The '''Real Time Streaming Protocol''' ('''RTSP''') is aan [[Application_layer|application-level]] network [[communications protocol|protocol]] designed for [[multiplexing]] and [[Network_packet#MPEG_packetized_stream|packetizing]] [[multimedia]] tranport streams (such as [[interactive media]], [[video]] and [[Digital_audio|audio]]) over a suitable [[Transport_layer|transport protocol]]. RTSP is used in entertainment and communications systems to control [[streaming media]] [[Web server|server]]s. The protocol is used for establishing and controlling media sessions between endpoints. Clients of media servers issue commands such as ''play'', ''record'' and ''pause'', to facilitate real-time control of the media streaming from the server to a client (Video On Demand) or from a client to the server (Voice Recording).
