Streaming Media

Streaming media enables real-time or on-demand access to audio, video or any other multimedia content via the Internet. It is transmitted via a specialized media server application, and then played back by the end user via a player application such as QuickTime. In the past, such material had to be fully downloaded and saved to disk before it could be accessed, but with the advent of faster computers and the proliferation of broadband Internet connections, it is now possible to view or hear video or audio files as they are being delivered. However, streaming media generally leaves behind no copy of the content on the receiving device unless the user chooses to save the data to disk.