Webcast Software - An Overview
Webcast software are computer programs that facilitate internet broadcasting and receiving. Webcast software comes in many varieties for different formats and specialized applications. They also often differ in platform compatibility and run the whole gamut of licensing agreements, from open source or general public license (GNU GPL) to proprietary. Some webcast software is free while others may cost thousands of dollars to acquire legally.
Webcasting comes in many different forms. We have internet TV, internet radio, live conferencing, webcast news- the list can go on. Also, for internet broadcasting different webcasters have different needs. Media giants will often have different needs and deeper wallets than an average individual who wants to make a break into webcasting. Hence different webcast software is tailored towards different kinds of application. For example, someone who wants to webcast just one conference for the benefit of telecommuters will likely be using different webcast software than someone who wants to webcast music over the World Wide Web. Also, webcasts for small select audiences may require webcast software with security and firewalls to keep all parties safe from internet snooping and attacks while webcasts for the general public may have actually need to have fewer firewalls in place to ensure better access to the webcast by more people.
Then of course, different people who want to access webcasts may have their own reasons for selecting one of the various programs available for receiving webcasts of various types. Such webcast software includes and is not limited to: Adobe Flash, Accordent Technologies, Ampache, Clipstream, FORscene, Icecast, FreeCast, Matroska, Microsoft Windows Media, Ogg/Vorbisr, Orb, QuickTime, ReelTime.com, RealNetworks, RealPlayer, SHOUTcast, Slingbox, SlimServer, Winamp, Philips Media Manager, and Unreal Media Server. These are among the most popular webcast software for receiving internet broadcasts and there are many less popular programs available. All these programs have varying degrees of reliability and suitability on different platforms and operating systems. Microsoft Windows Media, for instance, will only run on computer systems that run on Windows, in contrast with Winamp for example, which has some degree of cross platform reliability. Other programs may not play or even recognize certain audio compression formats. For example, Microsoft Windows media is notoriously choosy when it comes to types of streaming media files that can be played while others may play almost any type of streaming media file available.
When choosing what webcast software to use, one should always consider the intent. If a would be webcaster were to choose the wrong program to do a job, money and time could be potentially lost due to inefficiency and incompatibility with some platforms and streaming media file formats. As such, webcasters and those who often tune in, so to speak, to webcasts should try to choose webcast programs that offer the most compatibility and convenience. The most popular webcast software for receiving are currently, Windows Media Player, Winamp, and RealPlayer in that order. As a consequence, many who wish to enjoy webcasts but do feel the need to do much research and digging around on the internet often just use any of these programs due to their popularity. Windows Media Player in particular, has become the foremost software for receiving webcasts despite negative appraisals due to its being freely bundled with Windows, which is the leading operating system in the market today.
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