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Webcasting Jargon Buster Factsheet

Bandwidth

In internet terms, bandwidth is the amount of information available over a specified period of time from a network attached device such as a server. The bandwidth available will affect the quality and the speed of sound or video received over the Internet. Broadband access to the Internet provides higher bandwidth than dial up internet access.

BitTorrent

BitTorrent is designed to distribute large amounts of data widely without incurring the corresponding consumption in costly server and bandwidth resources. BitTorrent is the name of a peer-to-peer (P2P) file distribution client application and also of a file sharing protocol.

Broadcatching

Broadcatching is the transmission and downloading of content that has been made available on the internet using RSS syndication for listening on mobile devices and personal computers.  Podcasting is an example of a broadcatching technology.

Convergence

Convergence is when traditionally separate media platforms - such as television and radio - are merged, usually via the computer platform, to form a new converged platform that combines the advantages of all of them.

Encoding

Encoding is the process of transforming information from one format into another e.g. converting from analogue to digital – for instance from VHS video to a digital format that a computer can understand.

IP TV

IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) describes a system where a digital television service is delivered to subscribing consumers using internet protocols over a broadband connection.  IPTV as it is today is fee-based and terminates to a set top box with requisite access controls. For example HomeChoice Digital Home Network. www.homechoice.co.uk/

Internet Television

Internet Television is television content distributed via the Internet and requires only internet access and a computer to view it.

MP3

MP3 - or more fully MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 - is a popular digital audio encoding and compression format designed to significantly reduce the amount of data required to represent audio yet still sound like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio to most listeners.

On demand

On demand media is media available to be transmitted at a user's request, for example an archive of oral history recordings.

Peer to Peer

A peer-to-peer (P2P) computer network is a network that relies primarily on the computing power and bandwidth of the participants in the network.  P2P networks can distribute large amounts of data widely and efficiently without incurring a huge consumption in costly server and bandwidth resources.

PVR/DVR

A personal video recorder (PVR) (or digital video recorder (DVR)) is a device that records video without videotape to a hard drive-based digital storage medium. The term includes stand-alone set-top boxes and software for personal computers which enables video capture and playback to and from disk.

Podcasting

Podcasting is an automated method of distributing multimedia files like audio programs over the internet for playback on mobile devices and personal computers.

Podcasting Aggregator

An aggregator is a type of software that retrieves syndicated Web content published by weblogs, podcasts, vlogs, and mainstream mass media websites.

RSS

RSS - Really Simple Syndication - is a web feed format used for Web syndication. A web feed is a document (often written in XML) which contains content that can often be summaries of stories or weblog posts linking to longer versions.  Web syndication refers to making content automatically available from one website to a series of subscriber sites.  RSS can also be used to syndicate media files e.g. audio and video.

Server

A server is a computer that provides services to other computers.  A server can also be software providing services to other computers.

Set Top Box

The term set-top box describes a device that connects to a television and some external source of signal, and displays the signal on a screen. The signal source might come from a network cable, a satellite dish, a coaxial cable (i.e. cable television), a telephone line (including DSL connections), or even an ordinary VHF or UHF antenna.

Simulcast

Simulcast is a contraction of "simultaneous broadcast" and refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time.

Streaming

The term streaming is used interchangeably with webcasting

Triple play

Triple play is a marketing term for the provisioning of high-speed internet, television (Video on Demand or regular broadcasts) and telephone services over a single broadband connection. Triple play focuses on a combined business model rather than on solving technical issues or a common standard.

Vodcasting

Vodcasting refers to the online delivery of video on demand using a syndicated feed as in podcasting.  This content feed can be used as a non-linear TV channel to which consumers can subscribe using a PC, TV, set-top box, media centre or mobile multimedia device.

Webcasting

The transmission of audio or video content over the internet.

XML

XML - Extensible Markup Language - is a general purpose markup language similar to HTML that is capable of describing many different kinds of data

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