Extension Technology and
Computer Services

University of Missouri-Columbia   Extension Technology and Computer Services—ETCS

Streaming Video

Streaming video works exactly the same way as streaming audio, except the client receives video as well as audio.  The video starts playing while the file is being downloaded.  This service should be used when you need to present information that requires visual input, like body language or actions that aren’t easily explained in words. 

A downfall to our implementation of streaming video is that the client must have Microsoft’s Windows Media Player installed.  Also, another major problem with streaming video is the required bandwidth needed to transport it.  Streaming video can be delivered to dial-up machines, but the size and quality of the video is not very useful.  For streaming video to work properly, the client really needs a 200+Kb Internet connection. 

The streaming video can be configured, within limitations, to talk to the client before sending the video and calculate the proper speed to use for sending the video out.  This way one file can be used for different connection speeds.  Even with this feature, we have found that if you want to support both dialup and high speed connections, we will need to make both a high bandwidth file and a low bandwidth file. 

If the connection speed is lower than what the file was made for, you will either get a video that stalls and jumps or a black screen with audio only.  The following three examples are all of the same video.  They are configured to play at 18Kb, 36Kb, and 268Kb.  If your connection speed is below any of these figures you won’t be able to view the video.  Notice how small the picture is on the 18Kb and 36Kb videos and how "tinny" the sound is.  Also note how hard it is to read text and how jerky the video is compared to the 268Kb video.

 

(Streaming Video example 18Kb bandwidth)

(Streaming Video example 36Kb bandwidth)

(Streaming Video example 268Kb bandwidth)

See these links to additional samples

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Last Revised: 08/04/08

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