What is a streaming media player?

A streaming media player is a software program equipped to handle streaming media, meaning that the media is constantly delivered to the program over an Internet connection and played back to the consumer. Some programs are proprietary, designed to work with specific systems, while others can handle multiple platforms and are designed for people who want more flexibility. Many are freely available for download from program websites.

Streaming media player software allows viewers to view media on a computer.

The layout of a streaming media player can vary. Many are equipped to handle video and audio, with controls that let you skip, stop, pause, and rewind. Although users cannot download or save the media, they can manipulate it in the streaming media player to some extent, and the player also tends to look for a small buffer to keep playback clean in case of quality fluctuation on internet connection or similar. . problems. Some can also save space so that if someone goes offline, you can pick up streaming media where you left off. Many programs also play CDs, DVDs, and other media.

People can access streaming media in many ways. A streaming media player may have a search feature that allows the user to search for specific content or type in the address of a specific website to retrieve media. People can also click links to stream media on the Internet and the player will automatically open to play the media.

Streaming media players can also be embedded on a website. Popular video services like YouTube and Hulu use this technique. In this case, the player loads the page when the page loads and a user clicks a button to launch. The user can also press a full screen button, adjust the volume, or jump through the timeline to go back or forward to a specific area of ​​interest. Embedded streaming media players may also have code that people can use to extract the embedded content and place it on their own websites.

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In the case of a built-in streaming media player, it is usually necessary to have a plug-in installed in the browser. If the plugin is not installed, a small icon will appear prompting the user to download and activate the plugin. Plugins are made available for free by companies that design streaming media platforms so that websites have an incentive to use these platforms, knowing that users can access the plugins they need to view content for free.

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