Streaming Media

Streaming media is multimedia that is continuously received by, and normally displayed to, the end-user while it is being delivered by the provider. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather than to the medium itself. The distinction is usually applied to media that are distributed over telecommunications networks, as most other delivery systems are either inherently streaming (e.g. radio, television) or inherently non-streaming (e.g. books, video cassettes, audio CDs). The verb 'to stream' is also derived from this term, meaning to deliver media in this manner.

Streaming media storage size (in the common file system measurements megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, and so on) is calculated from streaming bandwidth and length of the media with the following formula (for a single user and file):

storage size (in megabytes) = length (in seconds)

• bit rate (in kbit/s) / 8,388.608

(since 1 megabyte = 8 * 1,048,576 bits = 8,388.608 kilobits)

Real world example:

One hour of video encoded at 300 kbit/s (this is a typical broadband video for 2005 and it's usually encoded in a 320x240 pixels window size) will be:

(3,600 s • 300 kbit/s) / 8,388.608 = 128.7 MiB of storage

If the file is stored on a server for on-demand streaming and this stream is viewed by 1,000 people using a Unicast protocol, you would need:

300 kbit/s • 1,000 = 300,000 kbit/s = 300 Mbit/s of bandwidth

This is equivalent to 125.73 GiB per hour. Of course, using a Multicast protocol the server sends out only a single stream that is common to all users. Hence, such a stream would only use 300 kbit/s of bandwidth. See below for more information on these protocols.

Guy Katir

http://www.solikatir.com/Easily-Publish-Video.html

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