The Internet is full of information and knowledge, media files like pictures, audio and video files play an important role to represent the information available on the internet. If a user wants to view the information only once and does not wish to view it again, then the user streams this information (video/image) online. Media file streaming is the technology of viewing/accessing the media file(s) online without downloading/storing it on the device. We'll discuss what is streaming and what is buffering in this article.

                     We can say that the user is streaming the media file if he is watching something online (media files, like, movie, video, picture, etc.) without downloading or storing it on computer/device. Different websites use different online players to support online media streaming. In 1996, Adobe released the flash player, this is the first platform which is allowing the user to stream the media files online. Flash player was popular until 2011; Almost all websites boycotted flash player after 2011 due to its serious, unavoidable vulnerabilities and performance issues. Today, almost every website uses HTML5 to stream media files online.

                     

                      In 1995, The first ever streaming soundtracks on the internet were featured in Word Magazine. After Word Magazine various sites tried video/audio streaming but they are failed. The reason behind their failure isn't users, users were loved streaming the online file streaming. At that time, users were started avoiding online streaming due to a slow internet connection. Slow internet connection, insufficient compression technology, and lack of portability prevented the growth of online media streaming for years. 




           

                      In the last decade, the technology is improved incredibly, and all limitation/evils of online streaming (slow internet connection, improper file compression, portability issues, etc.) are killed. In 2005, World's biggest video streaming site was launched, and this changed the internet forever. But, still, most of the internet users were using the 2G/Dial-up broadband network, which is extremely slow, and these connections were not suitable for online media streaming. But this time, well-compressed video files and YouTube's brilliant algorithms prevented peoples from giving up on online streaming. In a few years, the arrival of 3G (up to 12mbps) and powerful high-speed ethernet/broadband connection (up to 100mbps) completely changed the situation.

                    

Do you know?
Today, every user stream at least one video in 24 hours of his internet usage. 

Today and future

                   6 out of 10 peoples prefer online streaming platform over watching TeleVision. all popular streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, etc. are eating up the market of traditional Television. Today 61% peoples prefer online streaming over watching the Television. 

                   Online streaming platforms, like, YouTube provides effectively targetted and cheaper advertising platform for advertisers (as compared to Television advertising).

                   Television is dying, more peoples are preferring online streaming platform than TV. The most common reason behind giving up on television is unwanted advertising. (Do you remember when was the last time you saw the movie on television?)

                   Many online/offline surveys reported that traditional Television will get replaced by internet Televisions in near future. Maximum of peoples will cut off their cable/DTH connection permanently and replace it with online streaming platforms, like Netflix and Youtube.



                   

Game Streaming:

                   Users from all age groups love to play games, many peoples not only like to play games but they are also showing interest in watching gameplay. There are thousands of YouTube channels are streaming the gameplay of the different popular games like PUBG, Fortran, etc. YouTubers are earning lots of money through streaming gameplay and promoting different games along with commentary and reviews on the gameplay.



                   Game streaming isn't just limited to gameplay streaming, one can play any game available on XBOX or play Station on his computer remotely, from anywhere, this is also called game streaming. 


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• Top 5 things peoples do on the internet.
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Why Media Streaming and internet TV is so popular?

             

                    Many surveys and NGO's proved that internet Television and online streaming is the future of the entertainment industry. In the next few years, the majority of peoples will cut off their cable or DTH connection permanently.

1: No more irritating or long duration ads:

                    There was a day when the Television is the only entertainment medium, and people used to watch the television for the whole day(s), different channels and broadcasters knew that very well. They started taking advantage of this situation. They started showing advertisement on 60-40% ratio. 60% program and 40% advertising. In simple words, if you watch TV for 100 minutes then you are watching only 60 minutes of program and your 40 minutes are wasted in watching advertising.




                    This is not the case with Online media streaming, the user is getting true value for money. The user can decide whether he wants to see the ads or not. (Free or premium content). Advertising companies like Adsense ensure that users are watching the ads which are user would like to see. for example, it doesn't make sense to show ladies clothing ads to the male viewer and vise versa. Online advertising companies collect a user's personal data like name, gender, etc. and display the ads accordingly. This kind of advertising is not possible with Television.

2: Content:

                    Television is providing the same content since last decade, and the majority of users are not getting anything appealing/interesting in TV serials/programs. Another big problem with traditional Television is that user can watch only those content which is being broadcasted, the user can't fast forward, rewind or change the program.



                    The situation is the exact opposite in terms of internet TV and online streaming. If we consider YouTube, most of the YouTube videos are uploaded by the audience itself and that's why people can easily relate to it. If we talk about the content, the user can find any type of serials/programs of his interest, There are a number of creators who provide unique and quality content which is not available on television.

                   The main advantage of Media streaming and online Television is that user can decide what to watch and different players also allow the user to fast forward and rewind the video.

3: Time Restriction:

                    If we consider the television, the user has to wait for the program to get on air and user must need to watch it during its telecast.

                    In case of Online streaming, the user has full freedom to watch any video, movie, clip, etc on his convenience, the user doesn't need to wait for the program to go on air.

4: a Large number of investors:

                   Television ads are irritating and these ads are broadcasted to all television viewers simultaneously, no matter whether the user is interested in the ad/watching it or not. Online advertising allows the advertiser to display the ad to a specific audience which is actually interested in the product and services which are being offered by the advertiser. This is called targetted advertising. Interestingly, online advertising is a lot cheaper than television advertising.



                   This is why many large companies and brands are investing in online streaming services.




You need to read this:

• How website works? ho internet works?
• What is e-book?

5: Content for all:

                   Every streaming service provider collect your personal details like name, gender, age, location, etc., depending on your personal details, algorithms decide what content is suitable for you and display or restrict your usage accordingly.

Downloading media files vs Streaming media files:

                   

                   There is no doubt that downloading the media file is faster than streaming it. Downloading speed is more than streaming speed because download manager requests the required the file multiple times to the server. The download manager downloads the different part of the file in each download request. 



                   The same methodology cannot be used to stream the media file, because to stream the media, media file must be downloaded in a sequential manner.

It's Interesting:
                  Before the arrival of 3G and broadband internet connections, peoples were using the 2G and dial-up modems which are super slow and not suitable for media streaming at all. At that time, downloading the video is more preferred than streaming it online. But today the situation is completely opposite, today, people prefer to stream video online rather than downloading and watching it offline.

What is buffering?

                   Buffering is the part of streaming. As I said before, to stream the media file, the file needs to be downloaded in a sequential manner. For the continuous streaming, the download speed must be faster than the bitrate of the media file. The situation when the media player stops streaming or stuck at a particular point of time due to incomplete download is known as buffering.



                   In simple words, to stream the media file, media player need to download the media file in a sequential manner, and as soon as the player receives part of the media file, it starts playing it immediately. If the internet connection is faster than the bitrate of the media file, then that downloaded part of the media file is stored in the memory called buffer. The media player will stop streaming if the internet connection is slower than the bitrate of the media file, such a situation is known as buffering.

Buffering

                    As you can see in the above screenshot the media file is playing at 2:07 but file is downloaded up to 2:24. This downloaded file is stored in the memory called buffer.  But if my video playback goes above 2:24, then the video will be stuck at 2:24 and the media player will wait for internet connection to download the media file.