Watching videos on the internet will always require a good internet connection. Video can be streamed in two ways: real-time streaming or video on demand.
Real time streaming is when you are watching live video from someone else’s computer or device. This is done by using a program like Skype or Google Hangouts that live stream video and audio from one device to the other with one person controlling the camera and microphone, while the other person watches and talks to the camera. Real-time streaming can also be shared with more than two people at a time.
Video on demand is when you are watching prerecorded videos on your computer or device that are stored locally. You use an Internet connection to access these videos and can watch them at your convenience. The quality of video streaming depends largely on the upload speed of their internet service provider (ISP) as well as the bandwidth of their internet connection.
Video quality can be comprised of a number of factors. The content source, the file format and the compression are just some of the many forces that control video quality.
YouTube is the biggest video social network with more than one billion hours of user generated content every day. There are also professionally produced videos available to watch on YouTube, but many people use this site for their own personal content including shaky phone footage of a favorite band playing live or someone’s first try at making chocolate chip cookies from scratch.