Serving static video content directly vs. via adaptive streaming protocols (HLS, DASH) Is there an advantage of serving static video content (not a live stream) via adaptive streaming protocols such as HLS or DASH over serving them directly as files using HTTP server in terms of speed? 

Example case is when you have a 500MB mp4 h264+AAC video that you have to serve on a website via HTML5 video element. Would you rather serve it directly, since most popular browsers implement functions such as seek without downloading the whole file first; or would you rather use ffmpeg or similar solution to create HLS chunks from the mp4 file and instead provide .m3u8 playlist source to the HTML5 video element. Is there a real advantage in terms of speed of doing this?

Which one would you implement if you had hundreds of video files all served as static content?
ABR formats like HLS and DASH allow the client to adapt the its specific conditions, providing a better experience. faster startup, faster seeks, less buffering, etc.