Low Latency Support

Understanding Low Latency in Video Streaming: DASH, HLS and WebRTC

In the evolving world of online video streaming, low latency is a key factor in delivering a seamless and interactive viewer experience. This is particularly vital in live streaming, where minimizing the delay between the actual event and its digital broadcast enhances viewer engagement.

Low Latency DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP), introduced by MPEG-DASH in 2018, revolutionized streaming with its ability to reduce end-to-end latencies to 2-5 seconds. This technology dynamically adjusts video quality to ensure a smooth streaming experience even with varying internet speeds.

Following this, Low Latency HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) was launched by Apple in 2019. It further optimized the streaming experience with end-to-end latencies ranging from 3-7 seconds, offering a robust solution particularly favoured in the Apple ecosystem.

Both technologies represent significant strides in reducing latency, ensuring that viewers can enjoy live events, gaming streams, and interactive broadcasts with minimal delay, thus bridging the gap between real-time and digital experiences.

WebRTC takes streaming services a step further by enabling real-time (sub-second latency) streaming experiences. For live events, such as sports or education, it allows services to provide an opportunity for interactivity and contribution without fear of introducing latency in data transfer. Unlike DASH and HLS, WebRTC does not buffer; it prioritizes low latency so viewers can be assured that what they are seeing is happening in real time.

Bitmovin Player Low Latency Support

¹ The Bitmovin Player also supports configuring a target latency on Web & Android platforms. More details can be found in the API Reference.

² The DASH manifest must contain the availabilityTimeOffset attribute and be fully compliant with CMAF specs. A UTCTiming element for clock synchronization is not strictly necessary, but recommended. For more accurate latency calculations, it’s also recommended that the segments contain a Producer Reference Time mp4 box (prft).

³ When you set Bitmovin’s PlayerType to native, the browser's native capabilities are being used, which means that Apple’s LL-HLS proprietary protocol is supported since Safari 14+.

⁴ For low latency playback in the Bitmovin iOS/tvOS/visionOS Player, set isCustomHlsLoadingEnabled to false. This optimizes for low latency but limits access to some manifest details unless Apple provides them. On older iOS versions, or without this setting, playback will be standard latency. With iOS/tvOS 17 and visionOS 1 and later, low latency is achievable also when this option is enabled.

HLS Low Latency Feature Support

DASH Low Latency Feature Support

Test your Low Latency Streams with the Bitmovin Player

Visit our test page to see low-latency HLS/DASH streams in action with the Bitmovin Player.

You can also download our fully functional sample showcasing low-latency playback for Android and try it on your Android device.

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Tip

Bitmovin Analytics enables you to monitor & optimise latency as well as overall playback performance.

Get Started with Low Latency Streaming using Bitmovin Player SDKs

• Low-Latency Streaming with the Bitmovin Web SDK

Bitmovin Player ABR Support

Learn more about what ABRs the Bitmovin Player supports here.

Further reading

• Low Latency vs. Target Latency: Why there isn't always a need for speed
• How important is low latency?
• Completing the WebRTC Playback Experience – Enabling Rewind During Real-Time Live Streams

Legend

✅ Supported | ✖ Not Supported | - Restricted by the platform | 🔄 Work in progress