streaming video
A one-way video transmission. Streaming video is widely used to watch TV channels, video clips and full-length movies from the Internet. The video can be streamed to smart TVs, media hubs, computers and mobile devices. Unlike downloaded movies, which can be played at any time, a streamed movie is just like broadcast TV. It is played immediately and not stored in the receiving device.Local Streaming
Streaming video is also accomplished locally when users send a movie from their personal collection over their local network to a media hub connected to a TV (see digital media hub).
It's Already in the Buffer
Watching momentary blips in video is annoying (erratic audio is even more irritating), and the only way to compensate for that over the Internet, which does not guarantee perfect service, is to transmit some of the video frames into the receiving device before it starts playing. For streaming video, both the client and server cooperate for uninterrupted motion. The client side stores a few seconds of video in a memory buffer before it starts sending it to the screen and speakers. Throughout the session, it continues to buffer video frames ahead of time. See buffer.
Video Calling Is More Demanding
Video calling and conferencing is much more taxing on the network and computers than streaming. It requires sufficient bandwidth and processing power to handle the video coming in and going out in real time without the benefit of buffering (see real-time video). Except for expensive, high-performance video systems found in companies, free videoconferencing can be flawless one day and terrible the next. See progressive download, home theater streaming, videoconferencing, smart TV, streaming audio and streaming video games.
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| The Streaming Concept |
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| Extra packets are buffered in memory in order to compensate for the unpredictable delivery over the Internet. |
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