You're right, live video without Flash is not nearly as advanced. However, there are several options that work right now:
- Plain old HTTP WebM stream. Only one resolution, but it works.
- MPEG-DASH - very similar to HLS, but implementable in Javascript via MSE APIs in browsers today.
- WebRTC - low latency streaming, in some cases it might make sense to use this over MPEG-DASH even for one-to-many streaming cases, like interactive lectures and the like.
Unfortunately several browsers lag behind in implementing the required APIs, so this does not solve all problems yet. But the problem isn't creating any new protocols, it's just getting adoption.
As for H.264, it's mostly a solved problem with hardware decoders and OpenH264 (currently not used for <video> playback, but could be). AAC, however, costs more to license and is much more problematic, so there will always be some browser vendors that don't ship it.
- Plain old HTTP WebM stream. Only one resolution, but it works. - MPEG-DASH - very similar to HLS, but implementable in Javascript via MSE APIs in browsers today. - WebRTC - low latency streaming, in some cases it might make sense to use this over MPEG-DASH even for one-to-many streaming cases, like interactive lectures and the like.
Unfortunately several browsers lag behind in implementing the required APIs, so this does not solve all problems yet. But the problem isn't creating any new protocols, it's just getting adoption.
As for H.264, it's mostly a solved problem with hardware decoders and OpenH264 (currently not used for <video> playback, but could be). AAC, however, costs more to license and is much more problematic, so there will always be some browser vendors that don't ship it.