Streaming and recording terms, explained in plain words
Bitrate, keyframes, RTMP, scenes, layers, record first and more: what each term means, and where it shows up in Streamdzy.
What Is Bitrate?
Bitrate is how much data a stream sends each second. Learn what it means for picture quality and how to choose one from your upload speed.
What Is a Keyframe?
A keyframe is a complete picture a stream sends at regular intervals. Here is why platforms ask for one about every two seconds.
What Is Resolution?
Resolution is the number of pixels across and down a picture, such as 1080p or 720p. It sets how sharp the picture can be.
What Is Frame Rate?
Frame rate is how many pictures a second your stream or recording shows, such as 30 or 60 frames a second.
What Is a Codec?
A codec is the method used to squeeze video into a smaller file. H.264 is the one most streams use.
What Is an Encoder?
An encoder turns your picture and sound into the compressed stream that goes to the platform. It can run on the graphics card or the processor.
What Is RTMP?
RTMP is the protocol most live platforms accept for sending a stream from your PC, using an address and a stream key.
What Is an Ingest Server?
An ingest server is the platform’s address that receives your stream. Choosing a nearer one can help keep the stream steady.
What Is Upload Speed for Streaming?
Upload speed is how fast your internet sends data out. A stream needs steady upload, so it matters more than download speed.
What Is Stream Latency?
Latency is the delay between something happening and viewers seeing it. Low latency matters for chat and interaction.
What Is a Buffer in Streaming?
A buffer holds a little of the stream ahead of playback so a small dip does not stop the picture. Viewers see buffering when it runs out.
What Are Dropped Frames?
Dropped frames are pictures that never reach the platform, usually because the PC or the upload could not keep up.
What Is Packet Loss?
Packet loss is data that goes missing on the way to the platform, which shows as stutter or freezes on stream.
What Is Jitter in Streaming?
Jitter is the uneven arrival of data, which makes a stream stutter even when the average speed is fine.
What Is a Scene?
A scene is one picture made of cameras, screens, images and text, that you switch between during a live show.
What Is a Source in Streaming?
A source is anything that puts a picture or sound into a scene: a camera, a window, a phone, an image or a text box.
What Is a Layer?
A layer is one piece of a scene’s picture, placed and sized on top of or beside the others.
What Is an Overlay?
An overlay is a graphic on top of your picture, such as a logo, a counter, a goal bar or a chat box.
What Is a Lower Third Graphic?
A lower third is a bar at the bottom of the picture that shows a name, a title or a caption.
What Is a Stinger?
A stinger is a short video that plays between two scenes to cover the cut and make the change feel smooth.
What Is a Transition?
A transition is the effect used when the picture changes from one scene to the next, such as a fade or a wipe.
What Is Chroma Key (Green Screen)?
Chroma key removes a solid colour, usually green, so your picture can sit over another background.
What Is a Name Bar?
A name bar is a short title with your name, a guest’s name or a topic, shown on screen during a stream.
What Is a Stream Alert?
A stream alert is an animated card that appears when a follow, subscription, cheer, raid or tip arrives during a live show.
What Is a Raid on Twitch?
A raid sends your viewers to another channel when your stream ends. Streamdzy shows raid alerts when one arrives.
What Is a Follow Goal?
A follow goal is a target for new followers, shown as a bar that fills as the count rises during your stream.
What Is a Capture Card?
A capture card takes the picture from a console, a camera or another computer and sends it to your PC as a camera.
What Is a Webcam for Streaming?
A webcam is a camera connected to your PC that shows your face or the room on stream.
What Is a Multistream?
A multistream sends one show to several platforms at once, such as Twitch, YouTube and Kick.
What Is Simulcast?
Simulcast means streaming the same show to several places at the same time.
What Is the Lifeline in Streamdzy?
The lifeline keeps the stream going on a weak connection by stepping down to a smaller picture and a clear voice.
What Is a Relay for Streaming?
A relay sits between your PC and the platforms to hide a pause from viewers. Streamdzy’s relay runs on your own free Cloudflare account.
