Low-Latency Live Technologies: WebRTC and AV1

Today, an increasing number of operators are implementing low-latency live solutions. Such innovations help minimise delays in playback, make the betting process smoother, and provide a comfortable interaction with real croupiers.

Smart Money specialists explain how these tools work and what advantages they can offer modern iGaming projects.

About the Concept

Low-latency live solutions are a video streaming technology. They ensure minimal delay between when an event occurs in the studio and when customers see it.

In traditional transmission, the holdup can take 10–30 seconds. For watching movies or sports broadcasts, these values are considered acceptable, since viewers do not interact with what is happening on the screen.

In the live gambling segment, the situation is different.

During sessions, clients constantly interact with the platform by:

• placing bets;
• choosing actions;
• making decisions at the card table;
• communicating with the dealer via chat;
• monitoring the results of rounds.

If the video stream lags behind the real events, the gameplay is no longer perceived as real. This is why modern digital portals strive to reduce latency as much as possible.

Why the Playback Delay Is So Important

At first glance, the difference between 1 and 5 seconds seems insignificant. However, in live casinos, even a few extra moments can degrade the user experience.

Gamblers see a card table set up in front of them that seems very real. Any delay disrupts the sense of presence, reduces the dynamics, and makes the game less engaging.

High latency leads to the following problems:

• players belatedly see the croupier’s actions;
• dealers’ responses in chat come too late;
• the live platform feels unstable;
• the likelihood of errors when accepting bets increases;
• trust in the integrity of the entertainment site is declining.

The closer the stream is to real time, the more natural the gaming experience feels. Customers barely notice any delays between the dealer's actions and their appearance on the screen. It creates the effect of presence at a real card table.

This is why low latency is becoming an important competitive advantage for operators. It improves the user experience, builds confidence in casino portals, and promotes audience retention.

When all game events display almost instantly, people accept interaction with dealers as natural and don't feel discomfort from desynchronised broadcasts.

A high data rate is especially important for live entertainment and interactive TV shows, where every step takes place in real time.

Timely display of bets, roulette spins, distribution of cards, and other events make the process more dynamic and exciting. All this affects the duration of sessions and also creates an impression of the platform's innovativeness.

What Technologies Provide Low-Latency

Modern platforms use a thorough approach to development. They combine specialised video transmission protocols, modern codecs, intelligent traffic routing, compensation mechanisms, and other elements.

WebRTC

Web Real-Time Communication is one of the key innovations in live casino architecture.

This open protocol was created by Google. It was used to organise video calls in the browser without installing additional software or external plug-ins. Over time, the technology began to be actively used in other business areas, including online gambling.

The main advantage of WebRTC is its optimisation for interactivity.

The protocol minimises data transmission time between the server and clients, allowing players to instantly see:

• actions of croupiers;
• roulette spin;
• distribution of cards;
• changes in game odds;
• bet results.

The WebRTC connection also transfers feedback information, including user actions, interface commands, rate confirmations, and other live events.

AV1 Codec

It was developed by the Alliance for Open Media consortium.

Compared to H.264 and even HEVC, the solution provides more efficient video stream compression. This allows for the transmission of an image of a similar quality at a lower bitrate, significantly reducing the load on the network.

The use of AV1 performs the following tasks:

• reduces the amount of transmitted data;
• ensures fast delivery of video frames;
• reduces the risk of quality loss with an unstable connection;
• guarantees a clear image even on mobile devices.

It is also worth noting that AV1 encoding requires significant computing power. Therefore, many operators use the technology limitedly, for example, only for selected device categories or together with other codecs.

Dynamic Bitrate

The quality of the player’s Internet connection is constantly changing. People may switch from Wi-Fi to mobile data, move into a weak-signal area, use several devices simultaneously, or experience network saturation.

To minimise latency, live platforms use responsive codecs and Adaptive Bitrate Streaming (ABR) technology.

The system continuously analyses each connection and automatically adjusts the following video stream parameters:

• resolution;
• bitrate;
• frame rate;
• compression level.

