ORTC stands for Object Real-Time Communications.
ORTC was an alternative approach to WebRTC that proposed replacing SDP-based negotiation with a fully object-oriented API. Championed by Microsoft, it was implemented in the legacy Edge browser.
What ORTC proposed
Instead of using SDP offer/answer (JSEP), ORTC provided direct object control:
- RTCRtpSender and RTCRtpReceiver for controlling media sending/receiving
- RTCDtlsTransport for DTLS configuration
- RTCIceGatherer and RTCIceTransport for direct ICE control
ORTC’s legacy
While ORTC itself was not widely adopted, its concepts significantly influenced the WebRTC 1.0 specification:
- RTCRtpTransceiver: Combines sender and receiver, inspired by ORTC’s separation of concerns
- Programmatic codec control: RTCRtpSender.setParameters() provides ORTC-like control without SDP manipulation
- Reduced SDP dependence: The trend toward less SDP munging reflects ORTC’s philosophy
With Microsoft’s move to Chromium-based Edge (which uses standard WebRTC/libWebRTC), ORTC as a standalone specification is now historical.
