The most common formats to create streaming video include the following:

1. Adobe Flash (FLV)
2. QuickTime
3. RealMedia
4. Windows Media

Each format has its own advantages and disadvantages so you need to choose based on your personal preference. FLV continues to dominate the video streaming market thanks to power users such as YouTube, Reuters.com and Google Video.

Many small webmasters, as well as large publishing companies prefer FLV streaming. The reason is simple: FLV video streaming not only costs less, but it’s also supported across a wider variety of cross-platforms. Because it is such a common plugin, most users are able to view any videos that have been created using the FLV format.

If you are a webmaster who receives a moderate volume of online traffic, you can create a more fulfilling user experience by storing FLV videos and embedding the content into your website. If you utilize progressive download streaming, your online visitors will be able to view a video as soon as they click on the video link.

Another advantage of progressive download streaming is the fact that you don’t require a special streaming server to host your video files. This also means that visitors won’t be forced to download the entire video in order to view it. If you are a webmaster who is considering adding video to your website, you won’t need to pay for costly dedicated video streaming servers.

Because Flash utilizes SWF and FLV files as its two main formats, FLV is well suited to progressive downloading. The HTML/PHP/ASP pages contain embedded SWF files which become the online video player. Webmasters can store FLV files on an internal or external server so they can be streamed via the online video players.

Anyone who wishes to include videos on their website can decide whether to host their own files or upload videos to popular video sharing sites such as YouTube. Hosting your own videos using the FLV format and progressive download streaming is the most cost-effective solution. You can convert most videos to the FLV format with the use of a high quality FLV converter.

You have many available choices when it comes to including video on your website. However, streaming software can be costly if you are looking for providing the highest quality videos. Fortunately, the FLV format provides compact, high quality streaming video. Now is a great time to attract more visitors to your website by including some of the latest web video players!

Streaming video technology is useful for real-time and on-demand requests. A common use for streaming video is for broadcasting news over the Internet. Some of the bigger news networks even provide live news video streaming on their websites. Another common use for streaming videos is for viewing movie clips. Many movie studios provide previews or trailers of their upcoming film features through streaming video clips. Also from the entertainment business, music labels use this technology to stream music videos for the public.

With the sudden emergence of portable web-cameras, one of the growing uses for streaming videos is for video conferencing. Computer chat programs often come with video conferencing functions that let chatters see the person they are chatting with. This feature not only allows Internet users to hear the voices of their friends or relatives, but it also lets them see each other in real time. Similarly, entrepreneurs use this function to conduct business meetings, conferences, or even corporate training over the Internet.

Streaming videos are also used in the field of education. Live or pre-recorded lectures are available from many university and educational websites. This allows students to view and listen to lectures over and over again.

There are a lot of other uses for streaming videos. Some websites provide real-time views of main roads. This service is particularly helpful to motorists who want to avoid vehicular traffic.

For all the advantages of streaming videos, there are also limitations and disadvantages. For videos to be delivered quickly to a user’s desktop for viewing, two things have to be considered: the size of the video and the Internet bandwidth available to the user. Compressing videos can normally sacrifice their quality, and a small bandwidth normally results in choppy video playback. Another drawback to the availability of streaming videos is the increase in network or Internet traffic.