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GLOSSARY 565There are several commercial CDNs established that of-
fer their services to Internet users. One of the key players is
Akamai, with their FreeFlow technology. There are other
players that have networks and technology to deliver me-
dia to users. Both players claim a tenfold increase in speed
by distributing media content to their world-wide net-
works of servers (Cunningham & Francis, 2001). In ad-
dition to the commercial CDNs, some efforts to experi-
ment with this concept are being undertaken by research
groups.
The major streaming technologies are continuously
working to extend their products to provide digital rights
management (another phrase for copy protection) fea-
tures, interactivity, e-commerce hooks, and better video
quality (Bennett, 2002). For example, Microsoft has devel-
oped a new streaming format called ActiveMovie Stream-
ing Format (ASF). This format allows multiple data ob-
jects to be combined and stored in a single synchronized
multimedia stream. The data objects include audio, video,
still images, events, URLs, HTML pages, and programs
(Bennett, 2002). This format supports digital rights man-
agement and pay per view, and, as mentioned before, it
is SMIL compliant, which will allow Web authors to cre-
ate clickable movies (Bennett, 2002). RealOne is working
to develop partnerships with other companies, including
Apple and Microsoft, to provide greater flexibility in
streaming different media formats.
Streaming media companies have turned their atten-
tion to the television market. Many of the companies
have been developing technology designed to handle pro-
gramming applications. And some companies have al-
ready begun offering broadband services to users that
have high-speed Internet access (Tanaka, 2000). For
example, MeTV.com and LikeTelevision.com currently of-
fer opportunities to view TV programs, movies, and so
forth.
Some companies are forming alliances or partnerships
to build streaming video networks designed to provide
broadcast-scale streaming media. It seems that the trend
for streaming media providers will be to make broadband
content delivery available for high-speed users, and retain
low bit rates for dial-up users (Tanaka, 2000).CONCLUSION
In reviewing the above materials, it become clear very
quickly that streaming video is a complex, technical pro-
cess. Besides the sheer complexity of streaming video,
there are other issues such as copyright usage.
However, even with technical complexity and inconsis-
tent information, streaming video is an exciting topic. It
does provides advantages to user by allowing them to be-
gin playing video without having to completely download
it beforehand. And it is surprising to see the number of
applications available and the large number of uses for
the technology.
In reviewing the history of streaming video, it became
obvious how closely streaming video and TV are tied to-
gether in their technologies and in new developments
in the information and media areas, and how streaming
media themselves would have not come into being if it
were not for the development of the Internet. Interestinglyenough, the data transmission or bandwidth limitations
of the Internet remain one of the biggest challenges to
streaming video over a network. The Internet simply was
not designed for streaming media.
With the bandwidth limitations of the Internet in mind,
a lot the streaming media technology is focused on ways
to efficiently deliver video over a network. First, there is
the raw video that must be captured and digitized into the
appropriate input file format. Then the video must be en-
coded and compressed into the proper streaming format.
Next, the video is delivered over the Internet from a spe-
cial server, called a video server. The user then receives
and plays the video. The process sounds simple but the
actual functions are very complex, as can be seen from
the discussion of compression techniques and algorithms
that was included in this chapter.
In facing these technical challenges, the major stream-
ing technologies, RealOne, QuickTime, and Windows
Media, have implemented some very good tools that make
it possible for a person without streaming media exper-
tise to create, encode, and play simple videos. Also, these
technologies have continued to improve and expand their
products and have attracted even more users, as well as
businesses and educational institutions.
With the continued growth of the streaming video
area, other players have entered the market and pro-
vided specialized tools for editing and managing band-
width requirements. Some players offer services for host-
ing streaming videos, and others provide consulting
services for the entire process all the way from creating
to playing videos. Many of the players are working to im-
prove the network delivery process, in order to improve
the efficiency of streaming video and improve the quality
of the video.GLOSSARY
Algorithm A procedure for solving a mathematical for-
mula.
Bandwidth The amount of information that can be car-
ried through a phone line, cable line, or device.
Buffering Compensating for a difference in rate of flow
of data, or time of occurrence of events, when transfer-
ring data from one device to another.
Digitizing A process of converting any graphic medium
to digital format, so that computerized equipment can
read, store, transmit, and recreate it.
Encoding Conversion of input formats into proprietary
streaming formats for storage or transmission to a de-
coder for streaming media.
MPEG Motion Pictures Experts Group, an international
organization that developed standards for the encoding
of moving images.
PNM Progressive networks media, an older protocol.
RTP Real-time protocol, one of the most commonly
used protocols for streaming media on the Internet.
Streaming Video A sequence of “moving images” that
are sent in compressed form over the Internet and dis-
played by a viewer as they arrive. Streaming media are
streaming video with sound.
Webcasting Videos of specific live events are shown at
a predetermined time to many viewers. Webcasts are