Free MPEG-DASH MPD (manifest) Examples for Testing

Here is a list of free MPEG-DASH mpd (Manifest) test URLs for testing OTT DASH Video Players (including Big Buck Bunny, Tears of Steel, and mpd URLs from BBC, Dolby, Bitmovin, etc.).

MPEG-DASH mpd or Manifest Test URLs

When you are working with MPEG-DASH (either writing a packager, or writing an MPEG-DASH-compliant player, or you just want to see how MPEG-DASH works), it is always convenient to have a few sample MPEG-DASH manifest examples or URLs to test against – right?

I always find myself googling for such URLs, so I have made a list of them right here for you!

If you are looking for HLS, then check out our collection of free HLS m3u8 test URLs.

1. MPEG-DASH IF’s mpd resource page

This is the #1 resource for example mpd files and comes directly from the MPEG-DASH body that governs and guides the development of the MPEG-DASH standard.

URL: https://testassets.dashif.org/#testvector/list.

Here are a few examples from that list of free example mpd files.

1. Low Latency Chunked Single-Bitrate, AVC, and AAC: https://livesim.dashif.org/livesim/chunkdur_1/ato_7/testpic4_8s/Manifest.mpd
2. 10-bit UHD SDR Live profile mpd: https://dash.akamaized.net/dash264/TestCasesUHD/2b/11/MultiRate.mpd
3. Switching across adaptation set – With switching element: https://dash.akamaized.net/dash264/TestCasesIOP33/adapatationSetSwitching/5/manifest.mpd
4. AVC, Multi-Resolution Multi-Rate, Live profile, SegmentTimeline mpd: https://dash.akamaized.net/dash264/TestCases/2c/qualcomm/1/MultiResMPEG2.mpd
5. AVC, Multi-Resolution Multi-Rate, Live profile, upto 1080p mpd: https://dash.akamaized.net/dash264/TestCasesHD/2b/qualcomm/1/MultiResMPEG2.mpd
6. AVC, Single-Resolution Multi-Rate, Live profile mpd: https://dash.akamaized.net/dash264/TestCases/1b/qualcomm/1/MultiRatePatched.mpd

This is a small sample set of the large number of helpful and diverse MPEG-DASH mpd files that the group maintains. Do check it out.

2. Bitmovin’s sample MPEG-DASH mpd file

URL: https://bitmovin-a.akamaihd.net/content/MI201109210084_1/mpds/f08e80da-bf1d-4e3d-8899-f0f6155f6efa.mpd

If you go to Bitmovin’s sample DASH playback page, you can find a few PEG-DASH mpd URLs. The cool part is that you can even insert ads, add DRM, and inspect DASH playback. Here is a direct link to their mpd – thanks, Bitmovin!

3. MPEG-DASH mpd URLs maintained by the Institute of Information Technology (ITEC) 

1. Big Buck Bunny MPD: http://ftp.itec.aau.at/datasets/DASHDataset2014/BigBuckBunny/
   • Here, you need to enter the sub-folder depending on the segment duration you desire and take the mpd file. For example, here is the link to the 2-sec segment duration mpd for Big Buck Bunny.
   • 2-sec segment duration, OnDemand profile: http://ftp.itec.aau.at/datasets/DASHDataset2014/BigBuckBunny/2sec/BigBuckBunny_2s_onDemand_2014_05_09.mpd
2. Tears of Steel MPD: http://ftp.itec.aau.at/datasets/DASHDataset2014/TearsOfSteel/
3. ELephants Dream MPD: http://ftp.itec.aau.at/datasets/DASHDataset2014/ElephantsDream/

For the entire set of mpd files that ITEC maintains, please go to their website (https://dash.itec.aau.at/dash-dataset/). It is a fantastic resource with a large number of segment durations for each of the videos. Great job!

Credit: Stefan Lederer, Christopher Müller and Christian Timmerer, “Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP Dataset”, In Proceedings of the ACM Multimedia Systems Conference 2012, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, February 22-24, 2012.

4. Dolby Vision MPEG-DASH mpd (Dolby Vision Profile 8.1 – Dolby Atmos)

URL: http://media.developer.dolby.com/DolbyVision_Atmos/profile8.1_DASH/p8.1.mpd

5. BBC’s list of free MPEG-DASH mpd files

1. Big Buck Bunny mpd: http://rdmedia.bbc.co.uk/dash/ondemand/bbb/
2. Elephants Dream mpd: http://rdmedia.bbc.co.uk/dash/ondemand/elephants_dream/
3. TestCard mpd: http://rdmedia.bbc.co.uk/dash/ondemand/testcard/

6. MPEG-DASH mpd example from Kevin Goodall’s Github page

URl: https://gist.github.com/kevinGodell/6137ea126d530689cdb20e39f73c4860

---

Free HLS m3u8 URLs?

PS: If you are looking for HLS m3u8 files, then check out OTTVerse’s collection of free HLS m3u8 files.