Streaming media

From UGS

Streaming Audio

What is streaming media?

Streaming media is the process by which media (audio, video) can be transfered immediately to the recipients computer for immediate viewing and/or listening without them having to wait for the whole transmission to download first.

Usually, depending on the size of file, a few seconds or minutes of data is sent first and while that is being viewed or listened to the rest of the file is transmitted in the background making it appear as a seemless transmission over the internet.

There are various formats of streaming media, the most popular of which are RealMedia, Apple's QuickTime and Microsoft's Windows Media. It is also possible however to transmit streaming media through Flash player.

What are the advantages of streaming media?

There are a few advantages to streaming media, the main one is that the user does not have to wait for a file to download completely before they are able to view it or listen to it. Streaming allows them to experience the file as it transmits. It also allows the the user to view the file without having to download it to their computer.

It is also possible to stream live data. For example a webcam feed or online television. Recently the BBC showed several World Cup Football matches live over their website using streaming technology.