Audio Video Streaming

HDMI is currently the best choice for Audio and Video connections.  Because it transfers both audio and video on one cable, in an uncompressed format, it’s perfect for high definition displays and setups.  HDMI is also compatible with the latest digital transmission standards like HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection).

HDMI has one main drawback.  Unfortunately it is not designed for long cable runs.  The higher the resolution and the longer the cable, the more the signal has a chance of become degraded.  This is because the cables are manufactured using twisted copper pairs of very small-gauge wire.  Unlike normal coaxial cable, this makes interference and degradation a reality whenever dealing with lengths over 50 feet.

Fortunately, the wise creators of the HDMI standard thought long and hard about their specification.  Because they choose to include a line for power within the cable, it has become possible to power repeaters that are internal to the cable.  Normally, signal boosters and repeaters need an external power source to boost the signal, but because of it’s design, HDMI can actually be extended without an external power source.

These types of HDMI repeaters come in several varieties.  There are cables with repeaters built in, as well as plug in repeaters that will connect two HDMI cables together while actively repeating the signal.  A converter can also be used to change the HDMI signal into a signal that will travel over standard Cat5 cable.  With this type of system, a unit is placed at either end of the cable run to transform the signal to go over cat5, and then transform it back to HDMI on the other end.

If extra care is needed for your signal, external power can also be used for your HDMI repeater.  This is a good idea because many HDMI sources simply don’t output the power needed to do a good job of repeating the signal.  Even cables with built-in repeaters often allow for an external power supply to be attached.  This is just a little extra protection for your signal and may be a good idea depending on the situation in which the repeater is needed.

Since HDMI is a digital signal, it cannot be degraded much before the picture and audio is not longer decipherable.  On analog signals, you can get quite a bit of degradation before the picture is totally gone.  On digital signals, corrupt is corrupt, you will start to see major artifacts with only a little bit of signal degradation.

This is why it’s important to use a proper repeater for all your long cable runs.  Do your research and find out which extender option is best for you: built-in, standalone repeater, or cat5 HDMI extender.  No matter what the situation is, there is probably a solution that will work for you.

What is podcasting you ask?

Podcasting is a way of broadcasting messages over the internet.  It allows for subscription to feeds most commonly in MP3 format.  Podcasting is a way to automatically transfer files from server to client.  The files can be in several formats, images, text, PDF, almost any type which makes this type of broadcasting very flexible.

The term podcasting refers not only to audio files but refers to video files as well, therefore it is actually a “show” of different file formats. Podcasting does not require any “over the air” usage which keeps costs down.

The podcast feeds allow the users to use the audio broadcast on their own computer by downloading the “podcast”.The contents can then be read using an RSS or Atom Reader.

Using audio files within web pages is becoming more and more popular.

First you need to decide what type of audio content you will incorporate into your website. Then you will need to ensure all the proper hardware and software is available to accomplish this task.

For good quality recordings you will need a good quality microphone. Always check and make sure your microphone is compatible with your computer sound card. High quality microphones specifically geared toward the audio recording industry will work best.  Again compatibility needs to be checked.

Good quality audio software is also needed.  There are many software programs available for free on the internet, but best quality will be through more sophisticated audio creator software available online.

Some podcasting software packages available are:

Itunes , iPodder, jPodder, iPodder.  These software packages are available for the Mac, PC, Linux.  Again just like before check for compatibility with the computer operating system being used.

Most computers already come with audio recording software already installed. Many sound card manufacturers also provide audio recording software with the installation package.

Once you have located the software on your computer or installed the software you will need to adjust the settings to improve the quality. Use the help files within your audio recording software on how to accomplish this.

There has been a big trend these days on watching TV on Pc. This is a convergence between computers, internet (broadband) and the television universe.

Most of the people are using PC-TV to watch their favorite: sports, movies and many other programs not always shown on the local TV channels. With the emergence of Broadband, the quality has improved enormously, bringing high-resolution and crystal clear sound. We are talking here about PC TV-via-the-Internet and not TV Tuner card.

IPTV - Internet Protocol Television - is around the corner: BT and Microsoft having recently announced a partnership to deliver a range of services covering sports, entertainment and news direct to your home via the internet.

