Streaming video is web video that plays while data is received over the internet. It requires a special player and is not kept on the computer. It is used for education, entertainment, advertising, and tutorials. The entertainment industry has had conflicts over compensation for online episodes and illegal hosting of movies. Popular hosting sites include YouTube, Google Video, MySpace, and Metacafe.
Streaming video is a web video that plays on your monitor at the same time its data arrives on your computer over the Internet. Unlike video downloads from the Internet, streaming modules start playing once the compressed data is received and eliminate the problem of viruses that can accompany downloads. However, since the video plays while data is being received, the video may be interrupted by a slow connection and may automatically pause and restart in an attempt to “store” the data. Also, unlike downloadable video, streaming video isn’t “kept” on your computer; access to it is only available until the host website decides to keep the video posted on the site.
A special player is required to stream video. Players use a program sometimes referred to as a “codec” to decompress the video data and allow the video to play. The Internet’s most popular video streaming host website, YouTube, features several million videos. Other popular hosting sites include Google Video, MySpace and Metacafe.
As computers proliferate in homes, offices and schools during the new millennium, the popularity and many purposes of video streaming have increased. In the classroom, it is often used as part of multimedia instruction, shown to a class on a screen via a laptop and projector. Viral videos, which feature funny or compelling videos, are a popular form that is passed on to other users via email, text, or social media. Businesses often post streaming videos on their corporate websites and video sharing sites to brand their business and advertise their products or services. “How-Tos” or instructional tutorials have become another popular use, due to their ability to depict live demonstrations in action, as opposed to written tutorials or FAQs commonly found on websites.
Watching major TV episodes and movies is one of the most popular uses for streaming video; however, the entertainment industry has sometimes come into conflict over this usage. Television networks offering episodes of their shows online were a central cause of the Writers Guild of America strike in 2007-2008, as episode writers and networks were in dispute regarding compensation for episodes shown online. Major movies are harder to find via streaming video than TV shows, as they are often illegally hosted on movie sharing sites in violation of film society copyright laws.
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