Regardless of the type of media player used or the type
of streamed video signal, the basic model of production and access to the
stream is the same.
The source can be either a "live" signal from a camera or a prerecorded video file.
The encoder is a piece of software which transforms the
source into a form that can be used by the media player. Bandwidth characteristics
are imposed at this stage.
The server is software that distributes the encoded streams
to clients.
Two methods of access to a stream are direct (the user
types a URL into the client) and indirect (a small file
which contains details such as the server machine name, name of stream, etc
is linked on a web page; when the user clicks it a media client is started
and the stream is played).
