Popin HD Video Calling: Recommended Network Guidelines

Overview

Popin provides real-time HD video calls powered by a scalable SFU (Selective Forwarding Unit) backend. It ensures smooth video, clear audio, and low latency through adaptive streaming, WebSocket-based signaling, and Protocol Buffers (Protobuf) data serialization.

This document outlines the recommended and minimum network requirements for achieving optimal video and audio quality.

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1. ⚡ Recommended Bandwidth

Quality	Upload Speed	Download Speed	Notes
HD Video (720p–1080p)	Minimum: 5 Mbps	Minimum: 5 Mbps	Functional, occasional quality drops may occur in weak networks
HD Video (720p–1080p)	Recommended: 8–10 Mbps	Recommended: 8–10 Mbps	Ensures stable, high-quality video and audio

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2. 🌐 Network Quality Guidelines

Parameter	Recommended
Latency	< 100 ms (ideal), up to 200 ms acceptable
Packet Loss	< 1% recommended, noticeable issues above 3%
Jitter	< 30 ms recommended

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3. ✅ Recommended

• Minimum HD Video: 5 Mbps upload/download

• Recommended HD Video: 8–10 Mbps upload/download

• Network: Use wired or strong Wi-Fi connections

• Device Optimization: Close unnecessary applications that use network bandwidth during calls

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4. 📊 Minimum Requirements

Resolution	Frame Rate (fps)	Minimum Bandwidth
540p	30 fps	800 kbps
720p	30 fps	1.7 Mbps
1080p	30 fps	3 Mbps

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5. 🎙️ Published Tracks and Media Configuration

Type	Media	Codec / Format	Resolution(s)
Microphone	audio/red	Audio Stream	—
Camera	video/VP8	Video Stream	960×540, 1280×720, 1920×1080

• Audio (Microphone): Encoded using RED for redundancy, improving resilience against packet loss.

• Video (Camera): Published in multiple resolutions (540p, 720p, 1080p) to support adaptive simulcast streaming.

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6. 🎞️ Codec Priority and Compatibility

Popin prioritizes codecs in the following order to balance performance, quality, and compatibility:

Codec Priority List:

1. VP8 — Default codec for broad compatibility and low latency.

2. H.264 — Hardware-accelerated and widely supported across devices.

3. VP9 — Provides improved compression for modern browsers.

4. AV1 — Offers high-quality video at lower bitrates (emerging support).

5. H.265 (HEVC) — Supported on select clients for advanced compression and 4K optimization.

Popin automatically negotiates the optimal codec based on participant capabilities and real-time network conditions.

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7. ⚙️ Backend Architecture

Popin’s media infrastructure uses a Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU) design to efficiently route video and audio streams with minimal latency.

Technical Highlights:

• Transport Protocol: WebRTC media transport with SRTP encryption.

• Signaling: WebSocket-based with Protocol Buffers (Protobuf) serialization for minimal overhead.

• Adaptive Bitrate (ABR): Automatically adjusts stream quality based on bandwidth and device performance.

• Simulcast Support: Multiple simultaneous video layers (540p, 720p, 1080p) for optimized network usage.

This architecture delivers scalability, low latency, and high-quality experiences for both one-to-one and multiparty video sessions.