# RTSP and seek backward problem

**URL:** https://community.wowza.com/t/rtsp-and-seek-backward-problem/37993
**Category:** Wowza Streaming Engine
**Created:** [January 20, 2012, 7:52am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/rtsp-and-seek-backward-problem/37993 "2012-01-20T07:52:58Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Serkan\_Kaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Serkan\_Kaya](https://community.wowza.com/u/Serkan_Kaya)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2012, 7:52am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/rtsp-and-seek-backward-problem/37993/1 "2012-01-20T07:52:58Z")

</div>

Hi,

I have a problem with Wowza 3 server. I receive a vod rtsp stream with vlc media player. I can seek forward with no problem but

i can’t seek backward. To seek backward i need to pause, seek and resume. Is this a general problem?

Thx in advance

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Richard\_Lanham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Richard\_Lanham](https://community.wowza.com/u/Richard_Lanham)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/rtsp-and-seek-backward-problem/37993/2 "2012-01-20T16:00:45Z")

</div>

Test with Wowza sample.mp4. It might be a problem with the encoding of the video, a very long key frame interval (gop) perhaps. Take a look at these encoding suggestions:

[https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-encode-video-on-demand-content](https://www.wowza.com/docs/how-to-encode-video-on-demand-content)

Richard

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Richard\_Lanham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Richard\_Lanham](https://community.wowza.com/u/Richard_Lanham)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/rtsp-and-seek-backward-problem/37993/3 "2012-01-22T20:41:25Z")

</div>

If you are streaming to the desktop, we recommend Flash RTMP or HTTP (Sanjose), or Silverlight Smooth streaming. Use RTSP in mobile devices and STBs that have no other option.

Richard

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Serkan\_Kaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Serkan\_Kaya](https://community.wowza.com/u/Serkan_Kaya)
#### Post date: [January 20, 2012, 9:38am UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/rtsp-and-seek-backward-problem/37993/4 "2012-01-20T09:38:44Z")

</div>

I had this problem wlth wowza sample.mp4. And some more info, if i don’t pause video before to go backward, video starts from beginning.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Serkan\_Kaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Serkan\_Kaya](https://community.wowza.com/u/Serkan_Kaya)
#### Post date: [January 22, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://community.wowza.com/t/rtsp-and-seek-backward-problem/37993/5 "2012-01-22T12:35:03Z")

</div>

Hi again,

I test my setup with quicktime and real player. I had no problem, it seems that the problem is in vlc.
