Video in Interactive Media

Welcome back everyone! Here we are once again with lots of information about the things you want to know about. This week we are going to tell you all there is to know about Video in Interactive Media. How exciting!

Last week we talked about Digital Graphics and all the little bits that ‘we never seem to understand’. But, now I am sure, you are all PROS on Digital graphics! This is why this week we are moving on to something new.

In this article we will tell you everything you need to know about video formats, video compression, frame rates and everything else in between.

So then, let us start from the beginning… How is video used?

APPLICATIONS

Let’s face it; video is no longer the same as it used to be: take a look back in to the early days where VCR Video players were the future. We would be restricted to watch videos only on television or the cinema. However, huge changes in technology mean VCR no more! We now have the ability to watch and share videos online, and wherever we are. Increasing numbers of broadband users means more people are likely to download videos and upload. Broadband alone is advancing to be faster so that these features are easier available. Mobile phones allow us to send those hilarious videos to our friends which we captured ourselves and watch them over and over again. And of course DVD or as Peter Kay would say ‘VDV’ is now our future, replacing all those VCR players giving us a better quality viewing experience.   

Video interactive media is everywhere, in everything we do and in more ways than you have probably realised. Video is used for advertising, promoting, educating and informing all these methods are ways of transferring information in interactive media. How many times have you passed up the option to read a book just so that you could watch TV, or rather watch a film rather than read the book? This current generation prefers television over reading. There are so many different ‘fun’ ways which are more visually appealing, to access information in media. Video is the best way to transfer information, of course you know that. So let’s take a closer look to how this works.

PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL

Promotional videos are the best way to market a product. This type of video is a sales tool which is used to educate people/potential customers about their product/service. The meaning of a video of this type is to be precise and to the point and to which only lasts for around ten to fifteen minutes. So the video essentially stands as a more appealing way for people like you to get all the important information/ key points about their product. The length of the video is a balance of, making sure the attention of the viewer is maintained for long enough so that all the key points are placed across.

These types of video or rather this marketing tool, is often found embedded into internet web pages, or in public places often playing on televisions etc. These are free of charge to play also. There will be more information on embedding later in this article.

This is a form of advertisement, as you probably are already aware. But there are different types of advertisement.

ADVERTISEMENTS

Advertisements are a less formally presented form of promotion which almost every company you will ever come across will include. The marketer in this instance would have to pay a necessary amount for the placement of their sales message, whether it is through a Television advert or a poster or billboard etc. A single message from any company can reach millions of people in a short amount of time; this is also known as mass promotion. In many situations companies who interpret mass promotion into their company can often make the mistake of spending lots of money placing their advertisement at the wrong time, or wrong place. Of course not intentionally, but say the audience they directed the advertisement at, are not reached due to that, they lose money. To prevent this from occurring media outlets have new more accurate ways of targeting their audience with these advertisements. This means there are more options for advertising available.

It is practically impossible to not see an advertisement at some point in your day. That includes the moment your turn on your TV or the moment you set out into town on billboards. There is always some form of advertisement out there. TV is by far the LARGEST advertising method available.

In that, there are three main forms of Advertising;

Standard Advertising

Advertising is ideally supposed to be to the point, but also highly ENTERTAINING! So, with that television adverts often have a variety of styles which this can be portrayed.

Take a look at the advertisement below;


                                      

We all know coco pops very well and it is no question as soon as this advert comes on television we are well aware of what is being sold. This advert is straight to the point, coco pops have made their brand with their theme tune, we all know and… love, and of course the monkey mascot and evil croc. The advertisement is well recognised, but only due to the amount of advertisements which have come before and after this one all incorporating the same information.

However, not all adverts are as straight forward as the coco pops ad. Take a look at this:

                                       

So despite seeing this advert several times, remember back to the first time you ever saw this ad. There was no way you recognised this, right? There is no way you associated this musical gorilla to Cadburys until the title came forth. But none the less this advertisement stuck in your mind and Cadburys name was remembered: Every time you heard the song, every time you saw a gorilla, I’m sure. The incredible part is that without lots of previous advertisements costing lots of money, this advert managed to do the job of what coco pops built up through years, in one video. In that this method of advertisement is the most commonly used today. Think of Evian water advert with the roller skating babies. Regardless Cadburys didn’t stop there, they created another advertisement; ‘eyebrows’ is all that we need say. These adverts changed the way selling approaches people like you and I. There countless advertisements across the world which are done in this way. However, technology as it does, advanced and has changed advertising as we know, even more…

Interactive advertising

Interactive advertising as you would expect is where you do something to the advert. So the advertisement requires user input. A very popular advertisement in YOUTUBE at the moment is a Tipp EX ad. In which you the user decide the fate of a bear.

Take a look at this:

                                        


 At this point in the video, (as you are aware if you clicked the above link) asks you decide the fate of the bear. 

So far you are wondering, what does this have to do with Tipp EX? This brings us back to the idea of these crazy irrelevant advertisements. The interactive part begins when you click the button. You are then redirected to another video whereby he doesn’t shoot the bear. At this point the Tipp EX part slides in, the idea to kill or not kill the bear is a MISTAKE and therefore the hunter RUBS OUT the title with the TIPP EX and asks you to re-decide the fate by typing in: 

 Once this is done you are redirected to another video which does in fact do, what you typed in. CRAZY! So if you haven’t already, give it a go. This is a common example of interactive media in video advertising. 

