Whenstreaming live videosas a professional, you must focus on creating an excellent experience for your viewers. One way to create a great live video viewing experience is by keeping the latency on your streams low.
Imagine live-streaming a concert or live event, for example. You excite your viewers by creating buzz around the event on social media. Everything’s lined up, but there’s a lag in your live stream on the viewer’s end.
Only a few viewers will sit around waiting for the stream to load. A single buffering event can cause up to40% of viewers to lose interest and switch to something else.Even if the live-stream buffers for a concise period.
These lost viewers might not be willing to tune to your other live and on-demand streams in the future. Today’s audience is spoiled for choice, and they hate waiting.
That’s where streaming solutions that offer low latency come in. That’s how live streams maintain continuity best quality throughout their duration, allowing viewers to experience the content in real-time.
Latency is the delay between when an image is in the real-time video captured on your camera and when your viewer experiences it on their screen. With live content, you want the lowest possible latency. Low-latencyvideo streamingis essential for professional broadcasting.
Understanding howlow-latency video streamingworks can help engage your audience better. That’s thanks toCDN solutions that can bring down latency to milliseconds.
This post will explain low-latency streaming and the features you should look for when choosing a low-latencystreaming platform. We will wrap things up by mentioning a few great encoders for low-latency streaming.
Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- What is Low Latency Streaming?
- Impact of High Latency
- The Ideal Video Latency for Live Streaming
- The Value of Low Latency Video Streaming Solutions
- How to Choose the Best Low-Latency Streaming Solution for Live Streaming Without Delay
- HLS Streaming Protocol Delivery
- How HLS Streaming Works
- Less than 15 Seconds of Latency
- Simple to Set Up and Use
- Fits Your Budget
- Reliable Content Delivery
- Top 3 Solutions for Live Streaming without Delay
- Encoders for Low Latency Streaming
- Frequently Asked Questions
- How to Stream With No Delay With Dacast
What is Low Latency Streaming?
Let’s get a bit technical here. Live streams are not live. There’s usually a 20-120-second delay between the event and the video streaming on viewers’mobile devices. That’svideo latency, the delay between when a video frame is captured and when that frame is displayed to the viewer.
For example, if you’re watching a live sporting event, latency is the time between a player making that legendary winning goal in real life and seeing it happen on your screen at home. You want the stream delay to be short enough to be unnoticeable.
Latency occurs in a broadcast because processing and sending live video takes time. It doesn’t take much time, of course. Nonetheless, each step in the process results in a tiny delay. These steps include:
- Camera processing of the image
- Encoders transcoding the content
- Time for the video to be transmitted to the viewer
- Buffering
- One’s viewing device decodes and then displays the video.
According toEncoding.com, most streams have latency in the 30-120 second range—sometimes more.
There are two parts to latency:
- Startup time and the lag between the event taking place
- The video streams on a viewer’s screen.
Both are important to the viewer’s experience. Unfortunately, reducing one latency component can increase the other in some cases. That’s why it’s important to understand the balance between these two parts and how to stream with less delay effectively.
Impact of High Latency
Here’s how high latency causes lagging and can impact your live broadcast:
- Viewers want to feel like they see things in real-time.High latency can negatively impact a viewer’s experience by lengthening the lag. Viewers don’t want to look on Twitter and see a tweet about what they are watching before it appears on their mobile devices.
- Live-stream audiences want to feel connected and like they are in there in person.When there’s a delay or if the video is constantly buffering and loading, it takes away from the real-life experience people look for with a live stream.
- Minimizing latency helps relay the content you’re broadcasting to your viewers in a more “real-time” fashion.It helps keep them connected and engaged since it’s the closest thing to attending your event in real life. Avoiding a live stream delay keeps your viewers engaged in real-time.
The Ideal Video Latency For Live Streaming
The lower your streaming latency, the better the quality of your live video streaming. However, there are different levels to what would be considered ideal, and what that means for your streaming experience.
A delay of 30 seconds or more is considered high latency, and this can significantly affect your live streaming experience as your users will be disconnected from your stream significantly.
However, if you bring that delay down to 5 to 15 seconds, you’ll have achieved low latency. This amount of delay is generally acceptable in the live-streaming world and your live-stream session will be professional enough.
The highest form of quality however is achieved with ultra-low latency (ULL) which refers to a delay of less than one second, i.e. milliseconds or even less. ULL is ideal for high-engagement streams such as auctions and online gambling.
The Value of Low Latency Video Streaming Solutions
Studies show that longer startups drive viewers away and negatively impact theirsmooth streamingexperience. Online videos with a start-up time exceedingtwo secondshave significantly higher streaming video abandonment rates.
Each incremental second lag propels another 6% of viewers to jump ship. That’s why learning how to stream without delay, or as little delay as possible, at the start of your video is essential to retaining viewership.