What Is a Be Right Back Screen?
A Be right back screen covers the picture when you step away, while the stream carries on.
What Is a Starting Soon Screen?
A starting soon screen shows viewers the show is about to begin, often with a countdown and music.
What Is a Crew Role?
A crew role gives someone a set of things they can do in your show, such as cutting scenes or adjusting one camera.
What Is Talkback?
Talkback is a message channel that lets you speak to your crew during a live show without viewers hearing it.
What Is a Marker in a Recording?
A marker is a labelled point you add during a recording so you can find that moment again later.
What Is a Clip?
A clip is a short piece of a recording or stream, often the last few seconds, saved to post on its own.
What Is Instant Replay?
Instant replay plays the last few seconds of action in slow motion on your stream.
What Is WHIP?
WHIP is a standard for sending a live stream from a browser to a streaming platform, using WebRTC.
What Is WebRTC?
WebRTC is the technology browsers use for live video. It lets a browser send a picture to another place in real time.
MP4 vs Other Containers: What Is a Container?
A container is the file wrapper that holds video and sound together. Learn how MP4 differs from the pieces Streamdzy records, and when to convert.
HD vs 4K: What Is the Difference?
HD usually means 720p or 1080p. 4K is four times the pixels of 1080p. For streams, 4K needs a lot of upload and PC power.
What Is Aspect Ratio?
Aspect ratio is the shape of the picture, such as 16:9 for widescreen or 9:16 for vertical video.
What Is a Safe Area?
The safe area is the part of the picture that is not cut off on some screens. Keep text and faces inside it.
What Is a VOD?
A VOD is a video on demand: a replay of a live stream that viewers can watch later.
What Is an Overlay Link?
An overlay link is an address that shows an overlay in a program, such as OBS, so it can be used in another app.
What Is an Audio Track?
An audio track is a separate stream of sound in a recording, such as your voice, the game or the music, kept apart for editing.
CBR vs VBR: Which Bitrate Mode for Streaming?
CBR keeps the bitrate steady, VBR lets it rise and fall with the picture. Learn which one platforms want and why.
What Is NVENC?
NVENC is the encoder on NVIDIA graphics cards that squeezes video for streams and recordings, leaving the processor free for the game.
What Is x264?
x264 is a software encoder that makes very good picture quality, at the cost of more processor work.
What Is a GOP?
A GOP is the group of pictures between two keyframes. Its length affects how quickly a stream recovers and how viewers join.
What Are B-Frames?
B-frames are frames that store only the differences from frames before and after them, saving bitrate for the same picture.
What Is an I-Frame?
An I-frame is a complete picture, the same as a keyframe. Stream recovery depends on them.
What Is NDI?
NDI sends video over a local network between programs and computers. It is a way to bring a second PC’s picture into a stream.
Latency vs Delay in Streaming
Latency and delay are used for the same thing in many places. Here is how they differ in a live show and what to do about each.
What Is HLS?
HLS is the way most platforms send a stream to viewers’ devices in small pieces, which is why streams can lag behind you.
What Is DASH?
DASH is a way to deliver a stream in pieces to viewers, similar to HLS, and used by some platforms.
What Is Round-Trip Time (RTT)?
Round-trip time is how long a signal takes to go to a server and come back. A high figure makes a stream feel slow to respond.
What Is Bufferbloat?
Bufferbloat is when your router holds too much data in a queue, which makes a busy connection stutter during a stream.
What Is QoS on a Router?
Quality of Service (QoS) lets a router give priority to some traffic, such as your stream, over other traffic.
What Is Port Forwarding?
Port forwarding lets outside devices reach a program on your network. Streamdzy does not need it for streaming out.
Does a VPN Affect Streaming?
A VPN sends your traffic through another server, which can slow the upload and change the stream’s route. Test before a show.
What Is a Hotspot Stream?
A hotspot stream uses your phone’s mobile data as the connection for your PC. It works, but the signal and data limits matter.
