A warning has been issued to England fans planning to watch the World Cup on television this Wednesday. According to a leading comparison website, using the internet to stream the match could result in significant delays, potentially spoiling key moments of the game.
Millions Tune In
A staggering 30 million UK adults are expected to watch the World Cup on TV this summer. England's Three Lions, now under the leadership of new manager Thomas Tuchel, will kick off their campaign against Croatia on Wednesday at 9pm. The match will be broadcast on ITV1 and streamed via ITVX.
Streaming Lag Concerns
However, uSwitch has warned that those watching online instead of through a traditional TV aerial may experience streaming lag. The comparison site reports that 35% of fans surveyed have had a goal or major decision spoiled due to their stream lagging behind real time. Furthermore, as many as 2.4 million UK households could face problems due to poor broadband connections.
The delay is inherent to streaming technology, as the picture is delivered over the internet rather than over-the-air, requiring processing time for compression and security. Even with fast internet, some delay is unavoidable.
Sky's Solution
Sky has introduced 'Sky Real Time' technology during the World Cup to reduce this delay. ISPreview explains that latency is a product of how live video content must be processed, compressed, cached, and redistributed over digital networks. Sky's new feature aims to minimize this impact.
Despite these efforts, the only way to guarantee a live feed with no delay is to watch the game via a traditional TV aerial, such as Freeview or Sky Satellite, rather than through streaming services.