But you do not need to wait for this IPTV or Venice Project (by Skype creators).

Today there are many sites, proclaiming to provide you the necessary software and know how for enabling you to watch shows that otherwise wouldn't be available.

We have checked several of them. The first question is that real? Yes it is. In addition the cost is very low.

There are many sites offering you such a service, not all of them are good, but few are worth your money.

The one we consider to be one of the best is called satliveonpc.com. They are offering you a subscription of one year at a very low price and they give you all the needed software and instructions.

They have also a lot of updates. Weakness, they are not always Apple compatible.

You can take the next shuttle to the moon or planet Mars on NASA's dime. Would you jump for joy and suit-up, or would you cringe at the very thought of leaving this planet's atmosphere? I'm on the fence with this one. A part of me wants to see and experience outer space so badly, but another part of me is frightened. It's difficult to not associate death with outer space. After all, we've seen what can happen to those billion dollar space shuttles. I think for a lot of us, it's best to stick with a planetarium, current space video or DVD. This way we can get a glimpse of what our universe has to offer, but without any danger involved.

Millions of us watched as a civilian, school teacher, climbed into a shuttle headed for outer space. This was back in the 1980s, so I was in elementary school at the time. My teacher happily flipped on the television so that our entire class could view in amazement. Unfortunately our amazement was not related to viewing a successful take-off. Some aspect of the space shuttle was faulty and all went wrong. Lives were ended and hopes were shattered. It was undoubtingly a dismal day for NASA. However, there have also been plenty of successful journeys into outer space as well. You can catch the highlights on a contemporary space video or DVD at home. Teach your children what the folks at NASA have accomplished over the years.

Clearly there is more to becoming involved with NASA than watching a space video or two and feeling passionate about astronomy. If you're really into the stars and moons, I suggest you pursue a college degree in Astronomy or physics. Even better yet, most individuals with a passion for outer space will go the extra mile and acquire a PhD. This way you can become a professor, who teaches the wonders of astronomy, or possibly even acquire a position at NASA. That would be amazing! Imagine telling people you know that you work for NASA. Who can vie with that?

MP3 is the latest and the most popular audio format that is used
now.  This acronym stands for MPEG Layer 3.  It is a compressed
audio format with a compression ratio of up to 12: 1.  The sound
quality of the audio in this format is very high.  A normal audio file,
which is 1200 KB in size, can be stored in just 100 KB if it is using
the MP3 format.  The size of the audio files is very small when
compared to other formats of audio files.  This makes it easily
portable.

Where to get MP3 audio files?

MP3 audio files are widely available in CDs now.  Almost any album
that is released in the world is also sold in the MP3 audio format. 
These albums in the MP3 formats are also available in some
websites that are dedicated for MP3 downloads.  You can also
purchase these MP3 CDs at any audio store meant for that
purpose.

MP3 downloads

Free MP3 downloads are also available in some of the websites. 
You need to become a member of these sites for a fee to
download unlimited number of songs in the MP3 format.  Some of
the sites charge you for each song that is downloaded.  Free MP3
downloads for testing the quality of the audio is usually provided
by most of these websites.  Websites like www.napster.com allow
free MP3 downloads if you have MP3 players from select
manufacturers.  You can download directly to the player by using
the software provided by the website.

How to play a MP3 audio file?

To play a MP3 audio you need separate players whether it is
software or a physical player that can be carried.  MP3 software
players are used in your PC to play MP3 audio.  Physical players
from many branded manufacturers are available in the market to
play these MP3 audio files.

MP3 Ringtones

With the advent of the mobile phones, it has become a fashion to
make your mobile call you with your favorite songs as Ringtones. 
Youngsters particularly teenagers are more interested in using
Ringtones of the songs they like.  This has picked up in such a
manner that MP3 Ringtones are now being sold in websites.  Many
websites sell Ringtones in the MP3 format.  The mobile you are
using should be capable of playing the Ringtones in the MP3 format
to use these MP3 Ringtones.  These websites provide you with an
interface to select the model of the mobile phone you have and
then download MP3 Ringtones that suit your mobile phone model.

