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An Introduction to Streaming Video
An Introduction to Streaming Video
by Rick Hendershot,
The Linknet Marketing Resource Library
(This article was written in 2002. For some of my more
up-to-date ideas on online media, see the articles in the "Flash as a Viable Alternative"
series.)
This article presents a very basic introduction to Streaming
Media. It is written from the point of view of the interested observer and
potential webmaster or content provider. Many descriptions of online media tend
to focus on the technical aspects and inevitably get bogged down in programming
jargon and techniques.
This series of articles does not focus on the technical question: "What is the best way to put audio and video online?". Those issues are dealt
with at great length by any number of technical sources. Rather it focuses on
what are ultimately marketing questions: "Why would we bother putting audio and
video online?" And, "What applications of online media are likely to be met with
sufficient demand to justify the expense?"
First, here are a few quick definitions. We know that
our personal computers are generally capable of playing what used to be referred
to as "multimedia" content - audio and video - from CDs, and occasionally from
files downloaded from the internet. Streaming Media is another way of receiving
content of this sort. Rather than getting this data from a CD, you receive it
from the internet. This means that Streaming Media is a specific sort of
DELIVERY SYSTEM for audio and video content. In other words, it is a technology
that is not directly concerned about content - but rather the delivery of
content. In that way it is like radio or television or telephone technology -
just another technology for the delivery of content.
So the process works like this. First, a client computer
requests a specific file from a server. Second, the server receives the request
and then sends the file out over the internet (much like a web server) in a data
stream specifically directed to the requesting client. Third, the client
receives, decodes, and "plays" the requested file, using a Media Player like
Windows Media Player, the Real Player, or the QuickTime player.
This is called "streaming media" because of the peculiar way the
client receives and plays the file. Media files are usually quite large, and
often take several minutes to download, even with a fast connection. Most people
are too impatient to wait for the entire file to download before playing it. So
the media player on the client machine actually begins playing the file before
it is all downloaded. In other words, the file is played as it is downloaded.
The data is "streamed" to the player, and it is processed as it is received.
This is perfect for viewing or listening to media - like songs, videos, audio
presentations, etc. - that unfold over time.
Another advantage of streaming media, is that the
person viewing the media files doesn't have to download and save them somewhere
on his or her local computer. This makes it much easier for content publishers
to protect the copyright of their work. A streamed file does not end up on the
client computer in its full and final form, and so cannot be as readily copied
by the viewer as a downloaded file can be.
The fact that it is internet-based determines three of the most
distinctive features about Streaming Media. First, the streamed content is completely digital. This means it can be shared among computers or digital devices. It can also be
edited, chopped into pieces, and mixed with other digital media by using various
- often quite inexpensive — software programs.
Second, it is streamed from internet servers to personal
computers through the same internet "pipe" that carries all other internet
traffic. As we will see, this is an obvious strength as well as its greatest
weakness. It is a strength because you do not need a dedicated box (like a TV
set or radio) to receive the media, and it can be easily integrated with other
types of content normally accessed on the internet. For instance, imagine having
live television images running right on the pages of your evening newspaper.
Well that's pretty much what you can do with streaming media running on a web
page.
The weakness of relying on the internet pipe to send and receive
media files is that these files are usually quite large, and they eat up bandwidth like
crazy. And because bandwidth is so expensive, the range of applications where a
company can afford to use streaming media is pretty narrow. In fact this is the
major challenge confronting those of us involved in the steaming media industry
- to find business models that actually make streaming media economically viable
on a commercial scale.
The third distinctive characteristic of streaming media is that
for the most part it is accessed "randomly", or "interactively". This clearly
sets it apart from other mainstream media. With streaming media you ask for
certain data, and that's what you receive. You ask for the "How to do drywall"
video, and that's what you get. You ask for George Bush's "Axis of Evil" speech,
and it's sent to you. Unlike with most electronic media, you, the viewer,
determine what you view (or hear), and when you view (or hear) it. As we will
see, this random access model may ultimately prove to be unworkable. That is a
topic we will touch on at some length in future parts 3 and 4 of this
series.
Just a few words about content...
It is not too difficult to see how these features tend to
determine the sort of content that is developed for streaming on the internet.
Still images, video productions, and recorded audio are all ideal because they
are all easily digitized. Which means they are relatively easy to place on a
server, and then feed out over the internet to anybody with a satisfactory
connection to the pipe. Unfortunately, as I have already mentioned, the amounts
of data contained in many streaming signals is very large, and using the
internet pipe to broadcast them in this way quickly reveals its serious
limitations. In fact many connections to the internet cannot handle video
signals, because these connections are not fast enough. And many older computers
cannot even adequately process the amount of data contained in a typical video
signal— even if the connection to the net is satisfactorily fast.
This has resulted in many attempts to make the delivery of
streaming media more efficient. On the one hand, there have been very
significant attempts to upgrade the data handling capacity of the pipe, and of
our individual connections to it - like the introduction of cable and dsl
connections. At the same time many companies have developed methods of
compressing data to make media files smaller without completely ruining the
quality of the output signal.
All of these attempts to advance streaming technology, along
with just a general upgrading of the capabilities of individual personal
computers, continue on a daily basis. Streaming media has a long way to go
before it can be a serious rival to television or radio broadcasting. But it is
slowly coming together, and its built-in advantages are just so significant,
that it is surely just a matter of time before it becomes a part of our everyday
lives.
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