It is clear to distinguish the difference between a standard video ad and an interactive video ad. This is a new form of communication from marketer to consumer. You become interested into the advertisement by participating in the development of the advert. Face it, adverts are boring and often annoying, agree? There is never a coincidence when everyone goes to put the kettle on during an interval between programs. And this is not foreign to the marketers, they watch TV too, they know our antics! So now they have to find new ways to interest us and prevent us from changing the channel or muting the sound or leaving the room so we will, watch their advertisement. There is no better way than asking us to take part; hence INTERACTIVE ADVERTISING! This type of advertisement clearly has a bigger effect on the viewer than standard ads their point is more likely to get across and be more memorable.

YouTube is a form of interactive media, in a small way. Look at it this way; you have a phone, such as an iPhone, and take a video of say… your cat, playing a piano. You upload this video onto you tube and title it, ‘KEYBOARD CAT’.  

This form of media allows you to distribute this to an audience in moments to which could be hundreds of millions of YouTube users and potential subscribers all over the world. These YouTube users click on the link and view your video, hence making it interactive.

You can share anything you want as longs as it fits in with the decency of YouTube’s guidelines. User Generated content is often a term which describes the content of your video and the fact that, it was made by yourself. These have to comply with the rules of YouTube. This applies for YouTube, Daily Motion, break.com and many more. User generated content applies to pretty much anything which you recorded and which to share with mass quantities of people. This can be done through your phone, camera, or any other handheld or statue recording device.

Sky and BBC often have an option where the audience can upload videos and pictures also which is specifically for multimedia and which requires interaction to comply.

Blog websites such as this one require user generated content and so forth. There are many different ways in which interactive media is interpreted into today. Carers can be formed from a simple uploading of a video onto the internet from your very own phone. Watch out, you could be a millionaire before you know it! Get uploading! ‘Anyone can be an internet star!’.

Viral Advertising

This is another type of advertising which unlike the rest uses other pre-existing websites such as social media sites (facebook, twitter, MySpace) to advertise their brand or in other words create larger brand awareness. Essentially this means the word of mouth of the internet. Funnily enough this is a standard one way communication with the marketer and the consumer. So I know what you’re thinking; what does viral advertising have to do with interactive media? Well the truth is; everything. The whole idea of sharing information and branding on other social media sites is (believe it or not)… INTERACTIVE!

The viral part comes from the sense of contagious. Think about when you get a cold, how you could have caught it from someone else and the many before him and the many which may catch it after you. Virus’ are spread through the mouth; germs in sneezes, coughs etc, and even on hands which touch everywhere. Like a cold can spread so can a video in the same sense. Take a look at the diagram below:

One person could have a video, made or found, they show it to many other people, or in this case 3, and they show it separately to another 3 people each and so on. What makes a video viral is down to many determining factors, I mean, you wouldn’t show a friend a video of paint drying, right? -Unless it is completely hilarious and outrageous. That’s what viral advertising is all about, the shocking contents is what sells the video and makes it spread like wild fire. The crazy part is this cost absolutely NOTHING for the marketer, I mean ZERO. Of course the cost of the advert to be made will be quantifying, but the actual distribution of the item cost nothing. But through the obscenity of the contents the video has the potential to spread from one person, to another, to another and so forth until potentially the whole world is aware. All this is possible, for free.

Think of this famous face:

This one video received over 205 million views after it was uploaded on to the trusted YouTube site. Which includes over 50 million other tribute videos created in his name after this video, including remix dance tunes, celebrity dress up, or just simply a humouring impression. Despite the abuse and laugher he received Christopher Crocker that day became an internet hit. That is fantastic considering the video started as one simple man’s expression towards a damaged female celebrity. Or as others may say the manipulation of Britney spears personal shortcomings to brew his own fame! Either way this one simple video made him a star. And it’s as simple as that ladies and gentlemen.

So let us move on to something a little more interactive, something we all have done at some point in our lives, or at least want to, often requires a lot of skill, and is undoubtedly an enjoyable experience.  I know what you’re thinking… and it’s not that! Let us move swiftly onto gaming.

Games

Gaming is a very large subject which includes board games, computer games, and internet games. For this particular article I will be focusing on INTERNET GAMING!

Flash and Java as you will have come across at some point is the latest internet revolution. This meant that websites could stream video and audio in a whole new interactive way. Microsoft made Flash as a standard installation on internet explorer. This changed the internet as we know it, rather than a standard data information storage system it now includes an on-demand entertainment sector. So now sites were able to create gaming sites for our entertainment.

Terms such as Flash games and Java games became the talk of the town. Those old box arcade games such as Pac-Man became the first games to be recreated using the Flash plug-in on the internet. These contained features such as single player games with high score lists which could be compared against many other players and game users. It wasn’t until later when multiplayer gaming was brought forward. However, even then, those browser games were limited. Even Facebook incorporates flash into their site

Websites such as Miniclip.com or 2Dplay are many popular sites which also require said plugins to function.

