A Bit is a Binary Digit, a unit of information. It is a computational quantity that has one of two values that is represented by a 1 or 0 as the yes/no answer to a digital question. 

Bit Rate is the speed at which data travels, the rate of data transfer when media is being streamed from one place to another on a computer network, for example the Internet.

Bits per Second is the measurement of how many bits are being transferred each second.

If you are planning to stream a Live Event, you will need to know your desired Bit Rate in order to calculate your Bandwidth.

For more information on Live Events, call us on 01386 791888 or email info@planetstream.net

Bandwidth is the level of throughput available on a connection. Though not entirely accurate, many use the term bandwidth to describe the amount of data that can be transferred in a fixed amount of time. In this case digital devices are measured in bits or bytes per second while analog devices are measured in Hertz (HZ).

Bandwidth can be an important factor when arranging the Live Streaming of an event, take a look at our Bandwidth Calculator to find out your requirements.

For more information call us on 01386 791888 or email info@planetstream.net

The high bandwidth routes joining networks together is known as the Backbone and is currently made up of OC-48 and OC-3 links.

OC-48 is a 2.488Gbps high speed network.

OC-3 is a 155Mbps high speed network.

For more information on the PlanetStream Content Delivery Network call us on 01386 791888 or email info@planetstream.net

AVI is a Microsoft format for the saving of audio/video clips. The files can be played through Windows Media Player or several other Multimedia Players.

For more information on choosing the right file format call us on 01386 791888 or email info@PlanetStream.net

ATM is a network protocol designed for the purpose of moving multimedia data with a higher level of reliability and speed. ATM allows a bandwidth of 25Mbps to 622Mbps.

Find out more about Network Protocols – call us on 01386 791888 or email info@PlanetStream.net

Asymmetric refers to a network connection that has unequal upload and download speeds, such as ADSL.

This asynchronous nature means that an ADSL line can receive a high quality stream, but cannot send one out. Because of this, when choosing what quality to send out a live webcast you should check with your ISP to find out the available upstream.

For more information on how to selecting the correct broadcast quality for your transmission call us on 01386 791888 or email info@planetstream.net

An ASX is a metafile (or pointer file) for Windows Media that points to a Windows Media audio/video presentation. A Metafile is a small file that at a minimum contains URLs of media file locations and points a media player to these streaming media sources. Metafiles commonly have the extensions .asx (Windows Media), .ram (Real Media) and .qtl (QuickTime).

For more information on file formats call us on 01386 791888 or email info@PlanetStream.net

Different to an ASX file, an ASF file is an actual audio/video file. Most streaming media files encoded for intended use with Windows Media have the .asf extension.

Choosing the right file format for your project can be dependent on your audience, their capabilities and their preference. For more information on choosing the right file format call us on 01386 791888 or email info@PlanetStream.net

Sometimes referred to as ‘noise’, Artifacting is the distortion that occurs when audio or video is compressed to a very low bit rate.

Media is compressed to a low bit rate when there is a limited bandwidth available, this is also referred to as low quality.

Find out more about streaming at different bit rates – call us on 01386 791888 or email info@PlanetStream.net

The Application Layer dictates program to program communications as well as how applications access network services. These include file transfers, job transfers and terminal emulation.

For more streaming terms explained visit our extensive glossary. For more information on PlanetStream and streaming in general call us on 01386 971888 or email info@PlanetStream.net