Live streaming is never live. The delay between what happens on a broadcaster's machine and what a viewer sees is assembled from several stages, each contributing a measurable amount.
Capture and encoding start the clock
The stream begins as frames captured from the game, which must be compressed before they can be sent, because raw video would exceed any home connection immediately.
Compression works by comparing frames to one another, so the encoder holds a small buffer of upcoming frames to decide what can be discarded.
Higher quality settings examine more possibilities and therefore take longer, which is a direct trade between how the stream looks and how far behind it runs.
Upload is a queue, not a pipe
Encoded video is sent in chunks, and any moment where the connection cannot keep up creates a backlog that has to be worked through afterwards.
Broadcasting software buffers against this so that a brief interruption produces delay rather than dropped frames, which viewers tolerate far better.
The buffer is insurance with a cost, and streamers who reduce it to lower delay accept a stream that breaks visibly when the connection wavers.
The platform re-encodes for every viewer
Viewers watch on different connections and screens, so the platform produces several quality versions of the same stream rather than passing the original along.
That transcoding happens after the stream arrives and adds its own delay, and it is one of the more expensive services a platform provides.
Distribution then copies the result to servers near viewers, which adds a further step before anyone can begin watching.
The player buffers before it shows anything
A viewer's player collects several seconds of video before starting, so that a momentary network problem does not stop playback.
This is usually the largest single contribution, and it is also the one a viewer can influence by choosing a low-latency mode where the platform offers one.
Reducing it makes chat interaction feel immediate and makes stalling far more likely, which is why it is not the default.
Some delay is deliberate
Competitive broadcasts often add a fixed delay so that viewers cannot relay opponents' positions to players, which would otherwise make streamed matches unplayable.
Individual streamers use the same technique against viewers who join their games with information they should not have.
The trade is engagement. A long delay makes chat feel disconnected from the broadcast, so the chosen figure balances interaction against the integrity of the game being played.