Jitter is a variation in the timing or latency of data packets transmitted over a network, causing irregularities or fluctuations in the arrival times of packets at their destination. Jitter is measured as the difference between the expected arrival time and the actual arrival time of packets, expressed in milliseconds (ms) or microseconds (μs). Excessive jitter can degrade network performance, impair real-time communication, and introduce packet loss, latency, or out-of-order packet delivery, particularly in voice-over-IP (VoIP), video conferencing, and streaming media applications that require consistent and predictable network latency.