Low latency during the broadcast of deployed content is critical in various situations. Here are a few scenarios in which low-latency media solutions are especially critical:
- Sports streaming.
- Live auctions.
- Live streaming involves chat, real-time feedback, or audience participation.
- Video game streaming.
- Gambling.
- Dual-screen viewing (increasingly commonfor all broadcasts)
- Concerts.
- Question-answer sessions.
- Political events such as debates or vote counting.
Streaming with low latency solutions helps viewers watch these events unfold in almost real-time, creating a more lifelike experience. Getting rid of streaming lag is the best way to keep your viewers engaged.
How to Choose the Best Low-Latency Streaming Solution for Live Streaming Without Delay
Only a few video streaming platforms deliver efficientlow-latency video streamingplatforms today. Each offers a different combination of price, usability, and features.
Let’s look at some of the features you should look for when choosing a solution to live stream without delay.
- HLS Streaming protocol
- Less than 15 seconds of latency
- Simple set-up
- Budget-friendly
- A reliable content delivery system
HLS Streaming Protocol Delivery
The best low-latency video streaming platforms use the HLS streaming protocol. “HLS” is short for “ HTTP Live Streaming.”
Apple designed HTTP Live Streaming to work with HTML5 video players on iOS devices and applications like Apple TV. Both HTTP Live Streaming and HTML5 players are successors of the ancient Adobe Flash Player technology.
How HLS Streaming Works
MostHLS streamsorHTTP Live Streaming protocolsstart withRTMP ingest,automatically converted toHLS for deliveryby the video platform. That provides high-qualityHTTP Live Streamingto viewers but can introduce a latency of 30 seconds or more, a huge live stream delay.
RTMPis still used for video ingestion rather thanHTTP Live Streamingfor deliveries and ingest becauseHTTP Live Streaminghas a much higher latency. The RTMP ingest/HTTP Live Streamingdelivery combo makes streaming on an all-deviceHTML5 video playerpossible while reaping RTMP’s low latency benefit.
When paired with the right-sideCDN providers, this technology can help decrease your latency into the 12-15 second zone. That’s a much better live stream delay.
Less than 15 Seconds of Latency
Cable TV and professional broadcasts usually have 10 seconds or less latency. Ultra-low latency is under 1 second.
To achieve less than 15 seconds of latency, you need a combination of features to work together. That’s why, when comparing streaming solutions, it’s best to ask the sales representative how many seconds of latency their platform has.
You want to aim for less than 15 seconds of latency for professional broadcasts. Dacast, for example, offersHLS deliverywith RTMP ingests forlow-latency video streaming. That reduces latency to 15 seconds or less and is most suited for professional broadcasts andonline businesses
At Dacast, we’re constantly working to reduce our latency further so that our end users everywhere can produce live streams close toreal-time videostreaming. We’re very excited about our recent partnership withLimelight CDNwith the launch of our UApp.
Both of these additions aim to reduce latency even more. Dacast continues to invest in the best tools so that you don’t have to think about reducing stream delay; we will take care of it for you.
Simple to Set Up and Use
If you are new to professional broadcasting, you’ll want to choose a low-latency streaming solution that is easy to use. Unless your role at your company is dedicated to live streaming, you likely don’t have the time for a steep learning curve. That is why you need a video hosting service that makes learning to reduce stream delay as easy as possible.
Choose a user-friendly streaming solution with a reliable customer support team that can help you when you need it.
It is also good to ensure your streaming solution works seamlessly withprofessional equipmentand the laptop or computer you plan to work with.
For example, Dacast requires a consumer-grade laptop to run (i5 processor and 8 GB of RAM minimum). You can also use the OBS Studio software encoder with Dacast, which is free.
Compare that to hardware encoders or workstations that typically cost$1,000 and up(some cost $10k+), and you can save substantial amounts of money. That makes streaming professional-grade broadcasts without a massive budget more manageable than ever.
Fits Your Budget
Live streaming pricingvaries widely. Many offer cheap introductory pricing but limit professional features to costly platforms.
- For example, a service likeIBM Cloud Videorestricts features like API access to plans costing over $138 monthly.
- As another example,Vimeorestricts 24/7 live streaming, monetization, advanced security features, dedicated support, andvideo APIaccess to custom plans with a similar costly price range.
These aren’t cherry-picked examples. Everylive-streaming platformon the market requires an investment to access more advanced features.
Comparatively, Dacast offers live streamingstarting at just $39 per monthand all access to premium features at $165 per month, billed annually. That includes all the restricted features of these other streaming solutions. Dacast offerslow-latency video streamingat a price all businesses and broadcasters can afford.
VOD hosting, live streaming, API access, monetization, 24/7 tech support, and all security features are included with every Dacast plan. Dacast offers many professional features allowing you to produce professional content and avoid a lengthy live stream delay when you broadcast.
