For live video production and streaming, keeping latency as low as possible is a must. Whether you’re producing live sporting events, esports, interviews, nothing kills the viewing experience like high latency. We’ve all watched a live broadcast on location with long, awkward pauses, or people talking over each other in interviews because of latency issues. Or perhaps you’ve watched a hockey game online while your neighbor watches live over the air and you hear them celebrate the winning shot 10 seconds before you see it. Or worse still, imagine watching election results and they appear on your Twitter feed before you even get to see it on your TV screen. In these cases, low latency assures an optimal viewing experience with great interactivity and engagement.
The key to low latency video viewing, within seconds, is ultra-low latency video production, within milliseconds.
Use cases where low latency streaming is especially critical include:
Live sporting events:Capturing all the camera angles from a remote venue and including commentators and interviews requires close coordination of ultra-low latency video streams.
Esports and gaming: Ultra-low latency video is critical when covering events where every millisecond matters with players dispersed across the globe.
Bi-directional interviews: To keep conversations fluid and natural, video streams need to be kept at very low latency for both the interviewer and interviewee so that the total return time is under half a second.
Real-time monitoring: With decentralized broadcast production increasingly the norm, remote production staff, including assistant directors, rely on ultra-low latency video to make quick adjustments seconds before content goes to air.
Security and surveillance: For ISR and public safety applications, low latency video along with metadata, is critical for making split-second decisions.
Remote operations: For video equipment operators such as replay and graphics to be able to work remotely, video streams over IP must be as close as possible to equipment monitors onsite.
Decentralized workflows and remote collaboration: With talent and staff dispersed across geographies, having access to ultra-low video production and monitoring feeds is needed for seamless real-time collaboration.