What is Streaming?

There are basically two ways of playing audio and video over the internet. One is downloading, the other is streaming.

Audio and video files tend to be BIG. You might have to make more than one cup of tea while you wait for your file to download before you can play it.

With streaming you can start watching or listening to your file without having to wait for the whole file to reach your computer. In fact, it can play as soon as the first “chunk” of data reaches your computer. After this, the rest of the file will be sent in a more or less continuous “stream” and will play simultaneously.

Just as programs are not stored on your TV or radio, streaming media is not stored on your computer. Files are played on a remote server and merely displayed/played at your end. This means you can’t save streamed files (unless the website has set this up as a separate function).

Those people with broadband are going to have a much easier time; using a dial up internet connection can mean that streaming is a slow and frustrating process.

What do I need to play streaming media?

You need a plug-in media player to decode and play files. The three most common media players are:

RealPlayer 
http://www.real.com/player/

Windows Media Player
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/player.aspx

QuickTime 
http://www.apple.com/quicktime

All three players offer a free version and are available for both Mac and Windows.

Windows Media Player is now included as part of the Windows operating system, whereas QuickTime is usually associated with the Macintosh operating system.

What types of files can I play?

Streaming media comes in many different file formats and none of the players will support every type of file.

File formats by file extension

Real	Windows media	QuickTime
rt, .ra, .rm, .rmvb, .rp, .rv	wma, .wmv, .wm, .wax, .asx, .asf, .wmx, .wvx	mov, qt

NB: This is not a complete list.

RealPlayer can play Real, Windows Media, QuickTime and other file formats. To find out exactly what your version will support, select Tools > Preferences > Content > Media Types.

Windows Media Player can play Windows Media files and other file formats. It will not play Real files or most QuickTime files. For a complete list select Tools > Options > File Types or go to the Microsoft Knowledge Base

QuickTime plays QuickTime files and other file formats. For a complete list of file types supported by QuickTime go to the QuickTime specifications page

As you can see it can be handy to have more than one media player installed on your computer.

Where can I find streaming media on the web?

Roo TV
News, information and entertainment
http://www.rootv.com.au/index.htm

Launch
Popular music
http://launch.yahoo.com/

ABC Radio
Live radio
http://www.abc.net.au/streaming/

Parliament of Australia
Live broadcasts at scheduled times
http://www.aph.gov.au/live/webcast1.asp#

Coastal Watch
Surf web cam
http://coastalwatch.com/

Netmeeting
Software for face-to-face web conferences
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/netmeeting/

For more information about streaming go to Streaming Media World.