An Introduction to Webcasts (2)

Webcast Options

On some of our sites you will be presented with various options as to how you wish to receive the webcasts. These are explained below:

Choose between: Real Player or Windows Media Player.

For some of the videos and audios you will need RealOne Player (AKA Real Player). For others you can also use Windows Media Player, if you prefer, and the choice will be presented.

Which should I choose? It is a matter of personal preference. If you prefer to download rather than stream the webcast, then Windows Media Player is the one to use.

Choose between: Download or Stream.

N.B. "Download" here refers to the webcast itself rather than to the player used to view it.

Downloading the webcast means that you take the entire webcast and save it on your own computer before viewing it. You view it while disconnected from the internet. This has the advtange of better quality and absence of interruptions while watching the webcast. However, downloading can be very slow and you will have to wait until the download is finished. Also, if you don't have much hard disk storage space on your computer then downloading is not a good idea. (Note that, normally,only Windows Media Player is suitable for downloads - although you can download Real Player webcasts, you have to reconnect to the internet to view them, which defeats the purpose!)

Streaming means that you see or listen to the webcast over the internet while you are on-line and connected. The disadvantage of this is that you are at the mercy of the quality of your internet connection and interruptions are common. However, it means that you can start viewing the webcast (more-or-less) right away, and you don't have to worry about how much storage space you have on your pc.

Choose between: Audio or Video.

Choose audio if you have poor quality internet connection and/or an old and slow computer.

Choose between: 14K, 28K, 56K, 100K, 300K (etc).

These are the webcast speeds - they correspond with the speed at which your computer communicates with the internet. Most common is 56K. 100 and 300K are for broadband users. 28K for those with older modems. To find out what sort of modem you have go to Start | Settings | Control Panel | Modems and double-click on the Modems icon. Usually the name of your modem indicates the speed e.g. a Psion Dacom Gold Card Global V34 PC Card (the PC Card modem that is on the laptop I am currently using) will be a 33.3K modem (indicated by the number 34). You would, in this case, need to select 28K as the connection speed, as 56K would be too fast for it. Use the fastest speed your computer will allow - the quality will be better. If there are frequent interruptions then choose a slower speed. For example, even though your modem is 56K, the connection may not be very good at the time and you may get better results with the 28K webcast.