It’s time to take a detailed look at online streaming video. Improvements in technology have made consuming media so much better than ever before but when was online streaming invented and how does it work?
The concept of streaming video online is not a new one. In fact, the first streaming video service was created all the way back in 1995. The service was called “CU-SeeMe” and it allowed users to view live video footage from a webcam. The quality was not great, but it was a start.
Fast internet changed the game
Since then, there have been many advances in streaming video technology. The biggest change came with the introduction of broadband internet. This made it possible to stream video without having to worry about buffering or interrupted playback, similar to the VR Bangers full videos you can stream online today.
These days, there are a number of different ways to stream video online. Services like Netflix and Hulu offer on-demand movies and TV shows, while Twitch and YouTube Gaming offer live streams of gaming content. There are also a number of ways to stream your own content, whether it be a webcam feed or a pre-recorded video.
The tech side
But how does streaming video work in a technological sense? In order to understand that, we need to take a look at how video is encoded. Video is made up of a series of still images, or frames. These frames are strung together and played back in rapid succession, giving the illusion of motion. In order to be streamed online, these frames need to be compressed into a digital file.
There are two main types of video compression: lossy and lossless. Lossy compression takes a complex video file and removes some of the data in order to make it smaller. This reduced quality can often be barely noticeable, but it does result in a significantly smaller file. Lossless compression, on the other hand, does not remove any data from the file. This means that the quality is not reduced, but the file size is also much larger.
Once the video has been encoded, it can then be streamed online. There are a few different ways to do this, but the most common is via a protocol called HTTP Live Streaming (HLS). HLS breaks the video up into small chunks, which are then downloaded by the viewer and played back in real-time.
Different devices
The beauty of streaming video is that it can be consumed on a variety of different devices. In the early days of online video, you were limited to watching on your computer.
These days, however, there are dedicated streaming devices like the Roku and Chromecast, as well as smart TVs and gaming consoles that all have the ability to stream video. Not forgetting streaming platforms such as SexLikeReal which deliver crystal clear adult content direct to your headset for a truly unforgettable experience.
Streaming has taken over
The convenience of streaming video has made it one of the most popular ways to consume media. It’s estimated that over 70% of internet traffic is now video streaming traffic, and that number is only going to continue to grow.
So, that’s a brief look at streaming video and how it works. It’s a technology that has come a long way in a relatively short amount of time, and it shows no signs of slowing down. Overall, streaming video is a convenient way to watch your favorite shows and movies without having to download them first. And with the advances in technology, the quality of streaming video has only become better.
