Pseudo Streaming MP4’s with PHP

README.md

So I’ve been working on a video hosting project for most of the year and ran into issues while trying to push all storage files thru a PHP script. For proper tracking of embedded videos this was/is a must. If you’re having this problem and can’t find a solution, maybe this will help…

The below code will pseudo stream any MP4 file on any browser (including iPads/tablets) with all functionality working properly (seek forward, seek backwards and displays correct time). This code has also been tested with Longtail JWPlayer 6 and HTML5 players.

If you’re interested in an advanced version of this script, I currently have an unreleased version which includes automatic rate limiting (buffer rate). I’m also playing with other ideas to further enhance it. If you have any suggestions or questions either contact us or leave a comment at the bottom.

I have added the script to GITHub so everyone can contribute to ehance this code. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. https://github.com/tuxxin/MP4Streaming

HTML5_player.html

<video controls="" width="400">
  <source src="http://66.128.61.175/reel/1cc976948e74aa62f7a7fde16e64fb6b/360p" type="video/mp4">
  Your browser does not support HTML5 video.
</video>

streaming.php

    <?php
    $file = 'video360p.mp4';
    $fp = @fopen($file, 'rb');
    $size   = filesize($file); // File size
    $length = $size;           // Content length
    $start  = 0;               // Start byte
    $end    = $size - 1;       // End byte
    header('Content-type: video/mp4');
    //header("Accept-Ranges: 0-$length");
    header("Accept-Ranges: bytes");
    if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_RANGE'])) {
        $c_start = $start;
        $c_end   = $end;
        list(, $range) = explode('=', $_SERVER['HTTP_RANGE'], 2);
        if (strpos($range, ',') !== false) {
            header('HTTP/1.1 416 Requested Range Not Satisfiable');
            header("Content-Range: bytes $start-$end/$size");
            exit;
        }
        if ($range == '-') {
            $c_start = $size - substr($range, 1);
        }else{
            $range  = explode('-', $range);
            $c_start = $range[0];
            $c_end   = (isset($range[1]) && is_numeric($range[1])) ? $range[1] : $size;
        }
        $c_end = ($c_end > $end) ? $end : $c_end;
        if ($c_start > $c_end || $c_start > $size - 1 || $c_end >= $size) {
            header('HTTP/1.1 416 Requested Range Not Satisfiable');
            header("Content-Range: bytes $start-$end/$size");
            exit;
        }
        $start  = $c_start;
        $end    = $c_end;
        $length = $end - $start + 1;
        fseek($fp, $start);
        header('HTTP/1.1 206 Partial Content');
    }
    header("Content-Range: bytes $start-$end/$size");
    header("Content-Length: ".$length);
    $buffer = 1024 * 8;
    while(!feof($fp) && ($p = ftell($fp)) <= $end) {
        if ($p + $buffer > $end) {
            $buffer = $end - $p + 1;
        }
        set_time_limit(0);
        echo fread($fp, $buffer);
        flush();
    }
    fclose($fp);
    exit();
    ?>

Genius! Really great.
Why did you comment out "Accept-Ranges" ?

Can I advice you to use fstat and read blocks count & block size instead of doing that kind of buffer?

Brilliant Thank you very much :) 👍

it's really great!!!
how it's simple like that :)