<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streaming media</span>

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Streaming media

<p><b>Streaming media</b> is <a href="/en/Multimedia" title="Multimedia" class="wl">multimedia</a> that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. <i>Streaming</i> refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content itself.</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Multimedia delivery method</div>
<p class="mw-empty-elt"></p>
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<ul><li><a href="/en/Mobile_payment" title="Mobile payment" class="wl">Payment</a></li>
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<ul><li><a href="/en/Call_centre" title="Call centre" class="wl">Call centre</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Help_desk" title="Help desk" class="wl">Help desk</a></li>
<li><a href="/en/Online_chat" title="Online chat" class="wl">Live support software</a></li></ul></td>
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<figure class="mw-default-size wiki-thumb"><span><a href="/en/File:The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv" class="app_media media-thumb" data-hash="File:The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv"><video poster="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv/220px--The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv.jpg" preload="none" height="124" width="220" resource="./File:The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv" type="video/ogg; codecs=&quot;theora, vorbis&quot;" data-file-width="640" data-file-height="360" data-title="Original Ogg file, 640 × 360 (558 kbps)" data-shorttitle="Ogg source"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b6/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv.120p.vp9.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp9, opus&quot;" data-width="214" data-height="120" data-title="Lowest bandwidth VP9 (120P)" data-shorttitle="VP9 120P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b6/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv.160p.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp8, vorbis&quot;" data-width="284" data-height="160" data-title="Low bandwidth WebM (160P)" data-shorttitle="WebM 160P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b6/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv.180p.vp9.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp9, opus&quot;" data-width="320" data-height="180" data-title="Low bandwidth VP9 (180P)" data-shorttitle="VP9 180P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b6/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv.240p.vp9.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp9, opus&quot;" data-width="426" data-height="240" data-title="Small VP9 (240P)" data-shorttitle="VP9 240P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b6/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv.240p.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp8, vorbis&quot;" data-width="426" data-height="240" data-title="Small WebM (240P)" data-shorttitle="WebM 240P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b6/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv.360p.vp9.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp9, opus&quot;" data-width="640" data-height="360" data-title="VP9 (360P)" data-shorttitle="VP9 360P"><source src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b6/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv/The_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv.360p.webm" type="video/webm; codecs=&quot;vp8, vorbis&quot;" data-width="640" data-height="360" data-title="WebM (360P)" data-shorttitle="WebM 360P"><track kind="subtitles" type="text/vtt" src="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/api.php?action=timedtext&amp;title=File%3AThe_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv&amp;lang=en&amp;trackformat=vtt&amp;origin=%2A" srclang="en" label="English ‪(en)‬" data-mwtitle="" data-dir="ltr"><track kind="subtitles" type="text/vtt" src="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/api.php?action=timedtext&amp;title=File%3AThe_Crab_Nebula_NASA.ogv&amp;lang=nn&amp;trackformat=vtt&amp;origin=%2A" srclang="nn" label="norsk nynorsk ‪(nn)‬" data-mwtitle="" data-dir="ltr"></video></a></span><figcaption>A streaming video about the <a href="/en/Crab_Nebula" title="Crab Nebula" class="wl">Crab Nebula</a> created by <a href="/en/NASA" title="NASA" class="wl">NASA</a></figcaption></figure>

<p>Distinguishing delivery method from the media applies specifically to <a href="/en/Telecommunications_network" title="Telecommunications network" class="wl">telecommunications networks</a>, as most of the traditional media delivery systems are either inherently <i>streaming</i> (e.g. radio, television) or inherently <i>non-streaming</i> (e.g. <a href="/en/Book" title="Book" class="wl">books</a>, <a href="/en/Videotape" title="Videotape" class="wl">videotapes</a>, <a href="/en/Audio_CD" title="Audio CD" class="mw-redirect wl">audio CDs</a>). There are challenges with streaming content on the <a href="/en/Internet" title="Internet" class="wl">Internet</a>. For example, users whose Internet connection lacks sufficient <a href="/en/Bandwidth_(computing)" title="Bandwidth (computing)" class="wl">bandwidth</a> may experience stops, lags, or poor <a href="/en/Data_buffer" title="Data buffer" class="wl">buffering</a> of the content, and users lacking compatible hardware or software systems may be unable to stream certain content. With the use of buffering of the content for just a few seconds in advance of playback, the quality can be much improved.</p>

<p><a href="/en/Livestreaming" title="Livestreaming" class="wl">Livestreaming</a> is the real-time delivery of content during production, much as <a href="/en/Live_television" title="Live television" class="wl">live television</a> broadcasts content via television channels. Livestreaming requires a form of source media (e.g. a video camera, an audio interface, screen capture software), an encoder to digitize the content, a media publisher, and a <a href="/en/Content_delivery_network" title="Content delivery network" class="wl">content delivery network</a> to distribute and deliver the content.</p>

<p>Streaming is an alternative to file <a href="/en/Downloading" title="Downloading" class="mw-redirect wl">downloading</a>, a process in which the end-user obtains the entire file for the content before watching or listening to it. Through streaming, an end-user can use their <a href="/en/Media_player_(software)" title="Media player (software)" class="mw-redirect wl">media player</a> to start playing <a href="/en/Digital_video" title="Digital video" class="wl">digital video</a> or <a href="/en/Digital_audio" title="Digital audio" class="wl">digital audio</a> content before the entire file has been transmitted. The term "streaming media" can apply to media other than video and audio, such as live <a href="/en/Closed_captioning" title="Closed captioning" class="wl">closed captioning</a>, <a href="/en/Ticker_tape" title="Ticker tape" class="wl">ticker tape</a>, and <a href="/en/Real-time_text" title="Real-time text" class="wl">real-time text</a>, which are all considered "streaming text".</p>

<p>Streaming is most prevalent in <a href="/en/Video_on_demand" title="Video on demand" class="wl">video on demand</a> and <a href="/en/Streaming_television" title="Streaming television" class="wl">streaming television</a> services. Other services stream music or <a href="/en/Cloud_gaming" title="Cloud gaming" class="wl">video games</a>.</p>



Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. Streaming refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content itself. Distinguishing delivery method from the media applies specifically to telecommunications networks, as most of the traditional media delivery systems are either inherently streaming or inherently non-streaming . There are challenges with streaming content on the Internet. For example, users whose Internet connection lacks sufficient bandwidth may experience stops, lags, or poor buffering of the content, and users lacking compatible hardware or software systems may be unable to stream certain content. With the use of buffering of the content for just a few seconds in advance of playback, the quality can be much improved. Livestreaming is the real-time delivery of content during production, much as live television broadcasts content via television channels. Livestreaming requires a form of source media , an encoder to digitize the content, a media publisher, and a content delivery network to distribute and deliver the content. 