Dare To Stream

Entrepreneur, Feb, 2001 by Mike Hogan

Thanks to streaming video, your directorial debut is closer than you think.

It's not exactly just like being there. But streaming video is closer to it than anything we've experienced so far. Dare we say it? Streaming video will change the way you interact with the Internet and all your digital devices.

So often, technology is oversold--and this one is getting the usual hype. Nortel Networks has a TV commercial in which a guy giving a speech is prompted by his assistant, who's streaming in over his PDA. The image on the PDA looks like something off a 27inch TV. Sure, it'll happen--but it won't be for a year or two still.

Streaming video (of which live audio is a part) still remains a relatively new file compression/ decompression technology that enables images with sound to be streamed from a video camera or other digital device to a Web site and then, in turn, to one or more PCs--even over narrowband phone lines. Eventually, receiving devices will include PDAs and cell phones.

Viewers need only authorized access to the broadcast Web site and, depending on the software used to create the images, Real Networks' RealPlayer, Windows Media Player or Apple's QuickTime to view broadcast images as they're being filmed. This software usually comes standard on Windows and Mac PCs.

Without streaming technology, the only way to view these usually jumbo multimedia files is to download them to your PC'S hard drive first. Multimedia has been distributed as e-mail attachments for some time but to mixed reviews. "A friend often becomes an enemy if you attach a video clip to his e-mail," says Gad Liwerant, president and CEO of VideoShare, a video application service provider (ASP) in Watertown, Massachusetts. "You tie up his PC until the file attachment is downloaded."

Streaming video, on the other hand, can be delivered as a clickable Web link in an e-mail message that doesn't need to be viewed until the recipient is ready. Also, instead of first downloading an entire multimedia file, you start viewing a streaming video as it's being decompressed and before the entire file reaches your computer. Finally, you don't have to store large streaming video files on your hard drive unless you want to.

While image quality can vary by a lot of factors--such as the quality of the webcam used, the size of the viewing frame and the amount of cache memory on the receiving PC--the really limiting factor is the bandwidth of the communications medium, says Matt Parks, senior product manager at Keynote Systems, a company that monitors Web site performance for companies.

People on 56Kbps dial-up modems can receive, at best, a jerky 15 frames per second (fps) in a small window-- usually less as connection quality varies, says Parks. The smoothness of the moving images can improve to a satisfactory 16 to 20 fps in a larger window for users of DSL, cable, T1, T3 and other high-speed Internet connections, which Parks says is comparable to a VCR cassette. The long-term goal is the full broadcast quality of 30 fps-- equivalent to what you see on cable or broadcast TV, or using a DVD player.

DOWN TO BUSINESS

Streaming video is used for consumer applications, such as letting people videoconference with faraway loved ones over ordinary phone lines. Video clips can be posted for later download on free personal Web sites run by manufacturers of production software, like VideoShare (www.videoshare.com), UstreamIt (www.ustreamit.com) and Inetcam (www.inetcam.com). VideoShare provides the server space, software and other services to the customers of Excite's BlueMountain.com, which subscribers can use to send free video greeting cards. Other sites let you create videos for resumes, auction items and more.

URLs of video clips are easily embedded in instant messaging services for cell phones, PDAs and other Internet-enabled devices. Companies like TeVeo and PacketVideo expect to introduce solutions to the obvious problems of viewing videos on such small screens early this year. But while there's no question video broadcasts look better on TV; you don't always have a TV where you have an Internet device, so analysts are generally positive about the growth prospects of this medium.

Streaming video is yet another technology being jump-started by consumers--not unlike free e-mail and instant messaging before it. But what does streaming video mean for business? For one thing, you may find a way to make a few bucks off this new technology. VideoShare, for one, provides turnkey video services for larger corporations. Then there's Inetcam, which is focused on selling its iVista software. The company recently reached a deal to bundle its software with eMachines' computers.

If you're not quite ready to make a business of it, streaming video still offers a low-cost solution for one-to-one videoconferencing among workgroup members in different offices and for management broadcasts. Large companies are beginning to send out financial reports and analyst briefings over streaming video. If you can't visit a customer or other important contact, a live streaming videoconference is the next best thing--followed by downloading a sales or training presentation. But the biggest payoff could be in customer support, via downloadable videos in which service personnel walk customers through product problems.