A   S t r e a m i n g   M e d i a   P r i m e r :  

H O W   D O   I   M A K E   ( G O O D )   S T R E A M I N G   M E D I A ?

HOW DO I MAKE (GOOD) STREAMING MEDIA?

WHAT AFFECTS STREAMING MEDIA QUALITY?

If you had never tasted ice cream, you would have no idea how to judge the quality 

of your fi rst cone. Just like early television viewers, who were delighted with black and 

white, diffi cult to tune in, often fuzzy transmissions, your fi rst ice cream might seem 

truly delectable but your estimation of quality might change dramatically after you had 

sampled a richer, creamier brand. Before we can address how to achieve the best quality 

streaming media, we have to consider what kind of quality to expect.

Full screen, broadcast quality:  It's not completely science fi ction if you and your 

organization have the funds and the wherewithal to upgrade your intranet to a fully 

 Someday, when you go online, 

streaming enabled network, complete with multicast routers, adequate media server 

capacity, and enough bandwidth to support your unicast and/or multicast requirements, 

you'll enjoy the same quality 

then you can expect to achieve full screen, broadcast quality video on every up to date, 

and variety of video you now 

streaming optimized desktop in your organization. You can also expect this type of 

quality if you are streaming very selectively, only to those end users who will be 

see on cable TV  Someday. 

connected through a reliable, outsourced, streaming enabled broadband network, and 

But not today!  As yet, there 

who will be viewing on broadcast quality streaming capable desktops. Chances are, if 

you are in this category today, you work for a sizeable enterprise that is ready, willing, 

is no elegant, cost effective, and 

and able to commit to streaming as a business critical component of its communications 

entirely satisfactory appliance 

strategy. If you are one of those few, you can pretty much expect the premium, gourmet 

quality ice cream experience of your favorite buy it by the pint brand.

that integrates TV, phone, and 

Not anywhere near broadcast quality:  The rest of the world is in the  Wow! It's 

computer. However the goal of 

Web video! Right here right now! So who cares if it's kind of small and choppy  cat 

integrating and standardizing 

egory. Don't expect high production values to come across. Expect the satisfaction level 

of the cheap, off brand, sundae in a cup you might fi nd in the freezer case of an out of 

all media is overwhelmingly 

the way convenience store, on a long, hot, dusty, rural road trip it's really great because 

guiding hardware and software 

that's all there is. At least for now. Of course there is a substantial difference between the 

quality you can expect when the client is on a powerful PC connected via broadband, vs. 

developers' efforts in all three 

the quality you might expect on a slow machine connected via a 28.8 dial up modem. 

media  So don't worry, that 

But, as the world continues to embrace broadband, as more of the Internet becomes 

native multicast enabled, and as the instrumentality of the streaming infrastructure 

someday is coming very soon. 

becomes more commonplace, your expectations for better quality should rise. 

 Video Software Laboratory

21

Meanwhile, it's worth doing what you can to optimize the experience from every angle, 

because audiences out there do want streaming media now even though it is not the 

broadcast quality experience they know as television  yet.

What affects streaming media quality? Everything! Video content, video quality, the type of compression 

used, server types and connections, how many people are viewing simultaneously, the Internet, the user 

connection, and the user platform all these, and others, are factors that will affect the quality of your 

streams. The fact is, every step in your workfl ow can affect the quality of your streaming media, from 

planning the project to how you choose to transmit the data streams across the network, whether over 

the Internet or your own intranet. There are ways to help compensate for the some of the peculiarities 

of streaming media. The next several sections discuss the steps in the streaming media workfl ow, with 

particular emphasis on how to keep quality as high as possible.

namic Medianamic Mediayy

 It is important to decide what constitutes acceptable delivery standards. If the limit is a delivery 

platform for narrowband, you will be accepting severe performance limitations. Conversely, if a 

obe Dobe D

higher standard is set, such as residential broadband, you will have more fl exibility. 

dd

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 H. Peter Alesso, e Video

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21   http://www.video software.com/proj17.htm

22   e video, Producing Internet Video as Broadband Technologies Converge, by H. Peter Alesso, Addison Wesley, 2000