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Findings

By Dr. Edgar Huang and Clifford Marsiglio

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis

Disclaimer: This unfunded independent study does not mean to promote or demote any software programs.

Professionals from 144 computers accessed the survey site from around the world and successfully answered the questions. Among the computers used for accessing the survey site, 64% were PCs and 36% Macs. This proportion obviously did not reflect the real world situation, where the computers accessing the Internet take only about 3%. This over-sampling of Mac computers, however, can better tell how well Windows Media and Real performed, both of which are PC-oriented. It is a well-known fact that many IT and communication professionals, especially graphic and video producers, use Macs. The initial Internet connection speeds detected are as follows:

• 768kbps and above: 20%
• 767-384kbps: 30%
• 383-128kbps: 37%
• Below 128kbps: 13%

How does this relate to the real world situation?

Pretty well. According to a recent 2006 Pew Internet & American Life Project almost 50% of homes of those that have taken some college coursework have broadband internet. For those coming in from a household where at least one adult member has completely college, the numbers rise to 60%. When taken into consideration our target audience for this study is Education, and that the Pew study looks at not only Dial-Up vs. Broadband Adoption, but at only the presence Broadband within the house and no other comparison, it is believed these numbers are representative of the audience in question.

VX30

Our study shows that VX30 has the best potential to become an ideal technology for video streaming. Out of the five streaming technologies, like Flash, VX30 can be best accessed by users because its streaming is based on the widely adopted Java technology. This study shows a moderately higher pre-installation rate of Java Run Time (94%) than the 87.3% in the most recent NPD online survey. This fact is not surprising because the Mac infrastructure is Java-based.

Similar to Real and Windows Media, VX30's Zentu Encoder generates the smallest video file size. Further more, Zentu Encoder is one of the fastest and least expensive encoders that produce the image quality only second to Flash. Zentu needs improvement on buffering and rebuffering performance.

VX30 is not well known among the streaming video community, let alone the general public, but it has some unique features that other streaming technologies don't have. Here is an overall picture of the VX30 streaming technology.

• VX30 streams off a regular HTTP server using the HTTP protocol. In other words, the cost on a streaming server is $0 because a streaming server is not needed.
  
• VX30 can do all other streaming technologies do on a streaming server, such as detecting bandwidths, collecting live statistics regarding streaming, and doing live Webcast.
  
• VX30 is a playerless streaming technology. A Java applet it sent to the user's computer when a video is called. After the streaming is over, the applet is gone.
  
• VX30 uses its proprietary Zentu Encoder to encode VX30 streaming videos. Zentu Encoder supports batch processing. Encoding with the Zentu Encoder is enjoyably fast. In fact, encoding and Web authoring are done together. After the streaming files are created by Zentu Encoder, the only thing left to do is to FTP all the files to an HTTP server.

VX30 won an overall score of 1.86 in our test. It is the No. 1 streaming technology.

Flash

Flash is another very promising streaming technology though it is a late comer in the streaming community. Flash did not gain streaming power until 2004. Flash tops our performance chart four out of seven counts. It has the best user accessibility and generates the best image quality; and Flash streaming video has the shortest initial buffering time and least rebuffering. Flash Player has continually topped the pre-installation rate chart in the NPD online surveys. This excellent technology, however, does not come cheap. Actually, it is the most expensive streaming technology. Its good image quality and streaming quality are based on huge file sizes and excessively long encoding time. The latter three factors could, to certain degree, reduce its compatativeness in the market. In addition, the Web-authoring and server setup for multi-data-rate Flash video streaming needs to be streamlined. Right now, it takes a big learning curve.

Flash won an overall score of 2.43. It is the No. 2 streaming technology.

Window Media

Windows Media Encoder is the fastest encoder in the world. It takes one minute to encode one minute of video. It enjoys almost universal accessibility on PCs, but it has trouble displaying properly on Macs. For details on how to encode for Mac, see the Windows Media Streaming Video Tutorial. Overall, it has a mediocre performance.

Windows Media won an overall score of 3.00. It is the No. 3 streaming technology.

Real

In our study, except that it could generate the smallest video file size, as small as the VX30 one, Real had average or below average performances on all other counts. Real format is the least accessible across the two operating systems and has the longest initial buffering delay. Real was the company that introduced the first streaming technology to the world in 1997, but it seems that it has lagged behind now.

Real won an overall score of 3.29. It is the No. 4 streaming technology.

QuickTime

QuickTime is the least expensive streaming technology ($30 for purchasing QuickTime Pro), but it scored the lowest in four out of seven counts. In addition, it has a complicated process to Web-author multi-data-rate streaming.

QuickTime won an overall score of 3.86. It is the No. 5 streaming technology.

Legend:

• F: Flash
  
• Q: QuickTime
  
• R: Real
  
• V: VX30
  
• W: Windows Media

 

 

 

 

 

 

© 2006 Edgar Huang, Clif C. Marsiglio
Last updated: August 2006