How Streaming Video and Audio Work?

Are you wondering how do streaming audio and video work? In the 1990s, listening to music and watching videos was more dreadful and annoying than it is now.  Watching videos was challenging because everything was pixilated that made it hard to see anything. And in case, you had a dial-up connection or slow computer, all you saw was the word buffering instead of watching a video or listening to a song. 

Gone are the days when streaming audio and the video was anything but fun. For a long time, we have been streaming content from the internet. Now, the internet is synonymous with services such as YouTube, Amazon Prime, and Netflix.

So, what is streaming and how does it work? In this post, we have talked about this in detail. 

What is Streaming?

For those who don’t know, streaming is a way of listening to songs or watching videos without downloading the file on your device. Instead, the media is downloaded piece by piece in real-time remotely. The information is sent to your computer in a steady and continuous stream. 

How Does Streaming Work?

When you are streaming a song or a movie, the computer will download and decode little pieces of the media file. Streaming a video or audio is similar to watching a VHS tape. Each second of audio and video is scanned piece by piece. If there are any interruptions, the audio or video will stop immediately. This will end your watching or listening experience. 

In simple words, the video or audio data is broken down into packets. And every packet consists of small parts of the file. The video or audio player in your computer’s browser will take the flow of data packets. Then, it will interpret the data packets into audio or video. 

For sending a video over the internet, requires a fast method of transferring the data. If you have an extremely fast internet connection, the media file will be downloaded before you have finished watching it. This is the reason why you can stream the video or audio when there is no internet. 

How Streaming is Made Faster?

Just like other web content, there are performance degradations and delays in streaming as well. This is because the streamed content is remotely stored. The hosting location also has a crucial role to play in streaming. 

For instance, you are in New York and streaming Netflix from a server in Los Gatos. This means the content will have to cross a lot of miles to reach you. It will make the video buffering time long. So, to reduce the buffering time, streaming providers use distributed Content Delivery Networks (CDN). This network stores the content closer to the location of the user, so video or audio startup time is short and buffering is reduced. 

If you are looking for a good audio streaming site, MSNBC Radio is an ideal choice. You can listen to the news through MSNBC live audio and you can even listen to the popular radio programs. It is a great way to stay updated on current political situations and news.