Here are a few examples:

PLATFORMS

In digital media there are many platforms where may interactive products lie. These platforms are increasing and advancing as we speak. These platforms consist of four categories which are known as content platforms. The platforms, luckily are not very technical, each platform is linked to another and often change over time. Take a look at the image below:

So, without further delay, let’s take a closer look at the first platform.

Web and internet content

This section includes computers, mobile devices, TV’s, Broadband hubs, Wireless networks and many more not mentioned.

In this section practically nothing is without reach. You will undoubtedly receive information and data on practically any subject possible, right here, on the internet. This could be on a computer, on a mobile phone or practically any device with connection to the internet. So at this stage, anything is at your reach, including streaming of YouTube videos. The internet is now available to everyone, so everyone has access to information wherever they may be whenever they may need it. Restrictions to this however, are things such as loss of signal which as you probably already know, prevents you from connecting online. The best part is however, that doesn’t matter anymore. Now we can connect to the internet through WIFI, including our own home wireless connections or public connection or work place connection. So there is barley any place where somehow you cannot connect to the internet, even without signal. Despite this feature, the one problem we all have to face is the cost. For home internet our broadband providers charge you a certain amount each month for the internet you use. For mobile phones network internet providers or (IP’s) have rental fees, with limits. Such as a 1GB limit which would probably cost an extra £5 to £10 a month.

It is television companies such as Virgin Media and Sky which offer a complete package on television phone and internet, all into one. The television part of the deal of course supplies you with the television channels, the phone supplies you with the phone line connection and the internet part supplies you with features such as the broadband internet and also provides you with the option of pay-per-view which means that you can choose what extra channels you want to watch, providing the price is paid. This is also known as INTERACTIVE. This is generally added to the monthly bill you receive for the complete package. 

Interactive Television

All television essentially is interactive; the television requires your input for it to function. You need to read through a list of channels and manually select the program you choose to watch. Another interactive feature you may be well aware of, is the RED BUTTON created by the BBC which offers you the interactive service of gaining more information. Simply on an advertisement or the news, if the red button is pressed you are redirected to a new menu with multiple options. An announcement on a program may prompt you to press the red button or just simply a red button appears in the top corner of the screen. 

This interactive option by the BBC provides you with the chance to look at the latest news headlines (as above) or catch up with sporting news, information on weather and travel,  have your say about programs, and even games and stories for children (CBeebies)

Many other features of the interactive red button allows the viewer to choose which part of a program they wish to watch. What I mean is; the Olympics for an example provide you with a red button option which when pressed directs you to a page with different sports available from the Olympics. So say, you don’t want to watch a particular sport taking place you can press the red button and change it to one which is also occurring at that time. This same rule applies for festivals i.e. Glastonbury, where you can select from a list of artists which have or are currently performing.

This is fantastic for those people who just can’t sit around waiting for a certain parts to come on a program. Such as the news, if a person just wants to watch the weather rather than wait for the whole program to show, they can press the red button and select that particular part.  Think about your morning rush and how easy it is to just press THE RED BUTTON and check the bits you need. Great!

So let us now move onto the next section, something partially mentioned earlier: Games. Except this time it’s for all those loved computer games.

Computer games

This is the highest form of interactive media, which we must all admit, is great fun! This type of entertainment comes from all different platforms: Platforms such as Computers, Televisions, gaming consoles, mobile devices, DVD and also Online.

These games are played in different forms, where you, the user can play the game using different interfaces. These interfaces refer to things such as a computer mouse, or a keyboard, a Television Remote or a Pad/Controller specifically designed for a Console. Gaming is one of the largest industries with all the range of software and hardware. And lets face it some are severely over priced, right?

Nonetheless, games come in all different shapes and sizes. Some games can even be downloaded.

Back in the ‘olden days’, or should I say the 80’s and 90’s, the best form a game was something known as a cartridge. Think back to your all famous Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Nintendo 64, or Nintendo Gameboy.

But as fun as those games were, it was never to long until those games moved into CD and DVD format giving them a better game play, content, and all round quality.

We now have games which offer a direct download service such as World of War craft Cataclysm. This type of game offers a direct download, although a user of this game has to pay a monthly cost of £8.99 for the subscription after download. If this is not paid you cannot any longer play the game. This whole CD DVD scheme has turned so many pages; we now have the ability to take standard, old time, board games to a whole new level.

This game does not require any form of subscription, it can be purchased direct from a store and can be played immediately afterwards. If you have not played one of these games, I highly recommend that you give it a try. They were first launched in the 1990’s and have developed dramatically ever since. Essentially these games work by placing the DVD into a DVD player set up to a Television. You then open the Board and play the board game, following the instructions. The interactive part comes in when you watch a clip of something relevant to the topic of the scene it game (such as Disney- as above). A question is asked about the clip and you must answer it within the designated time. Everyone interacts with the game and it only requires on remote control.

Now let’s move on to the next Platform:

Offline Multimedia Content

As you could imagine this section details all the different types of interactive media which is OFFLINE or otherwise, not connected to the internet.

Let’s begin with an interactive Kiosk.

So we all know what one looks like, but just to clarify this is an interactive Kiosk

These can be found in some supermarkets, photo booths, and other retail outlets, often places against a wall, on the exterior or even interior of a building generally encased. These are used very commonly now opposed to the standard print process, you can now manually edit and print selected photos of your digital camera for an immediate supply. You wouldn’t need to wait a week for them to be developed making this a new, fast, and enjoyable equivalent.

