Quote:
Originally Posted by borked
Why does streaming have to be a poor experience?
I am streaming movies on an active member site from an iphone (3G and none-flash) and it scrubbs perfect, no stuttering etc.
A well set-up streaming server solution with well-encoded mp4 movies is a wonderful experience.
(are people still using 512k modems???)
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Firstly, what is the screen resolution of the video you're viewing on your iphone? I presume way less than that of most window based computers.
I'm on a 6 megabit cable connection and still run into issues with streaming - it's not just data speed, but also computer load. Progressive download tends to use less CPU and is more forgiving in regards to throughput ... once a stream begins to outrun its buffer, many streaming providers will reduce the playback quality, assuming the stream has that capability (not all do), and/or pause the stream to refresh the buffer resulting in the stream getting jittery or even stop / reset.
Also, with a progressive download, jumping around / replaying is a cinch, and practically instant. While similar is true with streaming, it's often limited to a buffered window of few minutes, if even that much, from the point in the stream one is currently viewing. Anything beyond outside that buffered window will force content to be streamed again from the remote server making the user wait.
Ron