s, 16GB RAM, running Debian-Linux “stable”). RTMP server is nginx-rtmp (like described in another post) and output seen by VLC. The result compared to Litchi-Vue: Yes, it looks like this setup is a little bit slower than with Litchi-Vue. This is exactly, what Vico already told. Litchi-Vue is using an optimized transfer protocol. However, the delay by using RTMP is still acceptable!

Thoughts:
I am wondering, if it might be possible, to create a direct peer-to-peer connection to the laptop without using a router. Yes, you can do it with a crossover-cable, but it should be possible with wifi, too.

Thinking of it as my next project. As you can configure the network settings in both devices, configure routing should be the minor problem. Most problem IMO will be wifi keyexchange if needed as it is wifi.

I am not good in layer 3, so a network specialist might be more helpfull than me.

For android devices, I found no RTMP-Server, the only one I found, is “Server Ultimate” which costs money. But only for testing purposes I don’t want to pay.

In the fields there are no routers available, ask friends or other people, many of them have old hardware lying around. Connect it to a battery or accu and you are ready. Easy, peasy.

Enjoy flying!

Best

Hans

11

Hi all,
coming into my mind, there is a great advantage with RTMP compared to LitchiVue:

You can use RTMP to every computer like desktop-pc, notebook and more. And to those you can connect a big screen (like a plasma tv) to this hardware.

With LitchiVue you are dependent on a system with Android and it must also be capable to install apps. Most tv’s won’t be able to, and I suppose most Android devices are rather small (maybe 10 or 12 inch size).

So with RTMP you are much more flexible.

Just a hint: If you do not have a computer with linux on and you are not able to get an RTMP-server running on your Windows or MacOS, then you might think of running a linux livefile booting from an USB-stick or a CD/DVD. How to get one? Either to download a ready built one, like Knoppix or Kali, or, better way, build your own one. If you build your own one, you can make it as small as possible. Just only the necessary files like X-Server + WindowManager (XFCE preferred) + Apache with RTMP-Module and a viewer like VLC. It is not very easy, because all configuration files must be preconfigured put in at build.

If one wants to try, he may ask for tipps. I myself will not need it, because all my systems are already running linux. Sorry guys.

Have fun!

Best

Hans