What is Webcasting?
The word webcast is derived from "
web"
and "broadcast". Webcast is defined as the transmission of non-interactive
linear audio and video content over the internet. Web casting is a tool for
communication that brings together the immediacy of television broadcasting with
the interactivity and accessibility of the Internet. Web casting is a way of
delivering recorded and live audio and video content over a network (usually the
Internet or intranet). This process capture, encode, host and deliver multimedia
events such as training, lectures, meetings, presentations and conferences
usually from the remote location over the internet. Events can be viewed live or
on demand.
Streaming media technology is used to produce webcasts, the content created can
be distributed over the internet simultaneously to many users. Webcasting
licenses are being offered to those wishing to carry out Internet Broadcasting
using copyright material.
The ability to webcast using cheap/accessible technology has allowed independent
media to flourish. Webcasts are often produced by average citizens in their
homes which cover many interests and topics; from the mundane to the bizarre.
Webcasts relating to computers, technology, and news are particularly popular
and many new shows are added regularly.
Webcasting is used extensively in the commercial, educational, government,
business and health care sector, it has changed the way people communicate with
each other. Webcasting is used to produce online learning, sales and marketing
presentations, online seminars, to help students in effectively utilizing their
learning capabilities by enabling use of multimedia, for news, stocks, reports,
digital TV etc. The benefits of web casting are being noticed in almost every
industry and people have started utilizing the benefits effectively and
efficiently.
The technology behind web casting is streaming audio and video. That means RTP
(Real-time Transport Protocol) over UDP (User Datagram Protocol) in most cases.
These technologies are outlined under multimedia along with related technologies
The ultimate web casting technology is multicasting, which is based on special
Internet protocols that deliver content along efficient paths from the sender to
multiple receivers. The idea is to send packets only along paths that lead to
subscribers of the multicast information, which cuts down network traffic.
In this project lectures will be recorded using cameras and voice recorders and
then audio, video and presentations will be synchronized to produce dynamic
presentations which would be assessable to students through internet (by
streaming media technology) or by CDs so that students can cope up with missed
lectures and can learn and share lectures with their fellows to gain better
understanding of the material.