Media on the web

There are many different formats for playing digitized audio and video materials through your website. The critical issue in most cases is load time. There are two situations:
If you want to play a short presentation or a small repeating loop, it will usually be downloaded in an appropriate format along with the other elements of the page and then played, either on demand or when the page loads.

For a longer musical score or video presentation the best approach is to use a streaming format such as Real Audio or Real Video. In this case the material is stored on a Real Audio/video server as a file which may be very large. However, instead of downloading and then playing the entire file, only a short initial section is loaded to provide a buffer which allows you to play on through short variations in network speed. The material is then played out of one end of the buffer while new material is being loaded into the other end from the server. Because only the material actually in the buffer is stored in your computer, the result is much like listening to a radio broadcast. It can begin quickly regardless of the actual total length, and it can play indefinitely without filling up your computer.

Advanced streaming technologies will allow you to synchronize audio and video streams to create commented slide show presentations, to broadcast live audio and video presentations, and to tailor size and resolution of images and quality of sound to the user's connection speed, and even to the current state of internet traffic.

Streaming Advanced Monitoring

Fuzzy, off-centre images, choppy sounds, multiple buffering or server unavailable…are your users really satisfied with the quality of your audio-video streaming?

For managers of streaming platforms or sites offering streaming services, Microbit proposes its continuous monitoring system to check the quality of your audio-video broadcasts. Our innovative approach relies on simulating the behaviour of your Internet and/or Intranet users.

Solution features

Microbit supervises audio-video streaming in Real Networks® and Windows Media® formats

• in both Internet and Intranet environments,
• whatever the streaming mode: HTTP, TCP or UDP.

Microbit monitors your streaming by analysing the 3 major components of the restitution quality of an audio or video stream

• stream quality, as indicated by the rate of packet loss,
• streaming continuity, as indicated by the number of buffering phases,
• actual stream rate, as compared to the rate announced.

Main functions

• Continuous measurements available 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, as frequently as you choose and at the geographic locations you select.
• Multi-mode alerts in real-time according to two levels of severity.
• Diagnosis with continuous analysis.
• Reporting with complete performance reports available on-line and by e-mail.

Concrete and immediate advantages

• Manage more confidently every day
  • View your streaming quality in real-time.
  • Better anticipate and deal with incidents thanks to a highly developed alert system and continuous diagnostic functions.
• Obtain relevant indicators for the marketing and pilot phase of your project
  • Benefit from real-time performance data.
  • Better understand and know your visitors and their behaviour.
  • Gain performance indicators that reinforce the overall credibility of your service in the eyes of your clients and partners.
• Simple and quick to set up, no modifications of your existing systems are required.
• The choice between a 100% ASP solution and an entirely dedicated solution.