If you want to put video on your website you must have a good knowledge of the basic video file types. What video file type to use? what are the pros and cons of each file type? These are just some of the questions you should ask yourself before proceeding with video implementation on your webpages.

There are three basic video file types on the internet. Mpeg, AVI and Quicktime. I believe the Quicktime file type is the most popular since a lot of huge entertainment and news sites use it exclusively on their web pages.

AVI is the oldest of the three main file types. It is a windows oriented video format but it's not the most popular because of the sound and video compatibility and synchronizing problems. Because the Quicktime format can be used on either a windows or a macintosh computer, the AVI video file type loses it's popularity every day.

The mpeg format is a popular video file type that uses it's high output quality to increase it's popularity over the Quicktime format. Mpeg is used on video games, cd-roms and other media that require high output quality. One disadvantage of mpeg is that it sacrifices file size to gain in digital quality. The mpeg video files are usually large.

Another disadvantage of the mpeg format is that you really need time and sophisticated hardware and software to convert plain video into mpeg. And let's not forget that the mpeg format is not supported by apple and macintosh meaning that if you put mpeg video on your website, those users with macintosh will not be able to see it.

Quicktime is by far the most popular video file type developed by apple for macintosh users, but is also compatible with the IBM-compatible machines and the windows operating systems. The hardware and software you need to digitize video into the Quicktime format is very inexpensive, compared to the mpeg format. So its much easier and cheaper to create video and put it on your website using the Quicktime format.

Online video publishing has indeed taken the Internet by storm in recent years, making the use of video for marketing, promotion, news and PR online a true key strategic component and a key business differentiator for internet marketers who want to communicate effectively about their product profile and benefits within the shortest possible of time.

Internet is full of information and the average attention span of a web user today is measured in seconds. When web users search for their information at a search engine, they will get thousands of search results; when they visit your website, they may only spend a few seconds and little efforts to scan through what you are selling or proposing and decide whether your content, style, look and approach are a good fit for what they were actually looking for. These first few seconds are crucial and if you can delivery clear and targeted message by offering a fast, highly visual way to get their further attention and engage their interest, you have done bingo.

Does this mean that you just need to simply put up 10-min video tutorial on your website or just slamming some video contents up on your web pages, you will instantly sell more products or services? If this is your way of marketing with video on the web and hoping to get high conversion rate of traffic-to-sales, you will more toward getting disappointments than good news.

In order to make your video to effectively market your products/services online and convey your product/service key traits and characteristics within a very short amount of time in a unique, memorable way. These are a few rules of thumb to follow:

<strong>1. Get Your Video Seen</strong>

If you want your video to be your effective marketing tool, it must be able to see by as many web users as possible. Hence, don't just keep and tight your video inside your web site borders. Let your video content be free and distributed to the majors video sharing websites such as YouTube and Google video so that not only others can watch and talk about it, but they can easily download it, redistribute it, if not even publish it directly on their own sites.

<strong>2. Small File &amp; Load Fast</strong>

Statistics show that average web users spend their time waiting for a page to load is about 7 seconds. Web pages that take longer than 7 seconds to load, their visitors normally are on the verge of clicking away and visit other website. Hence, you need to make sure your video file is small enough, ideally less than 1 megabyte and load almost in real time to keep the interest your visitors. AVI is the most common video format, the file size can easily exist 10 megabytes for a short 2-3 minutes video; hence if you share your video in this format, you most probably will get &quot;click away&quot; from you visitors because of long loading time of your video file. Hence, you must get a video format conversion tool to convert your video to a more internet friendly format such as SWF format.

<strong>3. Let Them Know It's A Video, A Short Video</strong>

If the web users do not know that it is a video, they won't click it and play it; hence your video will get watch. So, you must let the web users know that the &quot;box&quot; is a video; the best way is to make it look like a video / VCR-like by having a play and stop button where the web users can click to play the video and stop it whenever they want to stop it.

Let the web users know also this is a short video. No one wants to sit through a 30 minute presentation on the history of your company; be focused on your products/services and deliver your messages preferable within 2 minutes.