Video on the Web - Part 2

by Michael Mattox of
Advanced Web Video

After reading the first part of this article you should have a general idea of how web video works. Hopefully you've ventured off to the VIVO and VDO homepages and tried the two plugins out. The ideas discussed here in this part of the article will apply to both formats.

It's been said that "a picture is worth a 1,000 words", and if that's true then a video must be worth a 1,000 pictures! The web has quickly transformed from a static medium to a true multimedia content rich entity, and video completes this transformation by making the web more like television. If you listen to a lot of radio, you're familiar with the mysterious appeal the DJ's have. When you finally see them on television, their appearance is usually surprising and not what you had imagined. This is because audio alone is not enough to completely describe someone or something. Actually seeing it while you listen to it seems to satisfy all of the five senses. Adding video to your website will make it "complete".

Here are some specific ways you can improve your website by adding video:

Video can be used to welcome your visitors to your website. Just like a picture of the president is seen in a company's front office, a personal video greeting from the president can fulfill the same role with your website. This is one of web video's greatest strengths - It makes your website more personal. With commerce migrating online, this may be the only chance your customers get to see the faces behind your company.

Video can be used to demonstrate products and explain services. This works well, especially for complicated products. Imagine reading a whole page long description of a new hand held computer. Now compare that with watching a video showing how easy it is to use and how its functionality benefits the user. Imagine reading about a restaurant and descriptions of their menu. Now compare that with a video showing the chef's specialties, seeing the customers enjoying dinner, and the nice atmosphere the restaurant provides. Words (and pictures) just can't do justice for many things.

Videos can also be used to show presentations on the Internet. No longer does your customer have to order a "demo" videotape, now they can just click on a link and see the demo instantly. Commercials can even be created, just like those that would be shown on television. Speeches can be shown, major announcements can be viewed. Imagine reading about a public announcement compared to seeing an official of the company actually give the announcement!

Web video has many advantages, however it does have its tradeoffs. There are some limitations with web video that you should be aware of. This article has discusses VIVOActive and VDOLive, which both use streamed video. The main disadvantage of streamed video is it must be severely compressed because of the limited bandwidth modems provide. This means a substantial loss in quality. A 14.4k modem will provide about 1.5k/sec transfer rate. If the video has 10 frames per second, which is on the low end, that leaves 0.15k per frame. To compromise, the screen size is usually quite small (176 x 144 pixels). Also the frame rate is usually reduced, depending on the scene. And finally, the video is compressed with a lossy compression scheme. Another disadvantage is since the compressors store the difference between frames (and not the individual frames themselves), if a scene has several different views, camera positions, zooming, panning, etc., the frame rate will drop as low as one frame per second. However this is still a relatively small tradeoff for the ability to view a video within seconds. The quality will improve as the bandwidth improves and as modems get faster.

Quality is the first main disadvantage and availability is the second. Currently VDOLive and VIVOActive are only available for Microsoft Windows and Apple MacIntosh platforms. This prevents all UNIX users from using these formats. Currently the number of Windows and Mac users far outweigh the number of UNIX users, so this can be tolerated. If you wish to support UNIX users also, then you will have to add a non-streamed format like MPEG. MPEG files are quite large compared to the streamed formats, but the quality is much better. This is a decision each developer must face. I would recommend starting with a streamed format, and if you notice a lot of UNIX users visiting your website, consider adding MPEG videos later. Now back to Windows and Mac users, there is a further restriction: The plugins only work with Netscape Navigator 2.0+ and Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0+. It's estimated Netscape has 85% of the browser market, and Microsoft is quickly picking up a good portion of the remaining 20%. However, many corporations use older versions of Netscape such as 1.1, and these users will not be able to view the videos.

To summarize, web video can add great value to the appearance of your website. The sacrifice in quality is worth the instant access, and there are alternatives for those who cannot view the videos in the streamed format. And most important, any website can benefit from web video.

About the Author
Michael Mattox is a Webmaster at Advanced Web. He recently started Advanced Web Video, a divison of Advanced Web. He has a BS in Computer Science from Arizona State University, with experience in C++, OOD, and all areas of web development. You can reach him at mattox@advweb.com.

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