When you enable Live Transcoding on a stream, the transcoding process consumes Live Transcoding Cores (LTC) — the compute capacity required to convert your source stream into one or more output profiles (SD/HD/UHD). This capacity is provided in one of two ways: Shared Pool or Dedicated Pool.
Shared Pool
The Shared Pool is the default transcoding capacity model.
- LTC resources are drawn from a common pool shared across all clients using Live Transcoding.
- Capacity is allocated on an as-available basis — availability depends on overall platform load at any given time.
- If the Shared Pool is fully utilized when you try to enable transcoding, you will not be able to enable Live Transcoding until an LTC becomes free.
- In this scenario, you’ll see a warning message indicating that Live Transcoding cannot be enabled with the selected LTC due to Shared Pool availability.
Dedicated Pool
The Dedicated Pool is a custom capacity model for clients who need guaranteed transcoding resources.
- The required LTC is reserved specifically for the client’s stream(s), sized to their needs.
- Because capacity is pre-allocated, the client can enable Live Transcoding at any time without waiting or worrying about resource availability — it’s already set aside for them.
- Not self-serve: clients must contact the Sales/Billing team to have a Dedicated Pool provisioned.
Quick Comparison
| Shared Pool | Dedicated Pool | |
|---|---|---|
| Resource allocation | Shared across all clients | Reserved exclusively for the client |
| Availability | Subject to platform load | Guaranteed |
| Risk of “not enough capacity” warning | Yes, during high demand | No |
| Setup | Default, self-serve | Requires Sales/Billing request |
| Best suited for | General/standard streams | Business-critical/high-priority streams |
Common Client-Facing Scenario
Symptom: Client sees a warning that Live Transcoding cannot be enabled with the selected LTC.
Explanation: This occurs when the Shared Pool has no available capacity at that moment. It is not an account-specific error — it reflects overall Shared Pool utilization at the time of the request.
Resolution options:
- Wait and retry once Shared Pool capacity frees up.
- Try a lower LTC requirement (e.g., SD instead of HD/UHD) if feasible.
- Contact Sales/Billing to set up a Dedicated Pool for guaranteed, uninterrupted access.
