Streaming Video - What is Streaming Video

One of the big advantages of advancing Internet technology is the ability to have multi media content delivered right to our homes.

Click a button and you can hear music or watch videos that start playing almost immediately. The wizardry behind this delivery system is called streaming and can be applied to both video and audio media content.

Streaming video is similar in concept to broadcasting. Radio or TV broadcasts work by sending out an audio or video signal from a central broadcast tower or cable company and anyone with a TV or radio receiver can enjoy that broadcast.

Streaming video works in almost the same way. Streaming can be done in real time just like a broadcast, but it can also be used to transmit stored material that can be viewed at any time. Just imagine if you could switch on a TV and watch any programme that you wanted. With streaming video, that is exactly what you are able to do.

Live video feeds, also called webcasts, are a part of video streaming, but the biggest application of video streaming technology is for something called video on demand. The video content is available for viewing at any time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Download Streaming Video

Any type of file can be downloaded to your personal computer. The problem is that if that file is a big video file it may take anywhere from fifteen minutes to several hours for the download to finish before you can view it.

Video Streaming is different. It allows you to watch the video as it is downloading. There is usually a short delay between clicking the 'view' button and seeing the beginning of the video, but this delay is measured in seconds rather than hours.

The reason for this delay is that the media player is creating a buffer for the video. This buffer allows the video to continue uninterrupted in case there is a disruption in the download stream. Of course, if the disruption is too long, the video will start skipping or just stop playing.

Anyone with a web site can place a properly formatted video file on their server and create a simple hyperlink to allow viewers to watch the video. This is fine for any website that receives low to moderate traffic.

However, web sites that have a significant number of visitors, may have to use a special streaming server that can keep up with the demand of many people watching the streaming video simultaneously. A streaming server is also needed if you want to do realtime webcasts.

Some Internet Service Providers or ISP's specialize in streaming servers so anyone serious about offering reliable streaming video to a large audience should use this type of hosting service.

The advantages of using a streaming server include detecting the client's connection speed so that video files of an appropriate bit rate are delivered. This spares the end user the necessity of choosing between various formats.