Designing Video Systems Around Latency Budgets
Why reducing latency introduces new operational complexity
In this episode of Voices of Video, we speak with i3D.net about how latency budgets fundamentally shape video system architecture. The conversation explores how teams decide where video compute should live, what trade-offs emerge as workloads move closer to users, and why reducing latency often introduces new operational complexity rather than simply improving performance.
This discussion is intended for video engineers, platform architects, and teams responsible for designing and operating latency-sensitive or geographically distributed video platforms.
Stefan Ideler, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at i3D.net
Stefan Ideler is the Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at i3D.net, where he leads pioneering efforts in global connectivity, infrastructure scaling, and software development for gaming and enterprise solutions. With over 20 years of experience in infrastructure, networking, and game services, Stefan has been at the forefront of the industry’s evolution—from the early days of consumer-hosted game servers to today’s always-online orchestration platforms powering live games worldwide.
Previously serving as CTO until March 2024, Stefan chose to return to his innovation roots to focus on developing next-generation technologies and fostering a culture of experimentation. Passionate about remote collaboration, performance optimization, and security, he drives initiatives that enhance efficiency and culture across distributed teams. A graduate of Erasmus University Rotterdam, Stefan remains deeply committed to pushing the boundaries of network and cloud innovation.
Leonardo Nieto, Director of Market Development, EMEA, at NETINT Technologies
Leonardo Nieto represents NETINT across EMEA, working closely with streaming platforms, telecom operators, and infrastructure providers scaling video in power- and cost-constrained environments. With experience spanning applied transcoding, live streaming, and high-growth technology ventures, he focuses on the practical realities of deployment: density per rack, watts per stream, codec transitions, and cloud versus edge trade-offs.
In Voices of Video, Leo serves as the Voice of the Market, bringing forward the questions engineering and platform teams consistently ask in the field. His role is to ground technical conversations in operational and economic reality, ensuring performance claims hold up under real production conditions.