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562 VIDEOSTREAMINGtransmission. The player buffers the stream(s), decodes
the data packets, and converts the information back to
analog so the video can be viewed. The player usually
has functionality that will allow the user to play, pause,
rewind, and fast forward. The player technology must be
compatible with the streaming technology in order for the
user to view the video.
With video on demand, the user can control access to
the video. He or she can start, stop, rewind, and so forth at
will. Although this freedom is desirable to the user, it does
consume bandwidth on the network (as noted above).
With webcasting, the user can only watch the video stream
as it is being transmitted; he or she does not have any con-
trol over the stream. Webcasting does not use as much
bandwidth as video on demand.PRODUCING STREAMING VIDEO
Up to this point, this discussion has covered the aspects
of streaming video after it has been created or produced.
However, there are some techniques that should be used
when used when producing streaming video that will
make the capturing, editing, compressing, and encoding
processes go much smoother. Because streaming video
has to be compressed before delivery on the network, one
of the most important things to remember when produc-
ing the video is to minimize motion and changes in the ob-
jects or people in the video. The more motion and change
there is in the video, the more the video will have to be
compressed and thus data (such as fine details and color)
will be altered or removed.
Therefore, it is best to use a tripod or other method
to anchor the camera whenever possible. If the camera is
held in the video producer’s hands, all of the hand move-
ments will be incorporated into the video. The video pro-
ducer should also avoid panning the camera as much as
possible and avoid zooming in and out on a scene. Thus,
eliminating the movement of the camera and keeping
zooming in and out to a minimum will prevent changes
from being introduced into the video.
The video producer should also try to keep the back-
ground as simple and consistent as possible. The producer
should avoid trees, buildings, and so forth that will add
complexity to the video, which will mean more data to
compress. In addition, the producer should try to stay as
close to the subject as possible when shooting the video.
There may be some temptation to choose a wide shot of
the scene however, will viewed online, the video will seem
fuzzy. It is important to remember that the compression
will remove a lot of the fine detail of the wide shot.
Last, the video producer should use an external micro-
phone whenever possible. With an external microphone,
the producer can keep it as close to the subject as possible
to get good quality audio. With good quality audio, the
audio compression will work much better. Audio is just
as important as the images being displayed in the video.VIDEO STREAMING USES
The previous sections have focused on the technical as-
pects of creating, delivering, and playing streaming video.
This section will focus on the many uses of streamingvideo and the preferences of users. First, streaming me-
dia (video along with audio) have grown rapidly over the
last few years. The number of Internet sites transmitting
streaming video grew from 30,000 in mid-1998 to 400,000
by late 1999. The Net Aid concert in October, 1999, set a
world record for the largest Internet broadcast event for a
single day—2.5 million streams. The BBC Online’s Euro-
pean solar eclipse site served a million streams in a day in
August, 1999. The BBC estimated that its streaming audi-
ence was growing by 100% every 4 months (Tanaka, 2000).
As can been seen from the above statistics, streaming
video continues to gain in popularity even with the tech-
nical challenges involved in streaming the video over the
Internet. A Web survey conducted by Tanaka (2000) indi-
cates that streaming video appeals to users because they
can select what they want to view when they want to view
it. Users like the fact that streaming technology has made
specialized or unique videos or other or media available
to them.
The streaming video uses fall into the primary cat-
egories of entertainment, news/information, education,
training, and business. Entertainment was one of the ear-
liest uses of streaming video and still remains the pri-
mary use of streaming video today. Entertainment covers
a wide range of media including movies, music, and TV
shows. There are numerous Web sites promoting free and
pay-per-view movies. Many sites feature independent film
makers, foreign films, and pornography (Bennett, 2002).
Pornography video sites are some of the oldest entertain-
ment sites on the Internet. At this time, pornography may
be the largest online movie market of all on the Web
(Bennett, 2002).
Recently, some Web sites have been established that
show hit movies on the Internet. For example, viewers
can watch the blockbuster movies on a Web site for $3.95
(Graham, 2002). The Hollywood studios have been slow to
utilize the Internet as a medium for showing their movies
because they want to be sure that this is a safe way to de-
liver their films. It is interesting to note that many movies
are available on the Internet in unauthorized versions.
Many of these movies were copied from DVDs or shot on
a camcorder in a theater and then traded on file-sharing
sites such as Morpheus and Kaaza (Graham, 2002).
According to Graham (2002), users need a high-speed
Internet access, such as cable or ADSL, in order to watch
movies over the Internet. Even with high-speed access,
users may experience stutter, or stopping and starting, if
there is a lot of traffic on the network. Users will be able
to view the movie only on a partial or full PC screen size
window.
Development in the streaming video world has been
the integration of over-the-air and online entertainment
programs. For example, in November, 1999, ABC.com and
Warner Brothers Online hosted a simulcast of an episode
of the Drew Carey Show. The television audience watched
Drew’s daily activities, while the Internet audience saw
footage of what was happening in his home when he was
out at work. ABC indicated that approximately 650,000
streams were served (Tanaka, 2000).
In the news/information category, many users like
to utilize the Internet to view video clips of domestic
news and international news items. Other users tend