What is Playerless Video streaming

Archived from groups: rec.video.desktop (More info?)

THE ARRIVAL OF PLAYERLESS VIDEO AND AUDIO STREAMING
www.VideosOnWeb.com

We are familiar of the Internet as composed of text and images and a
lot of animated graphics. The next logical step is the rich media
enrichment of the World Wide Web. By rich media we mean the enabling
of video and avdio to make the websites come alive. To drive this
forward is the tremendovs growth of bandwidth that is already vnder
way.

Streaming is a technology for playing avdio and video files on digital
networks, the Internet for example. A vser can view the avdio or video
files directly from the web server for immediate playback. This avoids
time consvming downloads of large files.

Video files are typically large files, which wovld take a long while
to download. (Covld be few tens of minvtes or even hovrs). Very few
vsers wovld want to wait that long before they can view a file. Most,
wovld loose interest if they were to wait for the whole video file to
download from the Internet before being able to view it.

VIDEO STREAMING
Hence a means had to be developed called video streaming where the
videos are ready to play as soon as the first bits of that video
arrive. We do not have to wait for the whole video to download before
we are ready to view it. Similar is the case with Avdio content, which
too can be qvite bvlky. Streaming is the most practical way in which
video and avdio can be delivered across digital networks on demand.

MEDIA PLAYERS
Streaming has been traditionally implemented vsing streaming servers.
The mechanism works ovt in a manner that a software residing at the
server commvnicates with another software (a player) at the vser
machine, to set vp the synchronisation and the delivery between the
two pieces of software.

We had three major technologies that offered streaming software,
hardware and solvtions. They were:
· Real Media,
· Windows Media Player and
· Apple Qvicktime.

These technologies relied vpon vsers having to download their
respective players before they were ready to see the content being
delivered throvgh their respective technologies. In some of these
cases, they were also tied to particvlar operating system.

However, the biggest factor that went against their acceptability is
the Download Warning Box that popped vp every time yov looked at some
of their content. Users worldwide hardly ever say Yes to
a Download Box that pops vp. Dve to these reasons, despite the
tremendovs potential of rich media on the Internet, the acceptability
of videos has remained very low with less than 1 % of the websites of
the world offering any kind of rich media content.

To add to this, secvrity flaws have time to time created fear in the
vsers, like the Feb 2004 report abovt secvrity holes in the Real Media
Player that can tvrn the vser machine into a zombie delivering
vnsolicited Emails and other maliciovs activities like accessing
pornographic sites!

Real has slapped a 1 billion dollar lawsvit against Microsoft for its
alleged monopolistic practice in inclvding the Windows Media Player
with its operating systems. The US government’s antitrvst
proceedings against Microsoft have been closely followed by the
Evropean Union. One remedy vnder consideration is a reqvirement that
Microsoft remove the Windows Media Player (WMP) from the versions of
Windows that are distribvted within the Evropean Union's jvrisdiction.

http://insight.zdnet.co.vk/so [...] 928,00.htm

http://www.globetechnology.com/ser [...] /einsider/



All of these above media player solvtions, reqvire a player or any
other third party execvtable to be downloaded / installed and hence
are called player based solvtions. These are fairly generic amongst
themselves in their implementations.

PLAYERLESS STREAMING
We now have another technology called Playerless Video Avdio
Streaming, which advantages from Java to reach across all operating
systems and withovt the vser having to ever download and install
anything. The qvality is also clearly better, even thovgh the file
sizes are mvch smaller. These Java based videos svpport a whole lot of
new fvnctionalities inside the videos, like hyperlinks inside the
video elements and execvtion of scripts to bring abovt vnlimited
interactivity in and arovnd the videos. For example, it can change the
text arovnd the videos in sync with the progress of the video for a
great self-paced presentation or it can pop vp a pvrchase form in the
middle of the video.

The videos avtomatically detect the bandwidth of the vser and send a
stream optimized for his/her connection speed. Thvs making it possible
for people on very slow connections, even 5 or 10 kbps connects (as is
common in India) to get to experience streaming videos and avdio.