If network quality deteriorates, the live portal immediately reduces the video stream resolution. This step maintains a smooth transmission and minimises playback delay. Once the connection stabilises, the system automatically returns to maximum image quality.

For most people, such changes go unnoticed.

Network Traffic Prioritisation (QoS)

In live casinos, certain data must be delivered as quickly as possible. This includes the video stream, game events, the validation of rates, the outcome of roulette, dealer commands, and status alignment.

To deliver this information as quickly as possible, entertainment sites use Quality of Service.

Traffic prioritisation allocates network resources so the most important data is processed and transmitted first. Less critical traffic, such as loading of the interface’s individual elements or images, is less preferential.

With QoS, digital platforms can maintain stable functionality even under heavy network load, ensuring a smooth, uninterrupted gaming experience.

Anti-Jitter

An impressive Internet connection speed alone does not guarantee stable data transfer. Even when everything is perfect, individual packets may arrive at different speeds: one in 20 milliseconds, the next in 80, and then again in 30. Such fluctuations in delivery time are called jitter.

If a video stream is played without additional processing, this instability can lead to:

• choppy visuals;
• dropped frames;
• audio de-syncing;
• short pauses in transmission.

For live casinos, where uninterrupted gameplay is essential, such issues significantly degrade the customer experience.

To compensate for the influence of jitter, live casinos use jitter buffers. They align the incoming data stream, smooth out small fluctuations in rate, and ensure stable video playback.

Today, buffers operate adaptively. With a reliable Internet connection, they have almost no impact on latency, but if the network quality deteriorates, they instantly adjust the buffering depth.

End-to-End Latency Engineering Less Than 500 Ms

For live content providers, to reduce such a delay to less than 500 milliseconds is an important technical task. This metric refers to the time it takes from the moment an event occurs in the studio until it appears on the client’s screen.

Low latency can only be achieved through comprehensive optimisation of the entire data transmission chain.

For this, software vendors apply:

• modern equipment with minimal video processing time;
• hardware encoding of the stream;
• data transmission protocols optimised for real-time operation (for example, WebRTC);
• servers and media nodes located closer to players.

Platforms also use intelligent network traffic routing, adaptive codecs, and dynamic bitrate control. They also carefully configure buffering to maintain the transmission’s stability without increased latency.

The comprehensive application of these technologies makes it possible to reduce video delivery time to a few hundred milliseconds. This ensures that clients and dealers see all live events almost simultaneously, thus creating a truly natural betting experience.

Why Low Latency Is Important for Fair Gameplay

The use of the described technology ensures:

• equal conditions for all customers;
• correct synchronisation of game events;
• transparency about the processing of bets and fixing the results;
• compliance with licensing requirements;
• easier investigation of disputes and independent audits.

In licensed casinos, all visitors must be treated equally, and game events must be displayed synchronously, regardless of device, country, or Internet connection quality.

This is especially important for entertainment with limited betting time, such as roulette, blackjack, baccarat, and various live shows. The platform must ensure that the moment bids are closed, the outcome is recorded, and the results are displayed is the same for all users.

The technology also helps comply with regulatory requirements and simplifies audits. All live events have timestamps and are recorded in system logs, allowing for the complete sequence of steps to be restored in case of disputes.

The Main Things about Low Latency in Live Gambling

The tool is the key to the success of modern entertainment portals.

Aspects that operators should take into account:

• Instant video streaming ensures a smooth, secure customer experience and protects platforms from technical glitches, freezes, and stream desynchronisation. These factors are crucial for audience retention and building trust in iGaming brands.
• To support low latency, entrepreneurs use an advanced stack. This includes the WebRTC protocol, AV1 codec, dynamic bitrate, anti-jitter, and network traffic prioritisation (QoS). These solutions ensure end-to-end latency engineering of less than 500 ms, which is considered a standard in the live streaming industry.

The Smart Money studio helps launch iGaming projects from scratch. We support our clients at every stage of the collaboration, from approving a commercial offer or selecting content to licensing and market entry.

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