
Macromedia (with Flash/Shockwave) has its own format (. rm video and audio files.Īpple (with QuickTime) has. Microsoft has its own kinds of media, with the. avi) is a media format originally created by Microsoft, but is not proprietary, and is very common on the web AVI is generally not a streaming format, although there are some kind that do stream. mpg files) is a media type that is not proprietary in type and was created by a consortium, and is a streaming format.ĪVI (. I won't go into all media types, only those which are common enough on the Internet. Of course, if the rate at which the stream comes in is too slow, there will inevitably be some interruptions in the playback, but if there is a lot stored in the buffer, the periods of play before interruptions will be long enough to be intelligible. intermittent interruptions or slower downloading) in the stream, the display process will run more smoothly if there is a fair amount of information in the buffer before the playing begins. Buffers in streaming media players usually will store a certain number of seconds of information, to avoid jerky on-off playback if the media player runs at a certain rate, and there is some latency (i.e. The computer memory can either be in the form of RAM or a partial temporary file that the media player constructs from the stream. The buffer is a word for computer memory that stores digital information that will later be processed. Players that read streaming media must first process a certain amount of the stream (at least one packet) in order to display anything. Malware such as viruses, worms, spambots, adware could cause slowdowns in general performance, and other problems with hard drives, memories, and other configurations can slow performance. Like a freeway, if too many are trying use it, there are traffic jams.Īnd in some situations, your own computer could be the culprit.
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And the Internet in general can be subject to slowdowns - it is a highly connnected series of networks at which key nodes can be subject to denial-of-service attacks, hacker malfeasance, and general traffic fluctuations, etc. Some service providers, though, may provide penalties for high-bandwith use, and subtract from your bandwidth if they deem you a problem (usually for excessively long periods of constant downloads). Cable access will slow down when more people are using it, and will cause your bandwith to contract DSL is not as liable to this. However, there are other factors that create slowdowns. And this will depend on the site - some sites will not have provided this fine-tuning. However, most sites will place an upper limit on the amount of people who can access a source at once, and if this limit is placed at a level appropriate to the medium, this will allow the item to be accessed at a speed which won't cause slowdowns. And even if the source has a high bandwith, if the source is high in demand and many people are accessing it at once, it will tend to slow down the speed of their network. Even if you have a high-bandwidth internet connection, if the source from which you are downloading is slow, it will not reach you at the speed of your network. (Throughput here refers to the rate at which information can be transmitted). Interruptions can come from either the source's site throughput, or the throughput of your internet service provider (ISP). They are particularly important when dealing with large sizes of digital information, so most video and audio on the Internet is streamed. fast forward) for further points in the streams. Streams are usually delivered in packets which are self-contained, and usually allow seeking (i.e.
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Files always have a beginning and an end, but streams may or may not, and therefore software which uses streams must not require finding the end of the file in order to process it.

The most conventional form of digital information is the file.
What is streaming? | Why does my playback get interrupted? | What is buffering? | What media types are there? | Where can I get players for media files? | Can I listen through my stereo system? | What is a codec, and where can I get it? | What are these mms:// and rtsp:// urls?Ī stream is a way of thinking about digital information for which there may be no ending point. This is our FAQ or frequently asked questions listing for Internet and online streaming media, covering audio and video media such as AVI, MPEG, MP3, and issues concering playback, encoders, etc.įoreign Internet Radio and Online News Radioįoreign Internet Television and Online Video
