STREAMING GLOSSARY
Definitions, examples and related terms for this part of your viewing setup.
TERMS & EXAMPLES
Unicast sends data from one sender to one addressed receiver. An internet streaming service commonly serves separate requests to each viewing device, even when many people watch the same programme. Caching can reduce repeated work elsewhere in the delivery system, but each viewer still needs sufficient last-mile network capacity.
Read more →Multicast allows a network to deliver packets to members of a particular group rather than sending a separate copy from the source to every receiver. It requires support and configuration within the participating network. It is different from ordinary internet unicast playback and is not a feature that a player can universally enable.
Read more →Broadcast is the distribution of the same signal or data to an audience, and its technical meaning depends on context. Traditional radio or television broadcasting differs from a network's local broadcast packets. Describing a programme as a broadcast does not identify the particular internet transport used by a streaming app.
Read more →A content delivery network uses distributed infrastructure to deliver resources closer to users or through suitable network locations. It can cache content and distribute demand across servers. A CDN may help a streaming service scale, but the viewer's connection, the origin, cache rules and media source still affect the result.
Read more →An origin server is the source from which a delivery system obtains a resource, such as a playlist or media file. A CDN or proxy may serve a copy to the viewer instead of exposing the origin directly. Origin availability, capacity and configuration can therefore affect users even when intermediary servers are healthy.
Read more →An edge server is a delivery endpoint positioned within a distributed network to handle requests nearer to users or suitable network routes. It may serve cached content or fetch resources upstream. The edge is one part of the delivery path, not the programme source, subscription provider or home router.
Read more →Adaptive bitrate playback lets a compatible player choose among several encoded versions of the same presentation as conditions change. The source must provide suitable alternatives and switching information. A player can then balance available delivery capacity, buffer state and device capabilities, rather than relying on one fixed encoded stream throughout viewing.
Read more →The live edge is the most recently available part of a live media presentation that a player can access. Viewers usually play some distance behind it to allow time for production, encoding, delivery and buffering. Being closer to the live edge can reduce delay but leaves less room to absorb interruptions.
Read more →A segment is a timed piece of media used by segmented streaming systems. A playlist or manifest tells the player where to obtain the pieces and how they fit into the presentation. Segment length, encoding and availability influence startup, seeking, quality switching and the amount of content a player can hold ahead.
Read more →A manifest describes the resources and timing of a media presentation. Depending on the format, it can identify stream variants, media segments, audio options or other components a player needs. It normally points to media rather than containing the full programme itself, so successful parsing is only one stage of playback.
Read more →LET’S GET YOU STARTED
Install a suitable player, then WhatsApp us for your 24-hour trial.