Other type of Kiosk is an ATM. Used by practically any person with a bank account, and of course a card. These are found outside banks upon a wall hence the name ‘a hole in the wall’ also outside supermarkets and often other retail stores. This is where we go to access our bank accounts to check balances or withdraw money. The financial Kiosk. ATMs have changed the way we bank in many ways.

Another type of Kiosk is the self – supermarket checkout. Which can be found in, you guessed it, supermarkets. These are made to allow customers to scan their own items, bag, and purchase them either through card, cash or coupon. Great for those who are in a hurry or those who only have a few items. How many times have you been stuck behind a person with a large trolley full and you only have one bottle of milk? Now we have a faster and less annoying way out. The self checkout!

Airlines have even installed these kiosks which allow passengers to check into their flight, print their boarding passes and luggage labels.

Self checkouts allow customers to scan barcodes and manually identify others including fruit and vegetables. This advancement allows the work of many checkout workers and faster. Self checkouts are often found in multiples (around 6) which mean that those checkouts serve 6 customers at once where one normal checkout would serve one at a time.

This benefits not only the retailer in that they have less need for workers but that they serve more customers at a time and faster, which brings more money to the retailer but also an easier experience for the customer. However certain issues such as an inexperienced customer could cause delays, however attendants on the area can assist them. Other issues can be theft, which is where the attendant comes in more as an observer to ensure that these problems would not occur. In many cases the scanners weigh items incorrectly and then assistance is required (delay), bagging too many items as once requires further assistance (delay). In these instances before an attendant can approve and allow the checkout to continue in case of theft, they must check the contents of the shopping with the list on the kiosk, and yet another delay comes forth.

In many cases the real thing is better than the short cut, but with experience these things can be avoided.

VIDEO TECHNOLOGY

So here we are like last week, back to the technology side. But don’t worry; just like last time, try to keep up!

In this section we will take a closer look at video compression, video capture, aspect ratio, video formats, streaming methods, data transfer rates, media players and digital rights.

There is a lot to go through, so let’s begin.

Compression

In digital video the file size is very important. Digital video take up a lot of storage space on your hard drive. The solution to this as of any other file is compression. (Refer to the digital graphics article). Compression makes the file smaller. As mentioned in the previous article compression on text files can make it up to 90% smaller, because of the spaces within the file. Text files therefore can undergo high compression or in other words have a high compression ratio. High compression ratio refers to the ratio of compressed data to uncompressed data. Digital files such as video or audio or image files such as JPG are more difficult to compress because they in a format which is already tightly compressed.

Digital videos need to be compressed as the files are so large and take up way too much memory. So by compressing a video file you can store it easier with more space left over. Digital videos can be compressed without damaging the quality of the file. This is done because the only parts of the file which are disposed of during compression are the part which humans cannot distinguish. Also video file compression works in terms of redundant images, so say, there is a lamp in the same spot on several frames, there is no need to save the data of that lamp for every single frame.

Compressing videos works like the process of throwing away data. Standard digital Video Cameras compress at a ratio of 5:1, however, there are several other formats which allow you to compress videos at a ratio of 100:1. Too much compression however is bad, the more data you throw away the less data there is on the file, so therefore, the changes become noticeable. Some heavy compressions can result in the video file becoming hardly recognisable. So the idea with compression is to find that fine line between what is noticeable and what isn’t. The more data you can compress without it being noticeable, the better. Keep that in mind. 

There are two main forms of Compression; Lossy and Lossless. If you read last week’s article you will be aware of these terms if however you did not, here is a little catch up:

Lossy

Lossy compression is a method of compression which means the data you compress using this cannot be 100% restored to the original. Lossy compression allows high compression ratios which result in highly compressed files. Essentially lossy makes much smaller files. When the file is restored or decompressed, large quantities of data are lost and cannot be recovered. Audio and video files used lossy compression as the loss of data is often unnoticeable to the human ear or eye.

Lossless

Lossless data as in the name means loss less, you don’t lose data. Despite the amount of data compressed in lossless compression 100% of the lost data can be recovered in decompression. The document gets smaller but the information is still there. You can save and encode video files as often as you like and still the data can be fully recovered. Lossless compression squeezes the data into a smaller space. This type saves less space or rather compresses less than that of a lossy file because there is only a limited amount of information which can be compressed before you have to discard data, making it lossy. This compression is not often used in video and audio, it is more commonly used in files such as text. Video files which can be tolerated by lossless are such as 2D.

DIGITAL VIDEO CAPTURE

Digital video capture is the process of converting analogue video signals into digital format. These signals are created by the video camera itself. The idea is to then store the digital file onto a computer. Video capture converts analogue signals into digital so that the file can be compressed.

Digital video capture has many components the first is Aspect Ratio.

Aspect Ratio

Aspect ratio works on the ratio between the width and height of a film image. The number of the width comes first then the height of the aspect ratio. The height however is always written as a 1. Look at it this way; motion pictures aspect ratio often appears on the back of a DVD case, such as 1:85:1 this means that the size of the original film is 1.85 times as wide as it is high. Below is an image which demonstrates the different aspect ratios:

Aspect Ratio allows videos to be played in different types of television without too much distortion of picture.

