Re: accessible streaming

> Any ideas who I can turn to for best advice on accessible online video
> streaming?  I need to convert some PSAs and stream them.

Why do you want to stream?  My impression is that the primary reason
for the existence of streaming media formats is intellectual property
protection - the use never gets a complete copy that they can duplicate.
Your tag line doesn't suggest that the media is there to attract people
to advertisements, or is being sold in its own right.

Given the choice I would almost always go for a downloadable version
of a media file (the viewer can attempt to display it during the
download, of course).  That way, on a slow link, it doesn't break up
or suffer long pauses on errors or underruns, and on a fast link, it
can be quickly fetched for later viewing.

Although you can, normally, reposition in a streaming file, there is
normally a long pause as the pipeline clears and the latency buffer
is rebuilt, but with a downloaded copy, you can reposition quickly 
to any key frame.

Received on Friday, 13 February 2004 17:07:32 UTC