Live streaming media is the Internet transmission of video of an event as it happens. Streaming is a form of online video where the website sends video streams to the user’s machine “instantly”, rather than an entire file. It’s similar to the difference between watching a TV show while it’s on the air and watching a DVD.
Live streaming media allows an Internet user to view events as they happen.
Live media streaming is different from streaming on demand. With the latter, the content was previously recorded. It is then accessed by the user at a time of their choosing, though it is still streamed to their machine rather than downloaded as a complete file. YouTube is probably the most well-known on-demand streaming site.
Webinars use live streaming media.
The quality of live streaming media can be extremely variable. One factor that affects this is the technology the content producers used to produce the streamed file. In some cases, it may be deliberately kept to a small window size or low resolution.
Quality is also affected by the amount of bandwidth the site has purchased to stream the content. In general, paid streams are of better quality. In part, this is because paid customers are less tolerant of low-res video or stuttering. However, it’s also because a site that charges for content will know exactly how many people will see it, and therefore doesn’t run the risk of not having enough bandwidth.
There are two different ways to view live streaming media. In one system, the content is only available directly through the corresponding website, usually using software integrated into the website itself. On another system, viewers will be able to view the video through their own separate media player software. The website will either provide links to open the video in the software or provide a dedicated website address for the video itself, which the user enters into their player.
Live Internet streaming is also used illegally to transmit television images, particularly of pay-per-view events. The quality of such streams is even more variable, and of course it is much more difficult, if not impossible, to complain or take legal action if you do not receive what you were promised. While some illegal broadcasts involve direct connections to a cable television broadcast of the relevant program, others work by simply pointing a webcam at a TV screen displaying the images.
With legitimate live internet streaming, some websites may place restrictions on the websites where content can be viewed. Usually this boils down to broadcast rights covering the countries the site is licensed to broadcast the images to. These restrictions are not popular with users who believe that international borders should not apply to the Internet. Some of these users find ways to disguise the location of their computers in order to view the images.
