Livestreaming error codes

There are many potential issues with live streaming, and our live streaming platform can identify some of them. The platform notifies the sender of all errors it detects in real-time in our UI. Below you can find a description of each error and a suggestion on how to fix them.

No input received

Problem: The stream is connected to our server, but we haven’t received any data for at least 4 seconds.

How can this affect the viewer: Since we no longer receive any input from the sender, this causes the playback error for the viewer.

Solution: This usually happens when the sender has temporary internet connection issues or the streaming production system that, for some reason, stops sending data to our servers.

When this occurs, try to restart the stream. If that’s not solving the issue, test streaming with another internet connection if possible.

Too low input bitrate

Problem: When the input bitrate to our server is significantly lower than recommended for the selected streaming profile, recommended settings, during an extended period.

How can this affect the viewer: Regularly sending a lower input bitrate compared to the recommendations for the given streaming profile can lead to reduced image quality for the viewer.

Solution: The best solution, if possible, is to increase the input bitrate to the recommended settings for the profile you want to use. If that’s not an option because of uplink or hardware limitations, we recommended changing the streaming profile to a less demanding one.

Varying frame rate (fps)

Problem: Our server receives varying frame rate on your input.

How can this affect the viewer: When a stream has a varying frame rate, the viewer can see jumps in the stream, freezing stream or even playback errors.

Solution: The sender must provide a stream with a static frame rate (fps).

This issue often happens when the sending software has throughput issues such as:

• The processing resources (CPU or GPU) can’t process the stream with the desired frame rate.
• The uplink throughput from the sender is not enough to send all data to our servers.

Solving this issue depends on what you identify as the problem. If the processing resources are the issue, we recommend to either lower the frame rate, lower the resolution, or upgrade the hardware. If the uplink is the issue, we recommend lowering the bitrate to better match the available bandwidth.

Another possible issue can be that the streaming production system has been configured to use variable frame rate (sometimes called adaptive frame rate).

Bad Key Frame interval

Problem: The input has a keyframe interval that’s not matching our required keyframe interval. We require a keyframe every 1 or 2 seconds, and our recommendation is every two seconds.

How can this affect the viewer: If the keyframe interval is wrong, it can potentially lead to playback issues. We try to insert keyframes if they are missing to compensate, but this can still lead to reduced quality and interruptions in playback.

Solution: In most streaming production systems, it’s possible to set the keyframe interval. Read the documentation for your streaming production systems to understand how to change it to the correct interval.

Variable frame rate can be a cause. We recommend verifying that’s not an issue for you.

Audio & Video time code out of sync

Problem: Our server receives video and audio input out of sync.

How can this affect the viewer: For smaller differences, under one second, the viewer can notice that the video and audio are out of sync in the player. Longer differences can cause playback errors. DVR playback is especially sensitive for longer video and audio differences.

Solution: This can usually be resolved by restarting the stream.

Time code stopped

Problem: Our server receives multiple input packages in a row with the same time code. Throughput issues on the uplink is a typical cause of this. Therefore you can see this together with other errors.

How can this affect the viewer: Causes playback error.

Solution: This can usually be resolved by restarting the stream.

Time code discontinuity

Problem: Our server received input packages were the time code decreased. (Jumping back in time)

How can this affect the viewer: Causes playback error.

Solution: This can often be resolved by restarting the stream.

Other issues

If you experience issues with your stream and the platform doesn’t provide any error codes, you can find possible causes in the troubleshooting livestreaming section.