Types of video

It is possible to take video direct from a camcorder and upload the video file. These are known as avi files. The disadvantage of doing this is that the files are very large and must be downloaded in their entirety before viewing. This can take a very long time and the internet surfer is likely to have lost interest long before the video has downloaded. The only advantage is doing this is that the quality remains unaltered.

The preferred type of video file is a compressed streaming video. This means the file is made smaller (with some loss of quality) and it will start playing almost immediately- provided the internet connection is fast enough. The main types of streaming video are:

RealMedia

This is a format familiar to many internet users and is popular for pop videos etc. It is cross-platform i.e. it will work on Windows, Mac and other operating systems. Example

Quick Time

Another cross-platform format , developed by Apple

Windows Media

Familiar to all PC users, this is the only format that comes as standard on a Windows system See example

Flash video

An exciting development because Flash is present on perhaps 98% of computers.It is possible to synchronize a Flash presentation with a video contained within it Read more