The Design Space of Livestreaming Equipment Setups: Tradeoffs, Challenges, and Opportunities

Abstract

Livestreaming has grown popular in recent years, with millions of people broadcasting themselves making digital art, playing games, programming, and doing other activities on sites like Twitch and YouTube. While many researchers have studied the actions of both streamers and their viewers, to our knowledge there has been no comprehensive analysis of the actual hardware and software equipment used in livestreaming. In this survey paper we present a holistic overview of modern livestreaming equipment in 2022 by analyzing 40 videos where streamers talk about various aspects of their setups. We categorized their equipment choices into a design space with ten dimensions: computer, software, stream control, encoding, cameras, lighting, video accessories, microphones, audio mixers, and audio accessories. We found that each streamer must make tradeoffs between lower- and higher-fidelity options within each dimension. Our design space analysis can inform ideas for future streaming support tools and, more broadly, tools for remote collaboration and learning via live video. As more of us work and learn online, we are in essence becoming amateur livestreamers, so understanding how professional streamers use their equipment to effectively engage their audiences might help us also engage better with our coworkers and classmates.