Streaming services must deal with technical issues such as latency and buffering, as over half (57 per cent) of sports viewers face challenges when streaming sports, according to a new report.
InterDigital has joined forces with Parks Associates on Streaming Live Sports: Where Opportunity Meets Complexity, revealing how streaming infrastructure needs to evolve alongside changing consumer viewing habits, especially with streaming services increasingly paying for sports broadcasting rights.
The report found that more than 57 per cent of sports viewers face challenges when viewing live sports, with technical challenges including:
- Almost one in five (18 per cent) sports viewers reported poor quality video from a streaming service.
- Just under a third (31 per cent) of sports viewers aged 18-24 cited poor video quality (freezing, buffering, etc.), insufficient bandwidth for high-quality streaming (25 per cent), and lag (20 per cent) as common problems when streaming sports.
Poor video quality is increasingly impacting the sports viewing experience, said the report, adding that one solution is more efficient video codecs. It suggests the HEVC codec is well-suited for high-resolution content like 4K, where its compression efficiency helps reduce file sizes and improves bandwidth usage. It is also designed to handle the increased data demands of HDR video, which expands the range of colours and contrast in video.
The report added that H.266 (VVC) offers a higher compression efficiency, improved video quality, and support for ultra-high resolutions, particularly suited to streaming high-resolution content over mobile networks and broadcasting in ultra-high definition.
“Sports viewers should not have to deal with technical issues when watching their favourite sports teams. The broadcast and streaming ecosystem needs to work together to alleviate pain points or risk damaging their reputation for future events,” said Lionel Oisel, head of Video Labs, at InterDigital.
“While streaming services need to think holistically about the challenges that come with live video streams, more advanced video codecs can significantly reduce buffering and latency and improve the overall user experience.”