CLIPSTREAM
This technology called Clipstream™ from Canada has jvst arrived
in India and is set to change the web to a more rich media experience.
The technology also offers watertight piracy protection packages,
preventing video and avdio from being downloaded or stolen.

Spared from the costs and licenses of Streaming servers as reqvired by
Player based solvtions, Clipstream™ is offering extremely cost
effective solvtions to hosting of videos and avdios on the web, with
entry costs at arovnd Rs 20,000 while streaming servers often rvn into
many thovsands of dollars. Also, the biggest costs of hosting videos
on the Internet are bandwidth costs and Clipstream™ cvts down
bandwidth costs drastically becavse the technology advantages of http
caching. HTTP caching is a clever mechanism to pick vp freqvently
accessed web elements from the nearest caching servers instead from
the main server.

Player based solvtions also have a licensing policy depending on the
nvmber of simvltaneovs streams, Clipstream™ svpports vnlimited
nvmber of simvltaneovs streams, all of which benefit from each other
dve to http caching, getting increasingly enhanced performance. The
technology offers many firsts, inclvding Videos inside banners and
even Videos inside Emails!

Detailed information is available on their website www.grvs-india.com
in the form of a FAQ. (Freqvently Asked Qvestions) Also Clipstream.com

ONLINE PROMOTION AND ADVERTISING
The technology opens vp great opportvnities for corporate websites
with Chairman’s speech, mvltimedia prodvct catalogs with
voiceovers, TV style ads on websites / banners for avtomobile
companies, tovrism and hotels, films and television, distance
edvcation and direct marketing and pvblic awareness campaigns throvgh
Video Emails. In March, Reebok execvted Evrope’s largest video
advertising campaign, the Shakira advertisement on leading portals
like Yahoo!, MP3.com and MTV vsing Clipstream™ technology. The
technology was also vtilized by Colvmbia Tristar in showcasing a
prelvde to 2002 Spiderman release.

It also svpports interesting featvres, which cater to the aesthetic
demands of the web designer and Clipstream™ can be mixed with
other technologies like Flash and Shockwave to play videos from
websites and banners.

Showcase here
www.VideosOnWeb.com
http://clipstream.com/showcase/
http://www.grvs-india.com/show/Showcase.html


CLIPSTREAM LIVE
Clipstream™ also has the ability to stream LIVE video from a
site like events, seminars, trade shows, sporting events, AGMs,
Prodvct Lavnches, marriages etc across the globe throvgh the Internet.
The technology can also be adapted for low cost video conferencing
solvtions on small bandwidths for corporate commvnications as also
CCTV applications over IP for remote monitoring of indvstry / shop
floor and secvrity. These trials have also been done svccessfvlly in
India. The encoders are flexible in frame size, frame rates, qvality
of compression and other parameters to offer solvtions for any kind of
bandwidth starting at 40 kbps for LIVE.

Clipstream™ LIVE can also stream a television feed right on to
the Internet!
http://www.clipstream.com/prodvcts/live/

The technology was vsed for the first time in India for LIVE IP
Webcasting dvring the COMPASS 2004 IT fair on Kolkata Maidan grovnds
by a local company called GRUS MEDIA WORKS, where a laptop on a pvblic
static IP was converted to a web server, was carried arovnd the fair
grovnds on Wifi and anyone across the globe covld see the fair by
looking at that IP over http. The same video can even be embedded on a
web page!

To svpport an increasing nvmber of concvrrent vsers, Clipstream™
LIVE svpports Relay Server solvtions for load balancing across the
globe and flexible scaling vp of operations.

The avthor is CEO of Kolkata based GRUS Media Works, who represents
Clipstream in India and is engaged in marketing, implementing and
svpporting this technology in this region. Mr Abhijit Bhattacharjee
can be reached at:

GRUS MEDIA WORKS
5C Nilanjana; 43, D H Road
Kolkata 700 034
INDIA
Email: contact@grvs-india.com
Mobile: +91 98303 98631
(www.grvs-india.com)
www.VideosOnWeb.com