streaming

streaming

Method of transmitting a media file in a continuous stream of data that can be processed by the receiving computer before the entire file has been completely sent. Streaming, which typically uses data compression, is especially effective for downloading large multimedia files from the Internet; it permits, for example, a video clip to begin playing on a user's computer as soon as it begins to be downloaded from a Web site. Even with improved modems and connection speeds, downloading and playing large audio and video files without the use of streaming techniques still takes an inconveniently long time. To accept streaming data, the receiving computer needs to be running a player, a program that decompresses the incoming data and sends the resulting signals to the display and speakers. The audio and video files may be prerecorded, but streaming can also accommodate a live feed over the Internet.

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streaming

(1) Transmitting digital audio or video. Streaming usually refers to listening to audio or watching video while it is being transmitted from a remote source in contrast with downloading and storing the material first. See streaming audio and streaming video.

(2) Transferring or transmitting data. For example, the phrase "the device was streaming data" is another way of saying that data were being transferred or transmitted with no reference to the more widely heard usage of the term in definition #1 above. See stream.

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(communications)

streaming - Playing sound or video in real time as it is downloaded over the Internet as opposed to storing it in a local file first. A plug-in to a web browser such as Netscape Navigator decompresses and plays the data as it is transferred to your computer over the World-Wide Web. Streaming audio or video avoids the delay entailed in downloading an entire file and then playing it with a helper application. Streaming requires a fast connection and a computer powerful enough to execute the decompression algorithm in real time.