Web Video Streaming

 Video Web Streaming

Streaming media enables real-time or on-demand access to audio, video, and multimedia content via the Internet or an intranet. Streaming media is transmitted by a streaming media server application, and is processed and played back by a media player, as it is received, leaving behind no residual copy of the content on the viewers computer.

Until recently, digital video files needed to be downloaded in their entirety, after considerable delay, before playback. With streaming, the video presentation plays almost immediately as it is transferred from the server to your computer.

What are the benefits of streaming media?

Before the advent of streaming media technology, multimedia video and audio clips were downloaded as files (usually .AVI or .MPG) to your hard disk before you could view them. Then the file had to be opened using separate software applications like Apple's Quicktime or Microsoft's Windows Media Player.

With streaming technology, you are able to view the media clip as it is downloaded, thus there is no waiting for an entire file to download. After a few seconds of buffering the media clip begins playing. In addition, there is no hard disk space required.

Streaming media also allows for the viewing of live A/V broadcasts.

How does this streaming thing work?

The first part of this magic formula is video compression. To compress video, a complex mathematical formula breaks the individual frames into moving and static components. Then it takes each moving object, and guesses where it will be for the next frame. By refreshing only the moving components, and recycling the static images, compression reduces the size and speed of the video file. There is a downside to compression. If the camera is panning, zooming, or moving in any way, the whole image is in motion, leaving nothing to recycle. This leads to poor compression, and a slower transmission.

The second part of the streaming combination is buffering the file. Compared with the voodoo magic of the compression, the buffering seems fairly bland. By giving the file a few seconds to load before starting the image, a reserve of video is available in the memory of the client's computer in case the transmission slows for a moment. When the transmission slows, the client computer uses part of the reserve of video. If the transmission becomes too slow, the buffer becomes completely exhausted, and the video will get choppy. The better streaming packages will adapt the buffer to the speed of the connection, even as it fluctuates with the ebb and flow of network traffic.

Streaming video is just in its infant stages, yet it has a potential limited only by the network bandwidth it requires to send high quality video. However, the bandwidth that is available is expanding exponentially. For the web surfer, this could eventually mean 200 million channels of TV. For makers of video, this could be an unprecedented broadcasting opportunity.

Can You Add Video Streaming to your Website?

With a professional web design built and hosted by South Florida Multi Media Designs the answer is Yes. We can stream an existing video you may already have or one of our professional support members can visit you or your event and video the event for you. ( Additional cost may applied ) When you stream video into a website you add features second to none. With video streaming now becoming a Hot New Sales item think about what it can do for your product sales, you're HR department or just simply getting a message to the world wide public, all right on your website.

This feature can be added to any of our web design packages with a minimum cost and or may be included depending on the design package you select.

There are Two Ways to Add Video Streaming into Your Site.

As you saw the streamed video commercial at the top of this page, video can also be on demand as well as auto play. With video on demand you will see a click here to play button, with will download directly into a media player located on your computer. ( see expamle to the right )

This form of streaming is a bit slower due to the time it takes to download and your player to open ( depends on the speed of the computer being used to view video stream ) but never the less it allows you to add multiple video streams to a website.