Streaming Media Troubleshooting
Streaming media technology enables the real time or on-demand distribution of audio, video and multimedia on the Internet. Streamed data is transmitted by a server application and received and displayed in real-time by client applications. These applications can start displaying video or playing back audio as soon as enough data has been received and stored in the receiving station's buffer. If you are having trouble accessing Whitman videos please read the following information.
||Internet Connection Requirements
Streaming media requires bandwidth. Bandwidth is a measurement of the amount of data that can be transmitted or received in a specified amount of time. When discussing streaming media, bandwidth is usually expressed in terms of bits per second (bps) or kilobits per second (kbps). (Modems are rated in terms of kbps and usually abbreviated as k. A 56k modem has twice the bandwidth of a 28.8k modem.)
Bandwidth is an important consideration when dealing with streaming media. Simply put, more bandwidth is required for more complex data. Therefore, it requires more bandwidth per second to display a photograph that it takes to display text. When delivering streaming media (large audio and video files), a great deal of bandwidth is required to achieve an acceptable level of performance.
Steaming video will work in all of the following except Dial Up. Click here to determine you Internet connection speed.
||Streaming Media Players
To access and view streaming media files, users must have the the appropriate media player.
||Streaming Media and Firewalls
Are you behind a firewall? Some businesses or home users block streaming video. A firewall is a system designed to protect private networks from unauthorized access. Depending on how a firewall is set up, it might block or affect the quality of streaming audio or video.
Firewalls can exist for a group of computers (like in a department), and on an individual's computer. The firewall needs to allow streaming video to pass; often it is blocked. If the firewall is set up outside the individual's computer, the system administrator will be needed to open a port to allow streaming video.