We don't use a server but go directly to the playing PC so a server/publishing point would add even more time. Messing with buffers sounds like it could introduce more opportunities for problems so we'll live with the 8-10 second delay. No humans or animals will be harmed. A lesson learned.
We've been assisting with school plays for some time using a webcam to broadcast on the local network to cue actors waiting in a downstairs room. This works OK other than we end up with about a 10 second delay due to an encoding process. We set up the webcam in the room with the stage and broadcast to a PC where the students wait their turn. Because they must ascend a flight of stairs and be there on time, the video delay means they must anticipate the best time to head toward the stage. Reducing that delay would be a help. Right now we're using free MS video encoder (either Encoder 9 or Expression 4) with on Windows 7 PCs. We have a wired connection so it's fairly solid but occasionally the stream breaks. We use WMP in the waiting area and I put a shortcut link to the broadcast URL on the desktop that allows a reset should the broadcast have a glitch. I've tried working with VLC but have not been successful in achieving reliable results or improvement in the delay time. Surely I'm missing something an there's a way to do this in real time without buying all new hardware. Any thoughts would be appreciated. TIA

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