Low Latency
Low latency means shrinking the gap between what the camera captures and what the viewer sees — in live commerce, the condition for conversation and for fair ordering.
How low is low enough?
It depends on the format. A few seconds is fine for general broadcast, but real-time Q&A needs to stay within two or three seconds to feel like a conversation. Formats where order decides the outcome — auctions, first-come coupons — need to be under a second.
What breaks when latency is high?
Questions and answers cross, so the host answers something the chat has moved past. When viewers see different moments, first-come rewards raise a fairness problem too. A stream that looks fine while the chat looks chaotic is usually this.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What about viewers on slow connections?
Lowering quality to hold latency is the usual approach. Which one you protect — quality or latency — should follow the format.
Q. How do you verify latency?
The simplest check is putting a running clock on the broadcast and comparing it with the viewer screen. Measure it in real conditions, especially on mobile networks.
Q. What if latency differs between viewers?
You can't make it identical, but judging on server time removes the fairness problem. First-come coupons and auction bids should be decided by the order the server received them, not by what each screen showed.
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