What Is a Backup Stream?
A backup stream is a second copy of your show sent over a second connection, so a failed line does not end it.
What Is an Ingest Region?
An ingest region is the part of the world where a platform receives your stream. Choosing a nearby one can lower delay.
What Does a Stream Health Warning Mean?
A health warning from a platform means the stream is not arriving steadily. The usual fixes are a lower quality and a steady upload.
What Is an FPS Cap?
An FPS cap limits a game to a set frame rate, which can keep the picture steady for a stream.
What Is V-Sync?
V-Sync matches the game’s frame rate to your screen’s refresh rate, which can stop tearing but add delay.
What Is Screen Tearing?
Screen tearing is when the picture shows two frames at once, with a visible line through it.
Is HDR Good for Streaming?
HDR shows more light and colour range on screen, but most streams and platforms show standard video, so the picture can look different.
What Is Colour Space?
Colour space is the range of colours a picture can show. Streams usually use the standard range, which keeps colours steady for viewers.
What Is a Capture Preview?
A capture preview shows what your scene looks like before it goes live. Check it before every show.
What Is a Scene Collection?
A scene collection is a set of scenes saved together, so you can switch between shows and games with one press.
What Is a Stream Profile?
A profile saves a set of stream settings, such as the quality and the places, so you can switch between setups.
What Is Chat Moderation?
Chat moderation keeps unwanted messages out of your chat, using the platform’s tools and rules you set.
What Is Subscriber-Only Chat?
Subscriber-only chat limits who can post to people who pay to subscribe on the platform.
What Are Channel Points?
Channel points are a Twitch reward that viewers earn and spend in your channel. Streamdzy can show alerts for them when the platform sends one.
What Is a Hype Train?
A hype train is a Twitch event that starts when viewers support the channel quickly. Streamdzy can show the alert when the platform sends it.
What Is a Super Chat?
A Super Chat is a paid message on YouTube that shows highlighted in chat. Streamdzy shows it as an alert when the platform sends it.
What Is a Membership Alert?
A membership alert shows on stream when someone joins your paid membership on YouTube or a subscription on another platform.
What Is a Stream Schedule?
A stream schedule tells viewers when you go live. Set it on the platform, and use a starting soon screen for the lead-in.
What Is an Ad Break?
An ad break is a pause in the stream for platform ads. Streamdzy can switch to a Be right back screen while one runs.
What Is an Audio Level?
An audio level is how loud a sound is on the meter. Keep your voice in the green most of the time, and check it before you go live.
What Is Clipping in Audio?
Clipping is distortion when sound is too loud for the level. It sounds crackly and cannot be undone in the stream.
What Is the Noise Floor?
The noise floor is the quiet background sound in a room, such as a fan or traffic. Lowering it makes your voice clearer.
What Is a Sample Rate?
The sample rate is how many times a second the sound is measured. 48 kHz is the common rate for video and streams.
What Is a Recording Container?
A container is the file wrapper around a recording. Streamdzy saves recordings in pieces so a crash loses seconds, and converts a session to MP4 for sharing.
What Is AV1?
AV1 is a newer video codec that can give a sharper picture at a lower bitrate, but not every platform or device accepts it yet.
What Is a Recording Session?
A recording session is everything saved from one press of Record: the finished show, each source and the log of marks.
What Is a Session Log?
A session log lists what happened during a recording: the marks, the interruptions and the settings used.
What Is a Marker List?
A marker list is the set of points you marked during a recording, so you can jump to each one when editing.
What Is a Test Stream?
A test stream is a short, private stream you run before a real show to check the picture, the sound and the connection.
What Is Soft Light for Streaming?
Soft light is light that spreads evenly on your face, without harsh shadows. It is the easiest way to look good on camera.
What Is a Green Screen Setup?
A green screen setup is a plain green background and even light, used to put you on a different background.
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Streamdzy is a free streaming and recording app for Windows: several cameras, your phone as a camera, going live to many places at once, and recording first so a bad connection never costs you the show.