General Tips for Streaming Issues

The Invintus Player is designed for the widest range of playback compatibility and accessibility.  But even in this day and age where broadband and faster connections are becoming more prevalent, issues with video streaming can still exist.  While we can’t guarantee the performance or compatibility of your viewers' specific software/hardware setups, we have a few recommendations that we hope will help:

  • Make sure you have the most updated version of your Internet browser (e.g. Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, etc.)
  • If you're connected via wireless, switch to a hard-wired connection
  • If you don't have a hard-wired connection, restart your wi-fi router
  • Make sure there are no other devices connected to your wi-fi that could be creating network traffic.
  • Pause the video to allow it to load more fully.
  • Refresh your browser page or try switching to a completely different browser.
  • Try connecting to your personal Hotspot on your phone.
  • Try switching to a different device.

Resolving Common Issues

Player won’t load or I got an error

If you or your viewers are experiencing a white screen on a video page or if a video throws an error, one or more of the following issues may be at play:


Player components may be blocked by firewall

In some circumstances, your viewer's internet connection may be behind a firewall or subject to a set of institutional business rules that are blocking the Invintus player components. This can lead to a failure to load the player and/or the video stream itself. If your viewer is on a corporate or government network (this includes being connected through a vpn), have them contact their IT helpdesk to determine if Invintus content or video streaming on their device is being blocked.

Viewers should ensure the following ports are open on their network for playback:


TCP/UDP 80 (HTTP)

TCP/UDP 443 (HTTPS)


In addition, if your viewers are on a corporate network (office, university, hotel, etc.) that restricts access to certain websites or domains, they should have the following domains whitelisted:


*.invintus.com

*.invintusmedia.com

*.akamaihd.net

*.s73cloud.com

*.scaledrone.com

*.amazonaws.com

*.fastly.net


Update your browser or try a different one

The Invintus video player has been designed to support the latest browser technologies for maximum compatibility and accessibility. It is compatible with all modern web browsers supporting HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. In addition, we recommend using the following browsers and versions on Windows 7 or later or macOS Sierra (10.12.6) or later:


Chrome 30+ (has automatic updates)

Firefox 27+ (has automatic updates)*

Microsoft Edge**

Safari 9+


* H.264 video (required for viewing your videos through the Invintus Platform) is only supported in Firefox for Windows 7 and later. Firefox versions on Windows XP are no longer supported for playback.

** Internet explorer 11 is only partially supported and we do not guarantee video playback or stability.


A stream keeps buffering or won’t play

If you are experiencing buffering on a live stream, or if a video is not playing, follow the troubleshooting tips below.


Improve your Internet connection

We recommend an Internet speed of at least 2Mbps for an HD stream (you can perform a speed test here: https://projectstream.google.com/speedtest). If your connection is less than 2Mbps, try moving closer to your router, moving your router to a more central location, or connecting your computer directly to your router or modem.


Update your browser or try a different one

You can find a list of our recommended browsers and systems above.


Clear your browser cache

If many items have been stored in your cache, you may experience some lag when trying to stream. You can find instructions on how to clear the cache for the browser you are using here.


Hard refresh the player page

Refreshing the player page (if on your website or social sites) by using the Shift key and pressing the refresh button on the browser (or "F5" on a PC). This will remove any latent cached items and fully refresh the video player in order to get new video. This is particularly important if your device has gone to sleep, you may loose connectivity from our video streams and a refresh of the page may be necessary to continue a live or on-demand stream.


Restart your device

A restart of your device can fix a lot of problems you may be running into. Try turning your device completely off, then power back on and return to the video player page.

The video quality is poor

There are two main reasons why a video may stream in poor quality:


Strength of Internet connection

The video quality is largely dependent on the strength of your Internet connection. As the strength of your Internet connection improves, so will the video quality, decreasing the amount of buffering you may experience.


Quality of video available

Some older videos are not available in High Definition (HD) and the Standard Definition (SD) version may not display as clearly when viewing on larger screens. Video will play in HD when an HD feed is available and when your Internet connection will allow for it.


Common Questions

Video Streams auto start, but there’s no sound

Invintus video streams will start playing as soon as video becomes available. This is a great feature if your viewers are on your website and waiting for an event to begin. However, the proliferation of online advertising and autoplay videos has become a nuisance, and major browsers are now detecting autoplay videos and forcing them to be muted or not allowing the autoplay feature unless they are muted. As a result, the Invintus Video Player is set to be muted to allow for the autoplay feature to work. This avoids your video from being blocked completely by the browser. Your viewer can click on the volume controls to unmute the video and hear the audio.

