What is Streaming Media?

The following few post are going to cover steaming video in more
detail. Jonathan at VX30 has published a great overview of streaming
video and I have his permission to post it here. Thanks Jonathan. Now
on with the post.

According to “Google” the definition for streaming video is:
A sequence of "moving images" that are sent in compressed form
over the Internet and displayed by the viewer as they arrive. Streaming
media is streaming video with sound. With streaming video or streaming
media, a web user does not have to wait to download a large file before
seeing the video or hearing the sound. Instead, the media is sent in a
continuous stream and is played as it arrives. The users needs a player
which is a special program that decompresses and sends video data to
the display and audio data to speakers. A player can be either an integral
part of a browser or downloaded from the software maker's web site.
Streaming video is usually sent from prerecorded video files, but can be
distributed as part of a live broadcast "feed".

O.K., but what does all that mean? Basically the video we see at the
movie theater or on our television sets is different from the video we
view through the Internet. The main difference is that the video has
to be heavily compressed. This compression is why the video often
appears blurred or pixilated. The reason why the video has to be
compressed so much is that video files are very large and the Internet
does not have the capacity to move these files.

To compress video files we need an Encoder. The encoder can
be either a piece of hardware or a software program. It is also
possible to have an encoder that is a combination of both. Encoding
video can be done in real time for live broadcasting or pre-processed
as part of an on demand application. The more a video has to be
compressed the lower the quality will be.

The data stream passes from the server, through the Internet to
the client who interprets that data stream as video. The data stream
is interpreted by a piece of software known as the “Player”. More on
the player next time.

Check out http://www.buy-local.us for an example of how DW Video is
using streaming video to promote business and industry.

A Streaming Media Primer
A Guide for the Absolute Beginner
by Jonathan L Miller 11.01.2004
www.vx30.com
used with permission