Why Streaming Media Could be the Next Revolutionary Trend
In an era where technology has taken center stage, the influx of new software to make entertainment more accessible is on the rise—until a few years ago.
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Key takeaways
- In an era where technology has taken center stage, the influx of new software to make entertainment more accessible is on the rise—until a few years ago, watching movies on television or a multiplex had been rather commonplace.
- While genuine streaming buffers only chunks of the video from the CDN requested by the user, pseudo streaming buffers the entire remaining part of a video file with respect to the viewer’s Internet connection speed.
- Although some of these seem unaffordable for a certain demographic at the moment, with the advancement of technology, the affordability rate will go higher with customized content becoming the norm.
In an era where technology has taken center stage, the influx of new software to make entertainment more accessible is on the rise—until a few years ago, watching movies on television or a multiplex had been rather commonplace. With the advent of the streaming process, though, every type of media is available to be accessed virtually on devices such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Media streaming has emerged to be a trendy business sector, with a host of companies vying against one another to offer the best streaming services possible. Recently, in fact, The Roku Channel added 16 new channels to its linear TV catalogue, thereby providing users access to more than 275 total live linear channels.
What is Streaming Media? #
Let’s begin with what streaming is – for the layman, streaming is simply the transmission of files from the server-side to the client-side. Streaming occurs when users listen to podcast or watch television on internet-connected devices. Essentially, the media file played on the client-side is stored remotely, and is transmitted over the internet, a few seconds at a time. Streaming media comprises any kind of multimedia – audio-video files like podcast, television, movies, etc.
The words’ streaming video’ and ‘streaming movies’ are not used interchangeably, even though they are the same at a technical level. It is to be noted that while all streaming movies are streaming videos, all streaming videos are not streaming movies. For instance, YouTube and Netflix are both streaming media. Streaming a video from YouTube is not that different from streaming a movie from Netflix, since the user is basically accessing a video file stored on the server and playing the same on an internet-enabled device. However, a YouTube video does not necessarily need to be only a movie – it can just be a short/long video, while one can only stream movies and television series on Netflix and similar platforms.
Downloading and Streaming Compared #
Streaming and downloading are two major processes enabling users to access entertainment media online. Streaming essentially represents a process that allows users to browse across all types of content on a server while downloading will enable users to browse and store the media files on their device. In essence, while streaming, a user can watch any type of video without possessing the file in a physical format – the device’s storage will not be impacted. On the other hand, downloading helps the user get hold of the physical contents of the file – the downloaded file can be accessed even without the internet.
Examples of Streaming Media #
Some of the most well-known examples of streaming media are as follows:
Amazon Prime Media Streaming Video
Hotstar Media Streaming Video
Netflix Media Streaming Video
Google Play Media Streaming Video
Virgin Media Streaming Video
Visit Media Streaming Video
Hull Plus Media Streaming Video
Azure Media Streaming Video
Firetalk Media Streaming Video
Youtube Media Streaming Video
Sling TV Media Streaming Video
Crunchyroll Media Streaming Video
These streaming media applications are extremely popular and offer a host of services to users. Most of these streaming services offer encoding, on-demand streaming, numerous channels, content protection, access to innumerable movies and television series, membership and subscription benefits, etc.
There are two types of streaming that are commonly known: genuine and pseudo streaming.
Both the types of streaming work with Flash as well as HTML5 players such as Flowplayer or JW Player. In addition, they also naively work on iOS and Android devices. However, genuine streaming is more compatible than its counterpart since it is delivered over numerous protocols such as RTSP, RTMP, and HLS.
Another major pointer differentiating between the two types is that of local caching. In the case of genuine streaming, a video file is not cached to the user’s local cache, while in pseudo streaming, a video file is cached to the viewer’s local cache. While genuine streaming buffers only chunks of the video from the CDN requested by the user, pseudo streaming buffers the entire remaining part of a video file with respect to the viewer’s Internet connection speed.
Pseudo streaming is more like progressive downloading – this one is like a mixture of traditional downloading and streaming. It is usually easier to implement than genuine streaming. A huge part of the video file the user is watching gets automatically downloaded into their web browser’s cache while their browser plays it simultaneously.
How Real Streaming Works #
From a layman’s perspective, audio/video files are broken down into smaller data packets for streaming to work. These packets are sent to the browser, where the audio/video player identifies the type of file. The browser begins to play the audio/video file as soon as it receives substantial packets.
Now let’s understand this with a bit of technicality. The streaming process essentially comprises transmission and reception.
Analog waves are converted to digital content at the transmitting end using an analog-to-digital converter. Further on, the digital data is compressed for better transmission and then transmitted by a server onto the user’s device.
At the receiving end, the digital data received is converted to analog. Data packets are received over a strong Broadband connection and stored in buffers. The data is decompressed and transferred to a wave driver, where audio-video streams are generated in digital format. A digital to analog converter is then used to convert these waves from digital to analog form.
While understanding the operational process of streaming, it is vital to understand what buffering is. In simple terms, streaming media players usually load files a little ahead of time so that user can watch/play them uninterrupted. This is what buffering is – it ensures that videos run efficiently and smoothly for a long time. Technically, suppose the buffers with stored data are not as full at the reception end. In that case, the content isn’t transmitted fast enough, the buffering process slows down, and the audio/video is not played fast enough.
Where Next For Streaming Media? #
It is not a surprise anymore – steaming media is here to stay. With conventional TV becoming a thing of the past and more and more streaming service providers cropping up, the growth of online streaming media has been exponential. While the initial years saw the launch of a few select platforms, in recent times, this number has considerably increased due to rising viewership. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a huge contributor to this growth – with the imposition of nationwide lockdowns and rising social distancing measures, the masses were condemned to staying at home for longer periods. Video and audio streaming online became a popular means of entertainment, substantially increasing the demand for streaming services the world over.
As broadband speeds increase with the arrival of 5G, the number of streaming media platforms is set to rise at an appreciable rate. Although some of these seem unaffordable for a certain demographic at the moment, with the advancement of technology, the affordability rate will go higher with customized content becoming the norm.
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Questions and answers
What is Streaming Media? #
Let’s begin with what streaming is – for the layman, streaming is simply the transmission of files from the server-side to the client-side. Streaming occurs when users listen to podcast or watch television on internet-connected devices.
How Real Streaming Works? #
From a layman’s perspective, audio/video files are broken down into smaller data packets for streaming to work. These packets are sent to the browser, where the audio/video player identifies the type of file.
Where Next For Streaming Media? #
It is not a surprise anymore – steaming media is here to stay. With conventional TV becoming a thing of the past and more and more streaming service providers cropping up, the growth of online streaming media has been exponential.