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Steaming Media.com -- For additional terms:
http://www.streamingmedia.com/Glossary/

Algorithm:
A complex mathematical procedure or formula which seeks out repetitive data and replaces it with a code representing the scope of repetitive data. The DCT formula which determines how to compress and decompress data and more advanced DCT algorithms also take into consideration the limitations of human perception.

Buffer (noun):
Space allocated on a system‚ as Random Access Memory (RAM), where data is stored temporarily until it is transferred to another part of the system. In streaming applications, buffers store video or audio data until there is enough information for the stream to be composed.

Buffer (verb):
Also, buffering, to buffer, etc. Congestion, either on a network or at the central processor of a device, may cause the device to buffer. Describes a situation which occurs when a streaming media player is saving portions of a streaming media file to local storage for playback. Most streaming media players buffer a small percentage of a streaming media presentation before beginning to play it. Buffering also may occur in the middle of a presentation, when available bandwidth does not match the presentation's required bandwidth. Adaptive bitrate encoding and decoding, for instance, seeks to eliminate buffering.

Broadcast Types:
Streaming media broadcast types define both the server-to-client connection as well as the immediacy of broadcast delivery, such as whether content is broadcast live or merely rebroadcast in a simulated live scenario.

Devices:
Generally referred to as an end-user appliance, a device can take the form of a mobile handset, a set-top box, or a myriad of other products. Laptop and desktop computers are sometimes called devices, but often only in the context of a specific type of media delivery. The explosive growth of mobile devices in the past decade has led to a marked shift in the way streaming media is delivered.

Delivery Types:
There are two primary types of delivery for non-live content: progressive downloads and rebroadcasts or simulated live broadcasts

Digital (noun):
An electronic technology that generates, stores, and processes data in terms of two states: positive and non-positive. Positive is expressed or represented by the number 1 and non-positive by the number 0. Data transmitted or stored with digital technology is expressed as a string of 0's and 1's. Each of these state digits is referred to as a bit (and a string of bits that a computer can address individually as a group is a byte). Before Digital technology evolved there was analog, and digital audio/video seek to represent the analog values, while eliminating massive storage needs, by balancing the use of higher sampling rates to increase fidelity, while at the same time adding compression to reduce overall storage or transmission size.

Interstitial:
Any web-based advertisement which occurs before, after, or during a narrative content presentation. For example, if streaming media terminology were applied to regular television, standard television commercials would be called interstitials, since they interrupt programming.

Multicast:
A process which allows a server to send one stream to all recipients, regardless of their requested status. This is different from traditional unicast streaming media, where each user connects separately to a server to request content. Sometimes also referred to as broadcast delivery, after the over-the-air television model where the signal can reach any given television without the TV requesting content.

New Media:
Term used to describe relatively new forms of media distribution such as the Internet, CD-ROM, DVD, or non-traditional broadcast.

Platform:
The term platform in streaming media often refers to the use of a server-based delivery solution.

Rebroadcast:
A simulated "live" stream of a completed audio/video program which is presented on the web as though it were live. Audience members must view the program at particular times, and the content is not available for on-demand viewing. If the scheduled start time has already passed, audience members will join the program in progress.

Rich Media:
A form of new media that has been enhanced with animation or video. Rich media ads are animated, and often streamed, so that they appear more like television commercials, as opposed to ads containing static images and text. They can be embedded in Web pages and inserted into or between video clips. Using SMIL, they can be streamed concurrent to audio programming.

Streaming Media:
Streaming media technology enables the real time or on demand distribution of audio, video and multimedia on the internet. Streaming media is the simultaneous transfer of digital media (video, voice, and data) so that it is received as a continuous real-time stream. Streamed data is transmitted by a server application and received and displayed in real-time by client applications. These applications can start displaying video or playing back audio as soon as enough data has been received and stored in the receiving station's buffer. A streamed file is simultaneously downloaded and viewed, but leaves behind no physical file on the viewer's machine.

Unicast:
A process which forces each individual user to make an individual connection to a server to receive a stream.

Webcast:
A live broadcast, over the Internet, an intranet, or an IP network, delivered to users on the web.

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