What Is Jitter?

Date First Published: 14th April 2022

Topic: Computer Networking

Subtopic: Data Transmission Technologies

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 6/10

Learn more about what jitter is in this article.

Jitter refers to small, irregular time delays in the transferring of data packets from one host to another. Jitter is the difference in data packet delay. For example, if it took 50 milliseconds for Server A to send a data packet to Server B and it took 120 milliseconds for Server B on the receiver’s side to receive it, that would be 70 milliseconds of jitter. This causes the destination host to receive the transferred data later than expected. The causes of jitter are network congestion, bad internet connection, collisions, and large distance between the two hosts.

Note:

Jitter is not the same as latency. Latency refers to the period of time that it takes for a data packet to be processed or transferred to its destination and jitter refers to small, irregular delays in the transferring of data packets. If it took longer for the device on the receiving end to receive the data than it took for the other device to send it, that would be jitter.

Jitter cannot be completely eliminated. Every time data is transferred, there is always some jitter, usually of a few milliseconds. Ideally, jitter should be below 30 milliseconds. Jitter causes the most issues in real-time applications, such as VoIP, online gaming, and streaming, since this would cause the audio to decrease in quality or even drop.

Compensation

Jitter can be compensated by the use of a buffer. A buffer works by storing data, such as audio for a short period of time before it is used, giving the device a few seconds to receive any lost packets due to jitter. It is necessary for buffers to be small in size when used in real-time applications, such as VoIP, online gaming, and streaming. Large buffers cause a noticeable delay.