Abstract: A system and method for receiving a transported stream of data packets at a network includes stripping the headers off the data packets at a de-packetizer, buffering the data packets at a jitter buffer and shifting the play-out of the data packets from the jitter buffer to a decoder by at least a fraction of a frame to provide a desired value of channel jitter compensation. The shift in the play-out of the data packets is computed either using a watermark optimization calculation, a frame phase offset adjustment which reduces the delay between packet arrival times and packet depletion times, or a combination of the two.