What Is Latency (Stream Delay)?
The time delay between something happening on your screen and viewers seeing it. Typically 2-15 seconds for live streams.
Stream latency is the delay between your live action and what viewers see. Lower latency enables better interaction with chat but may reduce stream stability. Normal latency on Twitch is 3-5 seconds, low latency is 1-3 seconds. YouTube offers ultra-low latency (~2 seconds) but with slightly reduced quality. Factors affecting latency include your encoder settings, the platform's ingest servers, CDN routing, and the viewer's player buffer.
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Related Terms
Buffering
When a viewer's player pauses to download more data because the stream bitrate exceeds their download speed.
Bitrate
The amount of data processed per second in a video or audio stream, measured in Kbps or Mbps.
Keyframe (I-Frame)
A complete video frame that doesn't reference other frames. Streaming platforms require keyframes every 2 seconds.