by Josep Rodriguez, SDK Product Lead
May 2023
We are all familiar with significant and variable streaming latencies that can spoil the sport viewing experience.
There are low latency streaming options out there, but with the exception of WebRTC streaming (expensive), most devices will have an individual and dynamic level of latency.
If you want to add interactive content over or alongside the stream, the issue is compounded.
As interactive moments can be triggered very quickly from sports feeds, a greater level of delay in the video stream can mean that key game events are revealed significantly before they’ve been seen by fans. Whether it’s a goal or a red card, some moments demand to be seen, making it essential that commentary, prediction reveals or voting moments are not triggered ahead of their visual appearance.
Building on our well-proven Audio Sync feature for second screen use cases, we created Stream Sync - a new way to synchronise data and interactivity with live streaming video.
How does it work?
Stream Sync is a feature of our client side SDK. It effectively holds the trigger of an Element for a period of time, adjusted dynamically by the amount of streaming delay being measured. It is then ‘released’ at the exact moment the game event appears within the stream.
How is it implemented?
The SDK allows the developer to regularly set the stream latency. This is calculated by analysing the stream and comparing values within the its metadata to produce a dynamic latency measurement. Note that strategies for extracting this data vary by streaming provider, encoder and platform.
And the best bit? Your audience has no idea that any of this is happening. They get to sit back, relax and enjoy the game moment-by-moment, with perfectly synchronised video and commentary.
With no spoilers.
