Audio and Video out of Sync on Church WebCast system

[hicksticks2001]

I have noticed over the past month that the longer a webcast broadcast goes on, the audio and video always gets out of sync and refreshing the browser causes the audio and video to go back in sync.

• We are getting the same information reported to us in our webcast feedback surveys from individual sites (multiple surveys every week)
• We are able to see the problem ourselves as we monitor the broadcasts
• We see the problem on both Teradek and J-Tech encoders
• We don't see the problem when using the WebCast App on Android TV NVidia Devices
• Our current theory is it is a problem with the Browser Webpage Client for playing meetings

I've submitted the problem to a friend I have that works on the WebCast team, but I'm posting it here to gather more detail to see if other Stake Technology Specialist or Broadcast Specialists have noticed the same thing in their local units? If so, are there any more details you can provide from your own observations of the problem?

Thanks!

[lajackson]

I have seen the same thing, except that if I stay on the browser page receiving the webcast, the problem is not apparent unless the meeting lasts longer than an hour, and usually not even then.

If I switch from the receiving browser page to do something else on my computer, the problem noticeably appears. The longer I am away from the streaming tab of the browser, the worse it gets, and it becomes obnoxious quickly. This happens whether I am viewing a different browser tab, a browser tab in another instance of the browser, or if I am doing something else on my computer while the webcast is running in the background (like checking on other concurrent webcasts, monitoring the servers, working on a LibreOffice word processing or spreadsheet file, taking meeting notes in a text file, etc.).

The audio is always delayed after the video, never the other way around.

The same solution works for me. Reloading the page syncs the video and audio again.

I suspect that it has something to do with the way my browser and my computer process the video and audio signals. I suspect that part of the problem is that the servers provide a video signal separate from the audio signal that starts in sync, but that there is nothing further from the server to keep them in sync if the receiving system does not process both video and audio in a timely manner. I believe my browser/computer is introducing a delay in the audio in some of the circumstances described above.

Whether it is the lack of a synchronizing signal from the server, or an issue with the codec specifications, or a computer/browser issue, I do not know. Occasionally (but very rarely) I see it on other streaming services besides the servers the Church uses.

That will be 2 cents, please. [grin]

[billgage]

Thank goodness it is not just me. But I would like to resolve the issue. Are there setting on the J-Tech encoders that would help the sync issue, like encode the audio at a lower bit rate?

Bill Gage
Neah-Kah-Nie Branch
Rockaway, OR