So on that note, let us move on to digital video formats.

VIDEO FORMATS

Digital video is so important to the development of technology. Think about the old standard cameras we used to have and now how times have changed with these amazing devices with so many features we don’t understand them all! Media centres and movie downloads and other digital media make it highly important that integrators understand all the different types of digital formats available.

First things first:

Codec

Codec’s are highly essential when it comes to video formats. Codec means compression/decompression or code/decode. A codec is a program which shrinks large video files whist also making sure they are playable. Codec programs are needed to ensure that all you download music and video movies can be played.

Video and music files are huge and are extremely difficult to transfer across the internet. Codecs help to speed up downloads by mathematically shrinking or encoding a signal for transmission and then you can decode the file once its downloaded so it is viewable and editable. Essentially codecs speed downloads, so in other words by coding the file you shrink it so it can be sent and then by decoding the file you can open the downloaded file for viewing etc.  Without codecs downloads would take much, much longer, almost 5 times longer.

There are several file formats which support codecs such as those listed below:

.mpg

MPG stands for MOVING PICTURE EXPERTS GROUP, which as you noticed should be MPEG. But the shortened version means that it fits into the three-letter extension box which Microsoft placed forward.MPG describes a combination of lossy video and audio compression methods which allow the files to be stored and transmitted.

MPG is a very popular file format for videos. Within MPG there are daughter formats which are used for different purposes.

MPG or MPEG is used for the distribution of video on to the internet and discs.MPEG-1 provides a slightly poorer video quality no better than that of VCR/VHS video. The next is MPEG-2 which is used by TV stations; it is the compression format for DVD as well as the standard for broadcast HDTV. Clearly MPEG-2 is an important format! Then we have MPEG-3 or MP3 for short, which is another standard format, often found on your iPod and audio files offering a decent quality play.

We also have MPEG-4, MP4. MP4 is the 4t5h generation of MPEG. This deals with much better picture quality such as Blu-ray or HD-TV. It has a very high definition video quality with greater compression ratio. MPEG-4 absorbs all the quality of the previous MPEG files and many more new features. VRML is one of many also known as Virtual Reality Modelling Language, which despite its long name is basically 3D video. MP4 is streamable and supports all major multimedia content. MP4 is supported by itunes and ipod. A newer modification of MP4 is 3GP which is something that many smartphones have upon their video recording options. These files can be transferred from phone to phone, or over the internet. They are compatible/playable in QUICKTIME PLAYER and REALPLAYER. More on that later.

Now we move onto the most modern file format:

.mov

This is a computer file format which is most commonly supported by QuickTime applications, of which originate from Apple Mac. Since QuickTime and MP4 contain formats which used the same MPEG-4 format they are mostly interchangeable in QuickTime. In quicktime pro there is an export option known as’ PassThrough’ which supports a fast export of the file to MP4 without affecting any audio or video streams.

.avi

AVI stands for AUDIO VIDEO INTERLEAVE which is also a file format that is designed to store audio and video data in standard packages. AVI was introduced by Microsoft for windows video technology back in 1992 as a competitor of apples quicktime software. This software allows users to play digital videos on computers.

.wmv

WMV or WINDOWS MEDIA VIDEO is a compression format for several codecs made my Microsoft. WMV was designed particular for internet streaming applications and also as a competitor to RealVideo. Other formats are WMV screen and WMV image which have specialized content. The SMPTE or Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers the file format WMV 9 has now gained formats such as HD DVD and Blu-ray qualities.

.swf

SWF is the abbreviation of SHOCKWAVEFLASH which was later changed to a small web format to prevent the confusion with shockwave. SWF is a format for multimedia vector graphics, supported by ActionScript and Adobe Flash. This file format originated with FutureWave software which was later transferred to Macromedia until it finally came under the control of Adobe. SWF is the main format for animated vector graphics on the web. It can also be used for programs and internet browser games through ActionScript.

SWF files can be found using Flash, Flash Builder and After Effects, and many more Adobe products.

And so we come back to .3gp

.3gp

3GP is an audio and video format developed by the 3GPP or 3^rd Generation Partnership Project. 3GP is a multimedia format made to transmit audio and video files between mobile phones and over the internet. This is commonly used in mobile phones which support video capture. When these files are transferred to a computer 3GP files can be viewed on LINUX, Mac and Windows platforms through Mplayer and VLC. Media players such as RealPlayer and QuickTime also support this feature.

STREAMING METHODS

 Streaming is a multimedia form which is constantly being used. Streaming is a media which is received and presented to a user whist also being delivered through a streaming provider. The name refers to the method of the medium rather than the medium itself. Streaming is usually applied to the media which is distributed over telecommunications networks i.e. radio or television. Non streaming refers to books, video cassettes and audio formats. The meaning ‘to stream’ is to deliver media. Internet television or on demand showings are a commonly used stream medium today.

Live streaming refers to the process of watching a broadcast live over the internet. This includes a camera for media, an encoder to digitalize the content and a media publisher where the streams are made available to other delivery networks which distribute and deliver the content over the internet. This provides people like you and I with the option to view programs live online.

