Streaming Video: Everything You Need to Know About Technologies and Applications

Streaming video has become an integral part of our daily lives. Today, it is used not only for entertainment (such as streaming platforms like Netflix and YouTube) but also in business (webcasting webinars and corporate events), education (online courses and lectures), healthcare (remote medical consultations and telemedicine), and other areas (such as video surveillance and security). With the growth of internet speeds and technology development, consumers can watch videos anytime and anywhere, creating new opportunities for content monetization, improving audience engagement, and creating a unique user experience. In this article, we will look at how streaming video works, what technologies power it, and what solutions Flussonic offers for organizations wishing to use streaming video.

Video call between doctor and patient on screen with medical video interface

The advantages of streaming video are obvious: it provides quick access to content without downloading, is convenient for users, and opens up vast opportunities for businesses. Businesses can use streaming video for online training, product demonstrations, event broadcasts, consultations, and other purposes. In healthcare, streaming video enables remote medical consultations and surgeries, providing access to qualified assistance anywhere in the world. Additionally, for users, streaming video is an easy way to access favorite series, movies, and educational programs, as well as participate in online seminars and training courses.

Article Contents

What is Streaming Video?

Real-time monitoring of video calls using a streaming video system

Definition and Basic Principles of Operation

Streaming video is a method of transmitting media content in real-time, where data is sent in small portions (streams) over the internet. Thus, users can start watching video almost immediately, without waiting for the complete file to download. Streaming video differs from downloading in that content is stored temporarily and automatically deleted as it is viewed, saving space on the user's device. The main technologies that enable streaming video include protocols such as HLS (HTTP Live Streaming), RTMP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol), and DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP). These technologies allow the video quality to be adapted based on the user's internet connection speed, ensuring comfortable and smooth playback. Streaming video becomes accessible even with an unstable connection, thanks to adaptive bitrate, which adjusts to current conditions.

History and Evolution

The history of streaming video began in the 1990s when internet connections became fast enough to support multimedia transmission. Important milestones included the emergence of RealAudio and RealVideo technology in 1995, which allowed audio and video to be transmitted over the internet. In the late 1990s, Microsoft introduced Windows Media Technologies, and in 2002, Adobe released Flash Player, giving new impetus to streaming video development. In 2007, the emergence of the iPhone and support for HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) significantly accelerated the growth in popularity of streaming video. The first serious attempt to implement the technology was made by RealNetworks in 1995 when they introduced RealAudio and RealVideo. Since then, technologies have developed significantly, and modern protocols such as HLS and DASH provide high-quality video and the ability to scale for millions of users simultaneously. In the early 2000s, the development of broadband internet gave a powerful boost to the growth of streaming services, and by 2010, the emergence of platforms such as Netflix and YouTube made streaming video the primary way to consume content. Modern streaming video technologies also include digital rights management (DRM) systems that protect content from unauthorized copying and distribution. These systems play an important role in the entertainment industry, allowing content owners to control who can use their materials and how. Additionally, adaptive bitrate algorithms have emerged that provide the best video quality for each user depending on their current internet bandwidth. The integration of programs with IoT platforms and edge computing is becoming an important direction for development in the sector.

Global streaming video infrastructure: a network of cables transmitting data around the world

Streaming Video Technologies

Core Technologies and Protocols

Streaming video relies on several key technologies and protocols:

Streaming Video Infrastructure

The infrastructure for streaming video includes servers for storing and processing content, content delivery networks (CDN) to ensure minimal delay and high bandwidth, as well as cloud and local solutions for managing streams. The use of cloud systems makes it easy to scale services according to current audience needs, while local systems provide greater flexibility and control. CDNs play a key role in ensuring low latency and stable quality of streaming video by distributing content across servers that are closer to end users, significantly reducing the load on central servers and improving the user experience. Streaming video servers perform several important functions, such as storage, transcoding, and stream management. Video transcoding is necessary to adapt one video stream for different devices and networks, ensuring maximum playback quality for each specific user. Servers can use GPUs to accelerate the transcoding process, allowing them to process a large number of streams simultaneously.

Server management for streaming video using equipment for switching and configuring streams

Advantages of Streaming Video

For Business and Individuals

For businesses, streaming video offers enormous opportunities. Companies can use it for webinars, online courses, live broadcasts, and video advertising. Streaming video allows information to be delivered to the audience faster and more efficiently, increasing customer loyalty and promoting sales. Furthermore, it's a convenient tool for remote learning and corporate events. Many companies use streaming video to create closer interactions with customers, offering live event broadcasts and real-time answers to questions, which helps strengthen brand trust. For individuals, streaming video is an opportunity to access a huge amount of content: movies, series, sports broadcasts, educational programs. The convenience lies in the fact that users can watch content on any device and at any time, making this format particularly attractive. People can participate in online training, educational courses, watch favorite shows, and follow live sporting events without leaving home. Streaming video also allows users to share their moments in real-time with friends and family through social networks.

