What is streaming media?
Posted on 20. Apr, 2010 by admin in Featured Articles, Home Media
Streaming media technology enables the real time or on demand distribution of audio, video and multimedia on the Internet. By now, you have at least heard of streaming media, the exciting new technology that allows media producers to share their work inexpensively with a worldwide audience of Web surfers. Streamed data is transmitted by a server application and received and displayed in real-time by client applications. These applications can start displaying video or playing back audio as soon as enough data has been received and stored in the receiving station’s buffer.
With streaming video or streaming media, a Web user does not have to wait to download a file to play it. Instead, the media is sent in a continuous stream of data and is played as it arrives. The user 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. It can also be an external media player such as a Blu-Ray, gaming console, TVs and dedicated streaming players that tie into your home theater or house distributed audio/video system. These devices have become a popular way to receive content from places like Netflix, Hulu, You Tube and Pandora.
Streaming video is usually sent from prerecorded video files, but can be distributed as part of a live broadcast “feed.” In a live broadcast, the video signal is converted into a compressed digital signal and transmitted from a special Web server that is able to do multicast, sending the same file to multiple users at the same time. News and sporting events are very popular ways of viewing live broadcasts from broadcasters such as CNN, Fox and ESPN.
Whether you are a business looking for a new way to promote a product or a home user trying to listen to a hometown radio station, streaming media is in your future. With faster and cleaner communications it will not be long until we do not need any other entertainment platform that a computer and the latest enhanced media player. Everything from live sports and television programs, to pay-per-view movies will be readily available and already are to some extent. As the last few problems with network congestion and bandwidth demand are solved, streaming media will play an even larger part of the computing and business world as a whole.
It will be important to take streaming media into consideration when planning your new home. Using a custom low voltage installation company, such as Allied Home Technologies, is crucial in the design and installation process. They will be knowledgeable not only in the proper methods and wiring to use but can provide advice on what to expect down the road in the technology industry.
To learn more about this topic, call Neil Berry at Allied Home Technologies at (615) 385-3999, or log on to www.alliedhometech.com.
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