This is how the process works:

1.      A user visits a webpage and finds something he would like to watch or listen to.

2.      The web server sends a message to a streaming media server, requesting that file

3.      The server streams the file to the user’s computer through the web server

4.      Software on his computer decodes the file and he plays it.

The most popular form or place of streaming is on YouTube, in 2009 over a million videos were viewed each day. In that year ABC streamed its most popular television programs on the internet so now anyone who missed their shows could simply catch up the entire series online for free! And of course legally.

To view streams you require a plugin which allows you to do so. Most webpages when streaming direct you to a page of several different sources who have the file you require. Specific players can be downloaded automatically alongside those or occasionally a list of choices.

Live streaming is the same as any normal stream except it it’s a live feed. Such videos as football matches, major sporting events, news, political debates and so forth. However, now many television channels have their own internet site alike ABC which offer on demand programs. These are streamed normally but provide a watch live option which provides you with a live feed of the channel, such as BBC iPlayer.

Here is a diagram of the process below: 

The process like any other begins with a camera which the image is transmitted to a specialised software package on location. The data is encoded and broadcasted to a streaming server. This is streamed as other content to the user and though a local network, via the internet. The device the user is viewing off whether that is a phone or computer etc. then decodes the file allowing them to view the streamed file.

Streaming a file is much more practical then downloading. With downloading the file is generally very large and requires a large amount of memory storage on the computer. You are then limited to the amount of downloads you can have. Aside from the memory issue, you also face the length of time it can take to actually download the file. This is varied depending on the download speed of your network provider and the size of the file itself.

When streaming you can view the video without the need to download, however in certain instances streamed files constantly buffer whist loading and viewing. Unfortunately this is uncontrollable this often down to the server and the download speed of the internet provider. This is the only issue with streaming you may face, other than this downloading is clearly the lesser option.

Now let us move onto data transfer rates, which is everything to do with streaming. 

DATA TRANSFER RATES

This is essentially the movement of digital information from one place to another. When a data transfer is occurring; which could be to and from a computer as well as from phone to internet etc. the amount of data being sent and received is called the data transfer rate.

Think about traffic flow, here; the wider the highway the higher the speed limit and therefore the more traffic moves through it. Data transfer works the same. Just like traffic data transfer can be affected by obstructions. Many things can affect how fast data will transfer. Such as:

File Size

Many things contribute to a higher file size, but regardless the end result is still the same.

Streaming video and audio files are much more efficient and compact; the best begin as large high-quality files which are also known as “raw files”. These are high in quality files which can be analogue or digital recordings, which haven’t been altered/ compressed in any way. It is possible to watch a streamed file on normal TV, however editing the file means lots of storage space is required along with lots of processing power.  The total reduction in quality often is dependent on the bitrate, or the general speed of the transfer from the server to the computer. For instance, a television broadcast has a bit rate of around 240,000 kilobits per second (Kbps). If you have a reliable broadband connection which provides you with lots of bandwidth, you can that watch high-bitrate files. High bitrate files have the higher quality information (video). The idea is to encode a file which is large enough to still look good and sound good whist being small enough to work with your available bandwidth. In other words, if your bandwidth is very low, you are susceptible to only being able to stream videos with lower quality sound and video, to someone who as a larger, faster bandwidth. Some codecs let you make files which will stream at different transfer rates, which allows for different connection types, so, if your internet is incredibly slow some codecs are readily understandable of this situation and alter the transfer rates, to optimise your viewing experience. Great Stuff!

When it comes to file size affecting transfer rates you must think of the file you wish to take (downloading/streaming) and imagine the file is hundreds if not thousands of cars travelling through a motorway. In this analogy the motorway is your internet connection and the cars are the total file size. The more cars/larger the file, the slower it takes for the cars to reach the end, if however the motorway is wider/larger bandwidth the faster the file will reach the end, (faster connection).

Resolution

Resolution is important within the process of streaming/data transfer. Higher resolutions and frame rates make the video you are streaming play smoother and clearer. In being so, the file becomes larger and therefore requires a better/faster internet connection (larger bandwidth); basically the transfer becomes slower due to the size of the file. Compression is very advantageous with larger file size, by removing any unwanted unnecessary information and compressing/shrinking the file down to a smaller more suitable size, with little viewing notice in playback.

(for more information on resolution please refer to the previous article on DIGITAL GRAPHICS).

MEDIA PLAYERS

A media player is used to describe computer software which plays back multimedia files. Most media players support multiple media formats, including both audio and video files. The focuses of these types of software are to provide a better viewing or listening experience, simply because they are made for those specific media purposes; audio and video. many operating systems today are created with built in media players, so from the word ‘go’, they are ready to use, no installations required. Such operating systems are Microsoft Windows; which uses Windows Media Player, readily installed. The newest model is Windows Media Player 12, as a component of the new Windows 7. The earlier formats of Windows Media Players, did not support video; audio only, I am sure you will remember the earlier technology. Windows Media Player 12 includes both audio and video playback along with many other advantageous adaptations.

Mac OS X; uses Quicktime Player which plays specifically Quicktime movies. iTunes is used also for playing a wider variety of media formats, which holds many benefits over the standard Windows Media models. Winamp enables apple iPods and other mobile devices to support audio and video playback.

