Latency in live streaming is the period between the moment a video frame is captured by the camera lens and the moment end-users see it on their screen.
We are overhauling our live events feature, giving a new option to live stream with reduced latency. This improvement lowers the latency from 30-60 seconds to 10-15 seconds.
Latency exists because the video streaming pipeline has several processes that need time to process the content, such as:
A video camera captures the video
An encoder processes the video - usually on the local computer
Broadcasting software sends the footage to an ingest server
The ingest server decodes and transcodes the video
The content delivery network distributes the video
The end-user video player receives and decodes the video
Therefore, latency is a fundamental need because it provides enough time for every step in the pipeline to run efficiently, avoiding playback issues for end-users.
NOTE: This feature is currently in Beta. We do not recommend reducing the latency for all live events, especially if they do not have a near-to-realtime interaction with end-users. Reducing the latency may affect the playback experience for your end-users. Even when everything works well between your end and the server, the system needs to handle situations when the client disconnects unexpectedly, and some devices may not support it.
Live event recordings generated from live events with the ultra-low latency feature will be transcoded with the CMAF video format. If you're experiencing issues not being able to cast to a Google Chromecast TV, you may want to download the video file and re-encode it as per our technical recommendations.
Common Media Application Format or CMAF is a relatively new format for packaging and delivering various forms of HTTP-based media, encoding and packaging segmented media objects for delivery and decoding on end-user devices in adaptive media streaming.
This format is incompatible with Chromecast. Alternatively, you can stream the live event in Standard Latency mode to cast the recording to a Chromecast device.
To change the latency of your live streaming, follow these instructions:
When you are creating or editing a live event, select the Stream tab.
In the Stream Mode setting, enable Reduced Latency. The three options available are: Standard (Recommended), Reduced or Ultra-low
Click Save.
NOTE: Please consider that the system will generate a new Stream Key every time you hit the Save button. If you already entered the previous Stream Key into your broadcasting software, you will need to replace it with the new one.