Live streaming is stressful. Every second counts, especially when mistakes can cost you time and viewers. You’ve been there, we’ve been there. That’s why we’re providing you with a set of tools to help you keep your cool while running a live event.

Stream without delay 

Broadcasters can now enable Low Latency mode, which allows your viewers to watch streams with less than 10 seconds of delay for any audience size, no matter how big. This feature decreases the traditional live-streaming latency (that is, the delay between your camera capturing your event and that event being shown to the viewer) by up to 133%. That means Vimeo users can stay more connected than ever before when using features like Live Chat, Q&A, and Polls.

The best part? It’s so easy to implement. To set up Low-latency streaming for your next event, simply toggle on “Low-latency streaming” under the “Chat” toggle on your Event Settings page to cut down on those pesky lags.*

Automated closed captions 

It’s never been easier to boost your stream’s accessibility. Both Vimeo Enterprise and Premium customers can now enable automated closed captions on their live streams — simply enable closed captions in your stream settings, then let your viewers decide if they want to watch with or without them.

Preview before going live

Never create another test event. By enabling Stream Preview, you can check the incoming video and sound quality, embed settings, social destinations, and more before you’re actually live. When everything is feeling good, go live at any time.

We’ve reduced the preview latency from 15-20 seconds to 1-2 seconds, so you can see your live feed in near real-time on Vimeo. This not only makes it easier to adjust your stream with instant feedback, it also helps you introduce live Q&A, Polls, or Graphics features at the exact right time.

Preview works for both native integrations like Livestream Studio and for 3rd party encoders. Simply click the toggle in the Connect (RTMP) tab in your event setup page.

Monitor performance in real time

When your viewers are stuck on a rebuffering spinner or low-res image, it’s hard to know what’s wrong.

Luckily, Stream Health monitors the performance of the incoming live feed with metrics like frames per second (FPS) and bitrate, letting you zero in on the problem and find a solution in real-time.

You can also get alerted if something goes wrong, so you don’t have to wait to hear it from your viewers. 

Back that stream up

For our Enterprise-tier users, you can now set up a backup stream to protect yourself from unexpected streaming issues like network instabilities, encoders crashing, or even electricity outages. If anything goes wrong with your primary stream, Vimeo automatically switches your event to the backup stream so you don’t lose your audience.

Set up your backup stream with our native Livestream Studio encoder or connect any 3rd party encoder, and check the status of it in the Stream Health tab.

* Vimeo Live’s new Low Latency mode uses Apple’s Low Latency HLS standard.

Go live now

This article was updated on August 3, 2021, to reflect product updates.