Linux; uses a variety of software media players for different systems and specifications, such Media players include Amarok, VLC, MPlayer, Xine and Totem. All of which are exceptionally good Media Players.

Media players often use ‘Libraries’ which are used in order to help you organise all your music, videos, and other media formats, into categories including genre, year, rating or older. This makes it so much easier for us, when we just can’t find that song that we really like, but know we have it, but just can’t remember the name/ artist. Fantastic! Examples of such media players include, Winamp, Windows Media Player, and iTunes, RealPlayer, Amarok and even ALLPlayer (just a few popular examples).

So let’s talk about those more…

Windows Media Player

Windows Media Player is a digital media and library application player, which was specifically, developed my Microsoft. Originally (as mentioned) the older versions supported only audio playback and limited the uses for that, however with the newer adaptations the later Media players now support both audio and video optimising its uses. Windows Media Players can be used for playing audio and video and viewing images on computers supporting the Windows Operating System.  Such software must be system compatible which means, the media players must be compatible with the operating system that the computer is running. For instance you could not install Windows Media Player onto an Apple operating system.

Essentially Windows Media Player allows you to watch or listen to audio video or image files, with the ability to fast forward, rewind, vary playback speed (**yey, Slowmotion!**), and occasionally file markers. Files within playlists can be shuffled though manually without the use of file removal from the playlist.

Many codecs, container formats using specific filets, or Media Foundation codecs (Windows Vista) are fully supported by the Windows Media Player software. It can even activate DVD’s and Blu-ray playback functionality with the use of menus, titles, chapters/scenes, parental controls, language selection (provided compatible decoders are installed). DVD playback features are compatible with decoders which are integrated into the Windows Media Player 8 for Windows XP.

The latest and currently most preferred model; Windows Media Player 12, is only available on the latest operating system of Windows 7 as most of you are probably familiar with by now- yes we are talking about the “cool” one. Windows 7, allows us to now, stream media directly from selected sources.

QuickTime Player

Developed by Apple Inc. QuickTime is capable as you would expect, multiple, various, formats of; digital video, picture, audio, panoramic images, interactivity and more. QuickTime is available for Mac OS Classic, Mac OS X and some Microsoft Windows Operating systems. The newest version of QuickTime is QuickTime X, and is only available on Mac OS, and therefore is integrated software. QuickTime for Windows is downloadable, often bundled with an iTunes Download but can be installed as a separate component. It is available for FREE for both Mac OS X and Windows Operating Systems- Great Stuff!

iTunes requires QuickTime framework in order to provide specific features, these features however, are not available through the standard QuickTime Player. Such features are how iTunes exports audio in WAV, AIFF, MPS, AAC and Apple Lossless, and to do so requires QuickTime.

Quicktime supports many file formats, including many audio and picture formats. There are multiple video formats supported by QuickTime some of which are listed below;

·         3GP
·         Animated GIF
·         AVI (Audio Video interleave)
·         DV
·         MPEG-1
·         MPEG-4
·         QuickTime Movie
·         QuickTime VR

RealPlayer

RealPlayer is referred to as a closed source cross-platform media player, which was created by RealNetworks. RealPlayer plays many multimedia formats incuding, MP3, MP4, QuickTime, Windows Media and multiple versions of RealAudio and RealVideo. RealPlayer in the earlier day, back when the internet was new, was considered as a popular streaming method. However more recently Windows Media Player and QuickTime, has quickly surpassed that reputation. Since 2007 Apples iTunes would have required RealPlayer as the initial plugin to watch streamed videos of listen to streamed audio files. The BBC website most specifically, used RealPlayer to do just that.

RealPlayer is a capable media library providing you with that all so important organisation of media track tagging and editing. The premium version provides an Audio Converter function enabling the conversions between RealMedia, MP3, AAC, Windows Media, WAV and more formats.

RealPlayer provides what is noted as a LivePause ability, which allows you to pause your streamed video clip without stopping the buffering, so essentially the longer the pause the more buffer the file has had (more it has loaded). It also enables Video Download specifically version 11 for Windows and OS X which allows you to download Flash Video files from websites such as the all famous, YouTube. MP4 files can also be downloaded but often require a larger premium version or the standard free versions of other players such as Winamp of VLC media players. Video Sharing is another component entitling you to post your videos directly online, so that includes direct uploads to facebook, twitter and myspace from the software.

RealTime can play large numbers of formats including the following;

•  MPEG (.mpg / .mpeg / .mpe)
•  AVI (.avi /.divx)
•   Windows Media (.wma / .wmv)
•    QuickTime (.mov / .qt)
•    Adobe (.swf / .flv)
•    DVD

VLC Media Player

This is media player which is a free open source for multimedia playing, and was composed by the VideoLAN project. VLC is a portable media player, as well as an encoder and streamer, which supports many audio , video codecs and DVDs VCDs and many other streaming methods. VLC can stream over hundreds of networks and transcode media files ready to be saved into various different formats. Essentially VLC is capable of pretty much anything when it comes to viewing multimedia files. VLC is what is known as a cross-platform media player, which is software compatible with Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, GNU, Linux, BeOS, BSD, eComStation AND iOS.

