How does the Arena video player work?

The v2 player which was released on June 8th, 2023 incorporates some new technologies which are still under evaluation and development. The new player introduces selectable "modes" that allows the viewer to determine what kind of experience they desire. Initially, there are 4 modes we're tuning:

• TIGHT
• FAST
• SMOOTH
• CLASSIC

Tight

Tight is our most aggressive setting and will attempt to lock in the glass-to-glass latency from around 2-3s max. If it falls outside of this range, it will auto-reset itself and lock into a lower latency setting. Be aware, this setting should only be used when you're on a local network connection. Some mobile devices operating over cellular cannot operate in this aggressive mode and will reset quite often. If you experience this, try FAST.

Fast

Fast is our default low latency mode. It targets a glass-to-glass latency from around 2.5s upwards to 5s and will also reset if it falls outside of this range. Most computers on high-speed connections can easily stream in this mode.

Smooth

Smooth is a fallback option when network conditions are non-ideal, or when low latency is not needed or desired. It kicks into a more relaxed mode with additional buffering but with greater stability. This mode is ideal for roaming mobile devices or when your network has intermittent quality issues or packet loss. Latency is typically around 10s.

Classic

Classic is our older technology that operates at slightly lower quality settings, with a typical latency of 6s on Chrome and 15s latency on Apple devices.

There's a sync icon that is available to manually "resync" the current mode. This is ideal when you're in a TIGHT or FAST mode and due to network adjustments over time, the latency floats a bit from where you would like it. You'll see the visible latency value go up over time, and this is normal. Clicking this icon will attempt to lock into a lower latency for your experience.

>The new video stream snaps in quicker and delivers higher quality than the Classic version. It's also more adaptable, tuned to give you the best experience in terms of resolution, frame rate, and bit rate depending on your network conditions and device.

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And as always, Stream Different™