Live Streams are delayed a few seconds

If you happen to be an on-site observer to a live event and are watching the live stream from your phone, mobile device or connected laptop, you will notice a delay (latency) between what is happening on-site and what shows on your video screen. Don’t worry, this is completely normal! The delay can vary from 30 to 60 seconds depending on the network environment you are in and your specific Internet connection. Streaming video is for a mass audience, and in order to serve this audience and the wide array of devices and platforms to view the video, the Invintus video player uses the current standard video streaming protocol, HLS (http live streaming) to deliver its live video. HLS uses the similar technology web servers use to deliver webpage content. LIVE HLS streaming and even TV broadcasts will always have some element of latency. Live streaming is for a broad audience and is not the same as a video conference, where low latency is required for 2 way communication.


Network and browser requirements for viewing streams

The quality of your live playback experience is largely dependent on the download speed you have from ISP (Internet Service Provider) or mobile provider. Keep in mind that your overall internet speed can vary depending on many factors, including but not limited to: time of day, Wi-Fi performance, other devices/users utilizing your connection, and the strength of the signal provided by your ISP.

Download speeds

The following minimum required bandwidths are representative of the typical minimum speeds required for each playback quality.  Network speeds can be tested here: https://projectstream.google.com/speedtest.


Quality : Required Minimum Bandwidth

160p  : 128 kbps

240p  : 500 kbps

360p  : 850 kbps

720p  : 1 Mbps

1080p  : 2 Mbps


Desktop OS and Browser

The Invintus video player has been designed to support the latest browser technologies for maximum compatibility and accessibility. It is compatible with all modern web browsers supporting HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. In addition, we recommend using the following browsers and versions on Windows 7 or later or macOS Sierra (10.12.6) or later:


Chrome 30+ (has automatic updates)

Firefox 27+ (has automatic updates)*

Microsoft Edge**

Safari 9+

* H.264 video (required for viewing your videos through the Invintus Platform) is only supported in Firefox for Windows 7 and later. Firefox versions on Windows XP are no longer supported for playback.

** Internet explorer 11 is only partially supported and we do not guarantee video playback or stability.

Mobile devices

Mobile viewers can use Android (Lollipop) version 5.0+ or iOS version 12.4+.


⚠️ Blackberry and Windows phone users: You may still able to view videos on devices that support HTML5; however, we do not test out our player in these environments and thus cannot guarantee support.


⚠️Samsung users: The Samsung Internet browser (all versions) is not supported for Live streaming with Invintus. We recommend installing Chrome instead for live video playback.

Firewalls and whitelisted domains

Viewers should ensure the following ports are open on their network for playback:


TCP/UDP 80 (HTTP)

TCP/UDP 443 (HTTPS)


In addition, if your viewers are on a corporate network (office, university, hotel, etc.) that restricts access to certain websites or domains, they should have the following domains whitelisted:


*.invintus.com

*.invintusmedia.com

*.akamaihd.net

*.s73cloud.com

*.scaledrone.com

*.amazonaws.com

*.fastly.net

Troubleshooting for Content Management Systems

Content Management Systems (CMS) come in infinitely many varieties and we realize that many of our Clients use them: Wordpress, Civic Plus, In-house solutions, and so forth – each providing an interface to provide content to their Users but also not without their own quirks and drawbacks.

While we at Invintus strive to circumvent these drawbacks as they arise, some issues invariably lie outside the scope of what we can do in that they require the Client to de-limit, alter, or re-write them in part or whole in order to allow our Player to be utilized to its fullest potential.

Wordpress Users

Ensure your theme doesn't set the following CSS:

video, audio {
    visibility: hidden;
}

if it does, replace it with:

video, audio {
    visibility: visible !important;
}

Civic Plus Users

Ensure your CMS allows HTML embedding, allowing both div and script tags.


Reordering Tabs with CSS

Our Tabs (such as the Documents, Sharing, Agenda, etc.) can be reordered via CSS in a simple way as their CSS display property is flex.

.inv-tabs--tab.inv-tabs--<tabName> {
    order: N;
}

Complete list of available .inv-tabs--<tabName>:

  • chat
  • documents
  • share
  • agenda
  • transcript
  • twitterFeed


CSS Example:

(displaying first the Agenda tab, then the Documents tab, then the Share tab)

.inv-tabs--tab.inv-tabs--agenda {
    order: 1;
}

.inv-tabs--tab.inv-tabs--documents {
    order: 2;
}

.inv-tabs--tab.inv-tabs--share {
    order: 3;
}