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Comparing
Progressive Download and True Streaming
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Advantages |
Disadvantages |
| Progressive
Download |
- Easy
to administer.
- No
problems withdrawals.
- The
quality of the movie and the data rate can
be high.
- No
specialized media servers or special protocols
are needed.
- High
quality of playback with any connection speed.
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- With
dial-up connections, there is usually a long
wait for the video to begin
playing and the possibility of several pauses
during playback.
- Not
good with long videos
|
True
Streaming
|
- With
streaming, people can see your media play
right away--there are no lengthy downloads.
- Streaming
is the only way to distribute live events
such as news coverage and sporting events
over the Web.
- Streaming
media are not limited to file sizes that
make a reasonable download. Long-form media
such as feature films and concerts that would
make multi-gigabyte downloads can stream
effortlessly.
- Many
viewers can tune into one stream--a process
called multicasting.
- Viewers
can pause, fast forward, or otherwise interact
with prerecorded movies and play only the
parts they want. (This is where chapter tracks
really come into their own.)
- Streaming
allows you to maintain control over the distribution
and copyright of your media. Anyone can download
a movie, alter it, and redistribute it themselves,
but it’s much harder to redistribute
the contents of a stream. When your audience
saves your streaming movie, all it is saving
is the URL of the stream and some user settings.
The actual data is never copied.
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- Specialized
media servers and streaming protocols are
required to enable true streaming.
- Image
quality is generally poor at modem speeds.
- Network
congestion or problems, or data lost in the
network and ignored will also led to lower
video quality.
- Content
can not be saved by viewers.
- Stopped
by firewalls.
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Streaming
|
Progressive
|
Real-time
broadcasts
|
X
|
|
Minimum
lag time
|
X
|
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Long
clips
|
X
|
|
| Broadcasts
and multicasts |
X
|
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| Immediate
random access to different parts of a movie |
X
|
|
| Downloads
entire movie |
|
X
|
| Requires
specialized server |
X
|
|
| Constant
data rate |
|
X
|
| Consistent
high quality playback at any connection speed |
|
X
|
| Can
be stopped by firewalls |
X
|
|
| Content
remains on server (cannot be saved by viewers) |
X
|
|
| Retransmits
lost packets |
|
X
|
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Delivering
Media in Progressive Download or True Streaming
QuickTime 4, RealG2,
and Windows Media all support both progressive and
true streaming methods of delivering files. However,
you should choose the method that best suits your needs
to get the best results from your video and avoid delays
in the download time.
Real
Player Free 14 day Trial Version:
http://www.real.com
QuickTime Streaming Tutorial:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tools_tips/tutorials/streaming.html
Preparing
your videos for Streaming:
http://www.apple.com/quicktime/tools_tips/tutorials/preparingtostream.html
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