Reliable Content Delivery
Why do your viewers seem to drop out during your live streams? Let’s hear it straight from your audience.Sixty-three percentof live streamers’ viewers last year cited buffering issues as the most severe issue they experienced, an increase from the previous year.
This means that streaming lag and buffering point to a tough issue. A robust CDN,Content Delivery Network, or amulti-CDN solutionis the best.
ACDN networkconsists of thousands of servers distributed to data centers worldwide. These services help deliver internet content to users fast. They do that by automatically duplicating data and using intelligent routing algorithms to mine web traffic and find the fastest path to any website or viewer.
Here are some plus points to streaming with lessbandwidth usage, no matter where your viewer is located and regardless of theirnetwork conditions, the stream latency they experience will be as low as possible. That’s how you’re able to:
- Improve security
- Speed up delivery
- Reduce buffering
- Eliminate lagging issues, cutting down on steam latency
- Improve scalability to suit audiences of any size
- Build in an additional layer of redundancy.
Don’t want to introduce latency in your streaming when your audience grows? Then close yourCDN providerscarefully. Using more thanone CDNcan also help sincemulti-CDNshelp improve web performance and security. Usingmultiple CDNsis an excellent plan B in case one fails. Not allCDNs are created equal. Some are much smaller and slower than others, and someCDN providersdon’t support live streaming video. Dacast works with Limelight, one of the most reliableCDN providers. That means your live stream delay will be as short as possible for your viewers worldwide.
Top 3 Solutions for Live Streaming Without Delay
Now that you understand what to look for in alow-latency video streamingservice let’s look at some of the topstreaming solutionswith integrated low-latency live streaming options.
We will compare our platform Dacast with the LimelightCDN network,and thecloud streaming alternative Wowza.
1. Dacast
First up is Dacast. Thevideo streaming platformincludes both live streaming andvideo-on-demand hostingand a wide range of professional broadcasting features. You can enjoy low-latency streaming with Dacast.
These features include:
- Cloud video transcodingadaptive bitrate streaming
- Multi-bitrate streamingfor live video and VOD
- Player APIaccess for 3rd party player integration
- Video APIaccess on premium plans
- Zoom live streamingintegration
- Expo galleriesvideo portal
- VOD platformto monetize on-demand content and scale your VOD business
- service
- Built-invideo monetization
- Video securityfeatures, including password protection and encryption
- RTMP Encoderfor ingestingHLS streaming
- Real-Time Analytics
- CDN deliveryvia several partnerships
- 24/7tech supportwith all plans, including email and live chat
- Competitive live streaming pricing plans
Low Latency Options:
Dacast now offerslow-latency streamingas a standard feature. On average, this reduces latency to 10 seconds or less, a significant improvement over standardlow-latencyHLSlive streaming. Dacast can help you achieve your goal of ultra-low latency live streaming.
Streaming live videowith Dacast starts at just $39 per month. Pricing plans include four packages:
- Starter plan:Ideal for newcomers with 2.4 TB of bandwidth and 500GB of storage per month, billed annually at just$39 per month.
- Scale plan:Includes 24 TB of bandwidth per year, with 2TB of storage for$188 per month billed annually. These Scale pricing plans add phone support, a monetization paywall, anM3U8 online playerforlive channels, ad insertion, white-label Cnames, andvideo APIaccess.
- Event plan:for organizations who’d rather not sign a contract and want to purchase bandwidth separately to. It offers 6 TB of bandwidth upfront, 250 GB of storage, and costs just$63 per month (or $750/year). Additional data and storage can be added as needed.
- Custom plan: If your enterprise business has high-volume streaming needs.
Broadcasters cancontact Dacastdirectly to learn more about custom-priced plans.
2. Limelight
Limelight, nowEdg.io,is one of Dacast’s content delivery partners that offers some support for hosting live streams with low latency.
The package broadcasters would use in that situation would be “Video Delivery,” not to be confused with their “Content Delivery” package.
Although this platform can host a live video and manageordinary web servers, end-user deployment features are much more limited than Dacast.
That said, here are a few of the other tools and features of this platform:
- VOD and live video hosting
- Video content management
- Video storage
- Ad-insertion
- Video analytics
- API to improve workflows
Low Latency Options:
Limelight is an ultra-low latency live streaming service by nature. The platform uses WebRTC technology and UDP data transferstreaming protocolsto make that possible for wireless network connection. They can provide you with access to low-latency videostreaming protocolsfor wireless connections that will enhance the performance of your live broadcasts.
Limelight does not have live streaming hosting prices listed on their website, but you canrequest a free trialto get started.
