Why is there a lag between the actual event and the live stream being played using RealPlayer?

While playing a live broadcast, you may experience a delay between the actual event and the live stream being played in RealPlayer.

This delay includes the time that:

- the encoder takes to encode the signal
- the server takes to send the stream to the client software
- the client requires to buffer the necessary data

The actual amount of delay can differ due to Internet traffic and available bandwidth.