The standard version of VLC includes a large number of free decoding and encoding libraries, which lucky for us; means we do not need to find, collaborate, and install the necessary plugins to do so. Many of the VLC codecs are readily attached with the downloaded software. VLC offers a large variety of platforms which is very favourable, since VLC includes added functionality on portable players such as the Apple iPhone. VLC enabled the iPhone to use the same type of Operating System as Mac’s, and in doing so provides greater interactivity for such a popular handset.

Files which can be used on a VLC media player include many MPEG formats, and a wide range of video formats such as the following;

• ·      MPEG (-1,2,3 and 4)
• ·     RealVideo (-3 and 4)
• ·     WMV

So, there are many media players which have been developed and introduced for different purposes and attractions. Some have their own unique functions and operating systems, whist others are cross system players. The basic format of each of these players is the same; providing people like you and I the ability to play multiple formats of media, including audio, video and streaming.

DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT

All forms of media including audio, video gaming, eBooks etc. there are always limits determining what it can do and where it can be used. This is known as Digital Rights Management, which is essentially a technology which is used by hardware manufacturers/publishers/copyright holders/individuals, to limit the use of their digital content and devices. The term is uses specifically to describe any technology which alters or prevents the uses of the digital system, not intended by the provider. Digital Rights Management does not refer to other forms of copy protection which can be avoided, for instance; modifying files or devices, serial numbers or even key files. It can however be referred to other restrictions associated with digital works or devices. Digital Rights Management it used by companies such as Sony, Amazon, Apple Inc. Microsoft, AOL, and even the BBC.

The whole subject of DRM is controversial; many supporters protest that copyright holders need DRM to prevent unauthorised uses/duplications of their work; this so to maintain their artistic integrity and value. Whilst opponents such as FSF (Free Software Foundation) stress that copy right holders are restricting the uses of the material in ways beyond the existing copyright laws and should therefore not be covered by future law.

So let’s talk a little more about DRM, what actually is it?

The first generation DRM was developed purely to control copying. The second generation DRM was developed to seek control over viewing, copy, printing, altering and pretty much anything else that it possible to do with digital content. Digital Rights Management operate following three levels;

1.      Establishing a copyright – for a piece of content

2.      Managing distribution – of that copyrighted content

3.      Controlling – what a consumer can do with that product once distributed.

In order to manage such a level of control the DRM program must effectively distinguish the following three entities;

1.      The user

2.      The content and usage rights

3.      The relationship between them

The DRM must formulate an example to help users understand ‘fair use’; which details exactly what a consumer can do once they have the content. Fair use however, is not something which can be accurately determined. Many companies take desperate measures to prevent digital content leaking over the internet and therefore eliminating any of the rights created on the part of the consumer to make decisions regarding the content they have purchased.

DRM works by creating what is known as an encryption scheme, this scheme has an encryption key which will work forever. In most cases the key is attached to an ID number, linked to the user’s machine/computer. The key number will enable the user to decode the file on the computer which it was installed onto. Just like Microsoft office software, when this file is to be downloaded onto a computer system a ‘Product Key’ is required, in this case the product key is the encryption key. This prevents users from copying the software onto another machine, without purchasing it correctly. That key will only allow the file to be decoded (used) on the computer it has been originally installed on. Otherwise you could simply just copy your key and the software to anyone you know, for free, thus breaking the DRM.

Some products use a web-based permission scheme to prevent the illegal use of the content. Such products are usually protected by Macrovision SafeCast or Microsoft Product Activation. When the software is installed onto your computer, your computer automatically contacts a license verification server to ensure that you purchased the product, so you will receive full permissions to access the key, install and run the program.  if however, your computer is the first to request permission to install the software the server returns the key. If you gave the software to your friend and they tried to install the software the server will deny access to the product.  In this way, the user must therefore contact the provider to gain permission to install the software onto another machine, if this was not agreed when on the original purchase (multiple users/machines) they will be required to purchase a new product key, therefore eliminating any illegal copying or transferrals.

 A DRM provider known as Macrovision used one of its recent DVD protection products and adapted its protection scheme. Rather than make the DVD uncopyable , their Macrovision RipGuard stops all glitches in the DVD ripping software, which prevents copying.  Essentially there is a code established within the software on the DVD itself, the purpose of this is to confuse the code known as DeCSS. A DeCSS is a small program which allows the software to read and rip the encrypted DVDs. Macrovision programmers studies DeCSS in order to discover any faults, from this research they are then able to build software such as RipGuard which know precisely how to exploit those faults on the DeCSS and prevent the copying process completely. DVD consumers now however have discovered new clever ways around the RipGuard protection. This is done by ripping software which doesn’t employ DeCSS or even just by tweaking the code within DeCSS rippers.

So if you have done any of the above or similar in your digital experiences, you have more than likely broken the DRM system. In America since 1998 the Digital Millennium Copyright Act suggests that disabling a DRM system (breaking the rules) is now illegal, but regardless people continue to seek and publish methods to bypass DRM restrictions.

Well people, I think today’s blog has been a very interesting addition

Thank you for reading and I sincerely hope we have managed to advance your interactive media knowledge just that little further.

Next week we will be looking at Web Animation so feel free to take a look!

Goodbye.