Live Streaming Quality FAQ

Last updated: 2025-03-25

Q1: During a live stream, the assistant page and live monitoring page only show the smooth definition, while the viewer page shows multiple definitions and allows switching to HD and UHD

Check if the broadcaster's bitrate is greater than 400 kbps. If it is, try clearing the browser cache and re-entering the viewer page.

Q2: How are the smooth, HD, and UHD options displayed on the SaaS viewer page configured, and how can adjustments be made to show all definitions?

Currently, there are three definitions: smooth, HD, and UHD. The definitions displayed on the viewer page are automatically determined based on the push stream bitrate set by the client. To show all three definition switching buttons (smooth, HD, UHD), adjust according to the following rules and restart the stream:

• If the push stream bitrate is less than 400 kbps, only smooth definition is displayed.
• If the bitrate is greater than 400 kbps and less than 600 kbps, smooth and HD are displayed.
• If the bitrate is greater than 600 kbps, UHD, HD, and smooth are displayed.

Q3: Unable to switch definitions while watching a live stream

Low-latency live rooms do not support definition switching. Switch the channel latency mode to normal latency and confirm that your account has multi-bitrate enabled. If not, contact your business manager.

Q4: After saving a live stream to storage and transferring it to on-demand, no other definitions are transcoded

Reason 1: The push stream bitrate is below 300 kbps.
Solution: Check the broadcaster's push stream bitrate. If it is too low, only the "smooth" definition can be transcoded.

Reason 2: MP4 cropping is not enabled, so the m3u8 format is used for transcoding. m3u8 videos cannot analyze bitrate, resulting in only one definition being transcoded.
Solution: Confirm whether the video has been cropped. Contact your business manager to enable MP4 cropping.

Q5: Switching to smooth or HD definition on the live viewer page causes stuttering

Reason: When the source stream has a high resolution and frame rate (e.g., 4K + 60 fps), standard transcoding machines cannot keep up with decoding, causing stuttering.
Solution: Contact customer support to adjust the transcoding parameters for this stream.

Q6: On iOS, switching to UHD definition during a live stream shows a network error; only smooth and HD are available

UHD resolution has not been transcoded, and the video uses interlaced scanning, which iOS cannot play.

According to Apple's official documentation, item 1.14 states that all interlaced source files must be deinterlaced.
Documentation link: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/http_live_streaming/hls_authoring_specification_for_apple_devices#//apple_ref/doc/uid/DTS40009745-CH1-MEDIASTREAMSEGMENTATION

Solution: Download Format Factory software, open the multimedia file information, and find "Scan type." If the property is "progressive," it indicates progressive scanning; if "Interlaced," it indicates interlaced scanning.

Q7: When integrating the live streaming mini-program SDK, watching a live replay has no definition option button

The live streaming mini-program SDK does not currently support definition switching styles. It is recommended to use on-demand replay and integrate the on-demand plugin/SDK.

Q8: When integrating the Android SDK, how can the player hide the definition selection button when multi-bitrate is not enabled, and show it when multi-bitrate is enabled?

Modify polyvLiveBitrateV0.getDefinitions() in the PolyvPlayerMediaController file. The button should only be displayed when the number of available definitions is greater than 1.

List<PolyvLiveDefinitionV0> definitions = polyvLiveBitrateV0.getDefinitions( );
if (definitions != null && definitions.size( ) > 1 ){
tv_bit.setvisibility(View.VISIBLE);

Q9: Why does the live stream have a definition switching option, but the replay does not?

Reason: When the replay method is set to "storage list" or "replay list," the live player is used to play the replay video. The replay video has not been encoded, so there is no definition option.
Solution: Use the on-demand list for replay and confirm that your account has MP4 cropping enabled. If not, contact your business manager.

Q10: Switching definitions has no effect

Since the source video playback does not support definition switching, in the setLocalPlayback method of the demo layer, the button is disabled for source video playback.

Q11: When a co-host switches from presenter mode to guest mode, the definition noticeably drops

Reason: The definition settings for the presenter and guest are different.
Solution: Modify the definition settings.

Q12: The video quality of a pseudo-live stream is not high

Reason: The pseudo-live video itself has low definition.
Solution: When creating the video, adjust parameters such as resolution and bitrate.

Q13: When distributing a pseudo-live stream to Bilibili and WeChat Channels, the definition on Bilibili drops significantly and stutters

Reason: During distribution, the cloud provider is unstable, causing this issue on Bilibili.
Solution: Use OBS to push the stream to Bilibili separately; WeChat Channels distributes normally.

Q14: The warm-up video plays in high definition locally, but after uploading to the backend, the playback quality is very blurry

Reason: The video bitrate is too high, causing compression upon upload.
Solution: Reduce the video bitrate to around 3000 and re-upload. The definition will then be normal.