Streaming Media Formats pt.1

Recently there has been a lot of buzz about adding streaming content to websites. There are couple of reasons for this:
1)broadband has become very popular and affordable in most places in the US.
2)Audio and video are a great way present ideas and show off creativity.

Over my next few post I will explore different aspects of streaming that include format, resolution, bandwidth, scripting languages, and delivery.

So lets talk about formats. There three main formats for streaming media and they are Realnetworks Realplayer, Windows Media, and Quicktime. Mpeg, AVI, MP3 are not streaming formats. There have been some new comers to the streaming arena however I will not touch on them at this time.

To stream over IP(the Internet/intranet) you first need to decide what format you are going to use. This is largely determined by your audience base, however no matter the format you will need an encoder. For Realnetworks you can use RealProducer, for WindowsMedia you would use WindowsMedia Encoder and for Apples Quicktime you will need the quicktime encoder.

The extensions for each format is as follows:

Realnetworks .rm
WindowsMedia .wmv, .wma
Quicktime .mov

Each format utilizes various compression algorithms to remove unneeded data from the original file. These algorithms attempt to compress the media with minimal loss to quality.

In my next post I will continue to talk about the various formats and the pros and cons of each. Until next time happy streaming.

In my own travels of the internet I find that Quicktime gives you the best quality (audio or video) for small file size. I've done tests of taken the same piece of audio or video and compressing it with Windows Media and Quicktime and using the same bandwidth settings Quicktime just seems to have a better resolution. This also along wth the fact that Quicktime is one of the older media formats out there. Does anyone else have an opinion on the matter?

I have started running Windows Streaming Media services and as long as you're streaming .WM* (windows media) files it's very fast and efficient, as well as having a very good quality.

If you use files other that .WM* lets just say things get interesting

I think, as far as streaming goes, QuickTime and the newer WM formats are pretty close.

I have used (let me correct that) I have tried to use Windows Media Services and have found that the server side is very un-user friendly and that the encoder is just as un-friendly. I will say that WM has come a long way with it codecs and offers very high quality audio and video at low bandwidth.

As for quicktime when I look at it, I don't see a huge future for it as far as streaming goes. Quicktime has a very loyal following in the Multimedia industry for editing and rendering. But for streaming it does not provide good performance. Both WM and MOV does not handle the rts protocol very well(Real Time Streaming Protocol).

Now if it sounds like my money is on RealPlayer you are right. It is not that it provides better video and audio quality than the other 2 formats. But the server and encoder interface is of a much better design than WM and for quicktime you can download their streaming server with no support unless you own a Xserv.

By far real provides the broadest platform dispite the headaches that it causes. There is a realplayer for windows, *nix, handheld devices and even cell phones.

On my next to final note at the same compression ratios and compairing helix(realplayer), WM, and MOV. I find that WM comes out slightly better than Helix. And when I say slightly I mean barly noticable.

And on my final note: even though I prefer Helix, I will continue to post working on and with the other formats. Because what I like may not be what you like, and there is enough overlap in the products that we can all share techniques.

I will post the second part of the formats this weekend.

Until then enjoy the new television(streaming media)

I myself prefer Quicktime for streaming any applications. easier to deploy, cheaper to start with and quality is very good as well.