Comparison with Traditional Content Delivery Methods

Streaming video has several advantages over traditional content delivery methods such as television, offline video, and other modern methods like video downloading or viewing through P2P networks. First, it gives users choice: you can start watching at any time, on any device, with the ability to rewind and pause. Second, streaming video scales better as there is no need to broadcast a signal to a fixed frequency range, as is the case with television broadcasting. Additionally, streaming video provides the possibility of interactivity - users can leave comments, participate in polls, and interact with content creators, which is impossible to achieve with traditional television. Another important advantage of streaming video is the possibility of using analytics. Streaming video platforms can collect data on what content is viewed, for how long, on which devices, and at what time. This data helps content creators and advertisers better understand their audience and optimize content according to their preferences. Additionally, thanks to the use of DRM technologies, streaming video allows protection of content owners' rights, preventing unauthorized distribution.

Physical archiving of video data using disks and other media

Flussonic Solutions for Streaming Video

Overview of Flussonic Products

Flussonic has developed solutions that help businesses work effectively with video content. One of the key products is Flussonic Media Server — a powerful tool for streaming, transcoding, storing, and managing video in real-time. Flussonic Media Server surpasses similar solutions on the market thanks to high performance, flexible scalability, support for various protocols, and integration with cloud and local solutions. It also ensures low latency in video transmission and has advanced access management and analytics features, making it ideal for projects of any scale. It supports popular protocols such as HLS, RTMP, and DASH, making it an excellent choice for working with IPTV, OTT platforms, and live streams. Flussonic Media Server provides reliability and high performance, allowing companies to organize content delivery for large audiences without losing quality.

Flussonic Media Server

Flussonic Media Server is a tool that allows flexible and efficient work with streaming video. It supports real-time transcoding so that video quality always corresponds to the user's device and internet speed. Flussonic Media Server also provides convenient tools for content storage and access management, making it a suitable choice for various large-scale projects. For example, IPTV operators can use it to deliver high-quality video to their clients, while educational platforms can use it for webinars and training course broadcasts. Flussonic Media Server supports integration with various content management systems and can work with both cloud and local solutions. This makes it easy to scale the system according to growing audience needs and ensure high-quality service. The server also provides functions for working with metadata, allowing you to add subtitles, additional audio tracks, and other information to the video stream, which improves user interaction.

Products for Video Surveillance and Video Analytics

Flussonic also offers solutions for video surveillance and analytics that integrate with streaming platforms. These products allow the use of streaming video for security, analysis of customer behavior in retail spaces, monitoring of production processes, and other tasks related to video surveillance. Flussonic solutions for video surveillance include the ability to analyze video in real-time, which allows unusual situations to be detected and measures to be taken immediately, ensuring a high level of security at facilities. Flussonic Watcher, for example, provides the ability to connect and manage thousands of surveillance cameras. The system supports automatic face and object recognition functions, which helps in ensuring security and behavior analysis. Video analytics based on machine learning automatically identifies suspicious actions and sends notifications to responsible employees, significantly increasing the speed of incident response.

Surveillance cameras with streaming video support for security and real-time monitoring system

Advantages of Using Flussonic

The advantages of using Flussonic solutions include scalability, allowing an increase in the volume of transmitted content as the audience grows, flexibility in the choice of protocols and devices, as well as support for cloud and local solutions, which gives the opportunity to choose the optimal option depending on the company's specific needs. Additionally, Flussonic solutions provide high reliability and fault tolerance, which is especially important for large projects where loss of connection or video quality problems can lead to significant losses. Flussonic also provides extensive capabilities for data analysis and monitoring. Users can track stream performance, analyze the audience, and identify bottlenecks in the infrastructure. This allows them to quickly respond to problems and optimize the system for better service quality. High automation of many processes reduces the load on technical staff and decreases the likelihood of errors.

Practical Examples of Streaming Video Use

Use in Different Industries

Streaming video finds application in various industries. In education, it is used for online courses, webinars, and lecture broadcasts, making education more accessible and interactive. In business, it's used for conference broadcasts, product presentations, and real-time customer interactions. In entertainment, streaming video has become the foundation for services such as online cinemas, music concerts, and streaming platforms. In healthcare, streaming video allows doctors to consult patients remotely and perform surgeries using telemedicine. In video surveillance, streaming video is used for security and facility monitoring, allowing companies to respond quickly to any incidents.

How Flussonic Helps in These Industries

Flussonic products help ensure quality streaming in all the above industries, thanks to advanced technical solutions and flexibility in settings. For example, IPTV and OTT platforms can use Flussonic Media Server to ensure stable video delivery to their clients, even under high loads. The server supports distributed storage and real-time video transcoding, allowing the stream to be adapted to different devices and connection speeds, ensuring smooth playback and minimal delay. In the field of video surveillance, Flussonic helps companies organize facility monitoring with the ability to analyze recordings in real-time, allowing not only to record what is happening but also to analyze data for more informed decisions. Integration with analytical modules allows processes to be automated, such as detecting suspicious activities or tracking movements in the surveillance zone. In education, Flussonic solutions allow online classes and interactive webinars with high video quality and minimal delays, making learning more convenient and accessible. Support for various streaming video formats and the ability to record lectures makes the product especially useful for educational platforms aiming to improve the quality of distance learning.

Symbolic image reflecting the concept of remote video surveillance and control using streaming video

Conclusion

Streaming video opens new opportunities for businesses and individual users, allowing easy and quick access to content. Flussonic solutions, such as Flussonic Media Server, provide all the necessary tools for organizing quality streaming, transcoding, and video storage. Scalability, support for various protocols, and integration with cloud solutions make Flussonic an ideal partner for businesses looking to take multimedia content to a new level.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)