Live streaming media is the transmission over the Internet of video of an event as it happens. Streaming is a form of online video in which the site sends video footage to a user’s machine “on the fly” rather than as a complete file. It’s akin to the difference between watching a TV show as it airs and watching a DVD. Live streaming media is different than on-demand streaming. With the latter, the content has previously been recorded. The user then accesses it at a time of their choice, though it is still streamed to their machine rather than downloaded as a complete file.
YouTube is probably the best known on-demand streaming site. The quality of live streaming media can be extremely variable. One factor affecting it is the technology the producers of the content have used to produce the streamed file. In some cases it may deliberately be kept to a small window size or low resolution. The quality is also affected by the amount of bandwidth the website has purchased for transmitting the content. Generally, paid streams will be better quality. This is partly because paid customers are less tolerant of stuttering or low-resolution video.
However, it’s also because a site charging for content will know exactly how many people will be watching and thus don’t run the risk of not having enough bandwidth. There are two different ways of viewing live streaming media. In one system, the content is only available directly through the relevant website, often using software which is built into the site itself. In another system, viewers will be able to watch the video through their own standalone media player software.
The website will either provide links to open the video in the software, or will provide a dedicated website address for the video itself which the user then types into their player. Live Internet streaming is also used illegally to broadcast television footage, particularly of pay-per-view events. The quality of such streams is even more variable and, of course, it’s much more difficult, or even impossible, to complain or take legal action if you don’t get what you are promised.
While some illegal streams involve direct connections to a cable TV feed of the relevant program, other work by simply pointing a webcam at a TV screen showing the footage. With legitimate live Internet streaming, some sites may impose restrictions on which sites the content can be viewed in. This is usually down to broadcasting rights which cover the countries in which the site is licensed to transmit the footage. These restrictions are not popular with users who believe international boundaries should not apply to the Internet.
Some of these users find ways to disguise their computer’s location so that they can watch the footage. | Webcasting is a broadcasting method that is nearly identical to TV broadcasting, only it is done online and there are different licenses involved. A webcaster is any person or entity that participates in webcasting, and a webcaster can be an established company or a single person. The most common type of webcaster is a musician or band, while the other common types are business people and commercial presentations.
Webconferencing is similar to webcasting, but they are not considered the same because the former is many people broadcasting to many people, while webcasting is one entity broadcasting to many. In America, a webcaster is legally known as an entity or person who obtained a webcasting license section 112 or 114 from the U. S. Copyright Office, makes nonsubscription transmissions, and creates ephemeral webcasts. The license needed for webcasting costs a fee and outlines guidelines for what can, and cannot, be done on a webcast. The ephemeral recording section means the webcast is done for a temporary time, just as a TV broadcast.
Other regions may have other licenses involved for legal webcasting. Video social media websites, where users record and post videos of themselves or commercial entities may upload episodes of shows or music videos, are not considered webcasts. While a user is similar to a webcaster, there are three main differences between these users and a webcaster. First, the recording is saved on a server for a prolonged amount of time, which goes against the ephemeral recording definition. The users also are not licensed for webcasting, and webcasts are recorded or broadcast live.
Webcasts are all live recordings. This means the webcasters are recorded live, without editing or cuts. The recording may be streamed as it is going on, or it may be webcasted later, but still in live fashion. There are two main sectors that perform webcasting: entertainment and commercial. On the entertainment side, musicians and other types of entertainers such as comedians and actors may perform on a live webcast. The other sector, the commercial sector, is typically done for business and investor relations webcasting, so people do not have to travel far to hear what is going on with a company.
Webconferencing is a technique that has been used by business people so various groups can talk to one another from a distance; while similar to webcasting, it is not the same. One difference is the intent. Webcasting is broadcast to other computers so the other members can watch, and participation is not always part of the broadcast. Webconferencing is not for watching, but so each member can speak and participate in a conference over the Internet.
The other reason is the flow of the video, because webcasting is one entity to many, whereas webconferencing is many people participating with many people. Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather than to the medium itself. The distinction is usually applied to media that are distributed over telecommunications networks, as most other delivery systems are either inherently streaming (e. g. , radio, television) or inherently non-streaming (e. g. , books, video cassettes, audio CDs). The verb ‘to stream’ is also derived from this term, meaning to deliver media in this manner.
Internet television is a commonly streamed medium. Live streaming, more specifically, means taking the media and broadcasting it live over the Internet. The process involves a camera for the media, an encoder to digitize the content, a media publisher where the streams are made available to potential end-users and a content delivery network to distribute and deliver the content. The media can then be viewed by end-users live. Security remains one of the main challenges with this new methodology. Digital rights management (DRM) systems are an example of a solution to keep this content secure.
