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564 VIDEOSTREAMINGoffers a basic player and server tools that are compatible
with other operating systems for free. It does charge a fee
for the more advanced systems. Those advanced systems
have been used by many in the cinematography field for
editing purposes.
Windows Media was developed by Microsoft Corpora-
tion and it is a newcomer into the streaming video market.
Since its introduction, it has been rapidly gaining ground
on the other two technologies. Microsoft includes Media-
Player as part of its Windows operating system, which
can be a convenience for users. However, MediaPlayer
is limited in its flexibility in that it has its own propri-
etary compression methods and it does not support many
of the compression techniques utilized or developed by
other companies. It does have a MPEG-4 type of com-
pression algorithm and its proprietary compression meth-
ods are considered to very good. Microsoft does have the
player and server tools available as free downloads from
the Internet. And it has developed a technology called
Microsoft’s Intelligent Streaming that is like RealOne’s
Surestream. It allows the user to put multiple tracks,
each with a different bit rate, into a single streaming
file. This will allow the streaming file to adjust to fluctua-
tions in the network’s bandwidth (Cunningham & Francis,
2001).OTHER STREAMING VIDEO SYSTEMS
The previous section covered the major technologies in
the streaming video arena. However, a number of other
key players have contributed to the growth of the stream-
ing video field. The first of these is a company called
Sorenson Media, which specializes in compression tech-
nologies. They are known as having the highest quality
video compression, particularly for high motion at low
data rates (Segal, 2002a). Sorenson Media also developed
a professional version of their codec and a live broadcast-
ing tool for Quicktime. And they have entered the hosting
and streaming markets (Segal, 2002a). In fact, they were
asked by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
to host and stream their semiannual conferences live and
then archive the conferences for them (Segal, 2002a).
And they worked with other companies, such as Macro-
media, to build products that will incorporate streaming
media.
Video hosting is another area that has several players.
There are a number of companies that specialize in video
hosting. Many offer services for each of the three major
streaming technologies as well as other independent tech-
nologies. However, a potential user of video hosting would
need to do some in-depth research before choosing a host.
In addition, there are companies that specialize in on-
line broadcasting for TV news and programming. In fact,
some of the major networks have their own online broad-
casting Web sites. These include CNN, ABC, and BBC. In
addition, some local TV networks in the larger metropoli-
tan areas have their own Web sites. There are a few in-
dependent companies that specialize in online broadcast-
ing. One that was reviewed was Servecast, which indicated
that they would provide services for sporting events and
other media. They also indicated that they could provide
content protection.For streaming video creation, editing, and encoding,
a number of independent technologies are available. For
example, Sonic Foundry has a tool that provides for the
creation of streaming content in RealOne and Microsoft
Media formats. And Terran has a tool called media cleaner
that provides a complete set of tools for preparing video
and audio for the Web. It is considered the industry
leader in this field (Cunningham & Francis, 2001). Addi-
tional developments include Heliz. “Helix an open source
digital-media delivery platform designed to let compa-
nies build custom applications that stream any media
format on any major operating system to any computing
device” (RealNetworks, 2003).
In addition to creation, editing, and encoding tools,
a number of companies provide the means to check the
bandwidth of a video file as it is being encoded and com-
pressed. Terran has a function that will graph the data
rate of a video. Macromedia Flash also has a tool called
Bandwidth Profiler that will graph streaming data rates
(Kennedy, 2000).DEVELOPMENTS AND TRENDS
There have been some developments and trends occur-
ring in the streaming video field. Most of these are geared
to providing new technology, increasing network band-
width, improving video quality, and competing against
television. In the new streaming technology area, there
have been some recent efforts to develop and introduce
streaming technology into the wireless networks. Toshiba
has developed a chip with an MPEG-4 encoder that al-
lows third-generation mobile networks to support two-
way videoconferencing (Williams, 2001).
Also, another player in this wireless area is Thin Multi-
media, a company that specializes in wireless multime-
dia streaming and video messaging (Segal, 2002b). They
provide software tools for encoding, decoding, author-
ing, messaging, and streaming that can be installed on
second-generation mobile networks. They are also devel-
oping tools for third-generation mobile networks. Some
of the features of their products include streaming video
on a cell phone and having the capability to tap into a
live feed from a Web site (Segal, 2002b). Another applica-
tion that Thin Multimedia has is video mail product. With
this product, people can create videos of themselves, while
on a Web site and using a webcam, and then send them
to someone else’s cell phone (Segal, 2002b). The video
screens that display on the phones are small, 112×96 pix-
els. According to Thin Multimedia, certain media forms,
such as movies and wide trailers, may not work well. But,
other forms such as video mail, traffic reports, and news
do work well (Segal, 2002b).
In the area of network bandwidth and performance,
the business sector has developed strategies to deal with
the network bandwidth and congestion issues. One of the
strategies involves the development of Content Delivery
Networks (CDNs), which are networks that have the in-
frastructure and technology to enable a faster and more
consistent delivery of streamed media to users. The goal
is to reproduce media content and deliver it to the user in
an efficient and straightforward manner (Cunningham &
Francis, 2001).