3. Wowza Streaming Cloud
Finally, let’s take a look at Wowza’s live streaming and VOD platform. TheWowza productmost relevant tolow latency video streamingis “Wowza Streaming Cloud.”
Some features of this low-latency video streamingservice include:
- Live streaming and on-demand video hosting
- Host-you-ownlive streaming serverproduct
- White-label streaming
- API and SDK available
- Mobile-compatible video player
- Customer support (*note that phone support and fast responses cost extra)
- RESTful API available
- No monetization options
- No phone support
Low Latency Options:
Lowlatency streaming media solutionsdeliver with less than 10-second latency.
As we mentioned, Wowza Streaming Cloud is the product from Wowza most comparable to the abovementioned ones.
WithinLive Event Pricing, monthly plans include:
- Pay As You Go:$25//month, with a 3-month minimum; flexible streaming with low startup costs
- Basic:$195/month; includes 20 hours of live streaming and 1000 viewing hours based on video resolution of 720p
- One Month Cloud Event:$149 one-time purchase; includes 15 hours of live streaming and 500 viewing hours also at 720p
- One-month On-prem Event: $295 one-time purchase, including up to 10 concurrent transcoded channels.
- Enterprise: Best for large audiences as it provides 24/7 real-time streaming at scale.
All of these Live Event plans include complete brand control,multi-bitrate streaming, and UHD andHD streaming.
Wowza is a good choice if you want to enjoy ultra-low latency inlive streamingwithout monetizing your video content.
Low-Latency Encoders for Streaming
Several other high-performance and-quality features need to work together to stream video files with low latency.. One of the additional tools you will need to use is avideo encoderalongside your video streaming solution.
One of the essential tools for live streaming is avideo encoder. You can stream your media files using a free or paid video encoder or a software or hardware solution.
Free Video Encoder
One of the best free encoders on the market is OBS Studio. OBS Studio is compatible with Windows and Mac and integrates with various production and mixing tools. You can also use a wide range ofplugins, scripts, and custom themeswith OBS Studio.
Paid Software Video Encoder
You can use a wide range of strong paid video encoders. A few of the top paid software video encoders include:
- Wirecast
- VidBlasterX
- vMix
Paid Hardware Video Encoders
There is also a wide range of hardware video encoders you can use as well, such as:
- LiveU Solo
- TriCaster
Want to learn more about encoders you can use to support low-latency live streaming?
Read our article comparing the12 best live streaming encodersoftware and hardware solutions.
As you become more experienced, you may invest in a paid encoding tool instead of a free one. We recommend exploring differenthardware and software encoders.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is low-latency video streaming?
Low-latency streaming refers to the transmission of live video content in almost real-time with the lowest delay. During live streaming, it could take 30 to 120 seconds between capturing a video frame and displaying the video on your viewer’s screen.
What you want to aim for though is a maximum of 15 seconds. Low latency streaming keeps this time difference as low as possible, often milliseconds, ensuring a faster response time for a near real-time experience.
2. What streaming service has the lowest latency?
Here are the top three streaming services that provide low latency for quality professional streaming purposes:
- Dacast
- Limelight
- Wowza
3. Is low latency mode good for streaming?
Low latency mode is best for professional live streaming as it reduces lagging on your viewer’s end. The longer your video streams lag or buffer, the more your viewers drop out of your live sessions, greatly reducing your outcome. Low latency helps you mitigate these possibilities.
4. What is the best streaming protocol for low latency?
Some of the best low-latency live streaming services use HTTP live streaming (HLS) protocol. Dacast for instance, uses the HLS protocol with RTMP ingests which reduces latency to 15 seconds or less. This is a low enough latency for comfortable professional streaming.
WebRTC can achieve the lowest latency streaming of up to milliseconds as it uses UDP and RTP which are faster than HTTP. This protocol, however, is unsuitable for large-scale streaming as it consumes a lot of bandwidth and resources. It’s also less compatible with browsers and devices compared to HLS, making it less common.
5. What does ultra-low latency (ULL) mean?
Unlike low latency, which is measured in milliseconds, ultra-low latency is measured in nanoseconds. It refers to a much faster response time with much shorter delay periods than low latency.
Ultra-low latency streaming offers the most efficient speeds, ensuring that your videos reach your audience’s device in less than 100 milliseconds.
How to Stream With No Delay With Dacast
Ultra-low latency video streaming is essential in professional broadcasting. When comparing video streaming solutions, pay close attention to the offerings that support low-delaylive video streaming
Dacast’s low latencylive streaming, videostreamingplatform, and other features make it the best solution today. Dacast offers low-latency camera streaming, so your live content will reach your viewers quickly.
If you’re looking for a platform today, we can help you get started. We offerwhite-label video hosting, alive streaming platform, and a14-day free trial. That way, you can test out all the features before committing.
Create a Dacast account to get started today. No credit card is required.
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