BBC Eliminates Streaming Lag

BBC eliminates streaming lag that caused live TV to be delayed by several seconds when watched online.

20:54 17 September 2018

Many online viewers of football’s World Cup in the summer were disappointed because the online stream was a few seconds behind the TV broadcast.

 

BBC Research and Development has revealed that it has now successfully eliminated the cause of the delay using a software that is yet to be rolled to the public.

 

Live TV watched online is often delayed by a few seconds because it takes longer to send videos over the internet when compared to broadcasting it. The same issue has affected Amazon’s broadcast of the US Open tennis tournament, which online broadcast was reportedly delayed up to 45 seconds behind the TV transmission.

 

"With sport, it's irritating if you're watching something that is 20 or 40 seconds behind live TV," said Jake Bickerton, technology editor at the industry magazine Broadcast. 

 

"The BBC also did trials at the World Cup streaming 4K [ultra high-definition] HDR content. Not only was there a delay, but consumers had to have really good broadband at home.

 

"It isn't going to be simple to get something compressed to a point where it can get to viewers at home through broadband very quickly. If the BBC is able to reduce latency, then it's a great thing going forward."