What's the best video format for video streaming?

[USA Gaucho]

What is the best video format to stream video on the web?

I looked for an answer to this question in the “forums” and “how to…” but I didn’t find it. Perhaps I didn’t look in the right place.

I have a 10 minute video show about my home that I want to show on my site. My audience is small and made up of people that are really interested on seeing the show. They are aware that it will take a few minutes to download.

Sincerely,
USA Gaucho

[teegee420]

WMV and Real Media are good. Between the two I'd go with WMV because most people won't have to download any additional software to play it. Have a look at Windows Media Encoder.

[artistdomain]

"Streaming" is streaming. "Downloading before watching" is downloading before watching. Even so-called "HTTP streaming" is not streaming in the strict sense of the term.

True "streaming" is RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol) and requires streaming server software to be installed and running on the host server. It monitors the fluctuation of the connection speed between the server itself and any particular viewer. When the connection speed drops, it transparently drops down to a lower bitrate stream - and then jumps back up if/when the connection speed increases. RealVideo calls this "SureStreaming." Windows Media Video calls this "Intelligent Streaming.

Personally speaking, I would recommend looking for a host that offers Real Media Streaming. Windows Media Video's Intelligent Streaming needs to be run from a Windows Host - as opposed to a Unix or Linux host and is usually (always in my experience) more expensive. In terms of quality, Real Video 10 is as good as it gets in terms of quality. Version 10 offers a 30 percent reduction in compressed file size, while maintaing the same quality as version 9. Or you could alternatively get significantly better quality and maintain the same compressed file size.

Good luck.

Wade