Streaming Versus Progressive Download

Live webcasting is the ability to deliver a live video signal in real-time to Web viewers. Video-on-demand is the ability for Web users to view archived material at any time. Often webcasts are recorded and also made available as video-on-demand files later.

The term "streaming" is often used loosely to describe both streaming and progressive downloading (also called "FastStart" or "pseudo-streaming") of media. Progressive downloading is usually used for video-on-demand (this way, viewers don't have to download an entire video before they can begin watching).

Progressive downloading allows media files to be served through a Web (HTTP) server. Once the viewing application (e.g. Windows Media Player, QuickTime Player) has enough data, the video plays. The viewer does not have to wait for the entire file to download. Progressive downloads do not require special server software and can be hosted by most Web servers.

The big advantage to progressive downloading is that the quality of the playback is often higher than true streaming quality and once the entire clip is downloaded, the quality remains high since the file is stored locally. The disadvantage is that media files can remain locally stored and therefore can be copied or stored by the viewer.

Because progressive downloading does not sacrifice quality, it may take longer for viewers to watch the clip the first time if their connection speed is not fast enough. Viewers may also experience short breaks in viewing as the player waits for additional data.

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