What does Jitter mean?
Jitter concerns variation in the timing of arriving packets or measured delay. Even when average delivery looks adequate, uneven arrivals can challenge real-time applications. A media player uses buffered data to tolerate some of that variation before playback is affected.
Why it matters
The visible symptom alone does not prove jitter: source interruptions and decoder faults can also produce pauses. Compare a stable wired connection and ordinary household load before assigning a cause. Increasing the playback cushion can improve resilience but generally moves a live programme farther behind the event. It cannot compensate indefinitely for inadequate sustained delivery.
A practical example
A brief gap may pass unnoticed with several seconds of usable media buffered. The same gap can interrupt a player operating very close to the live edge.
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Related terminology: IPv6, Judder.
For practical setup and troubleshooting, browse the journal or support guides.