Unit 62 assignnment 1 - ezine + Digital Media video

 Article – An idiot’s guide to learning about digital video technology

In this article, I will aim to inspire and educate all about digital video technology in interactive media and how to use certain aspects effectively. Hopefully this will enhance interactive experience on different media platforms. An ezine is a new modern form of media platform and means an online magazine. This is an example of digital video technology as it is a description of any method of recording, playing, capturing, editing, distributing or projecting of video and audio that uses digital video rather than analogue video signals. At the end of this article you will have a strong understanding of all the ways digital video technology is used to increase the quality of your experience and engage you into their product or brand.

There are a large number of different techniques and terms that people do not understand what they mean or how they work. The most complicated term that I will evaluate is formats. On websites it is vital the creator uses certain formats to make sure their video is the best quality and is easily accessed. Examples of a few formats many website creators use are Mpeg, mp4, mov, avi, wmv, flv, swf, 3GP, ASF. Mpeg is a type of format that is described as lossy compressions as it eliminate unnecessary bits of information, altering the file so that it is a higher quality and shows bigger files such as full length films.  Compression means the method used to is to reduce file size and save disk space. This means that the videos are easy to upload to certain websites as it decreases the file size.   However other files such as ZIP are described as a lossless compression as they can be played back with ease but are poor quality and sometimes pixelated. An example of a website that uses these is YouTube (www.youtube.com). Some formats have a better compression and others have better play back ability, for example you tube videos in a flash format have low quality but immediately play back. This is something a video maker has to consider and decide between as there viewer will look for the two qualities in a video. Many websites choose to use a lossy compression format as the quality of the video is still visible and slightly clear for the viewer. 

Media players are another term many people do not understand fully about as there are a lot of mechanical aspects to consider when using media players to watch videos. Media players can be used when a video is downloaded of a website so you have a permanent copy on your computer. This method is good as it allows the viewer to have a permanent copy, however it takes a long time for it to download off the internet and you may not have the correct media player installed on your device to play the video. It is also bad as due to the arrival of being able to stream videos, this download method is usually only used on small files such as songs or short films. Streaming means is a technique for transferring data so that it can be processed as a steady and continuous stream. Streaming technologies are becoming increasingly important with the growth of the Internet because most users do not have fast enough access to download large multimedia files quickly. An example of where streaming videos is used is BBC Iplayer (www.bbciplayer.com) as it plays big files that  need a bigger compression form to play to people anywhere and everywhere.  The certain brands own their own media player, for example windows media player. This allows their branch to expand and gain profit. This further means that the player will only play certain media formats that are relevant to the brand. Another reason why media players only use certain formats is that there is a limited set of codec stopping them from playing all or most formats. The best media player for playing almost every format is real play as it suits to most formats. A codec is a process or specialized computer program that encodes or reduces the number of bytes consumed by large files and programs. Files encoded with a specific codec require the same codec for decoding.

To ensure that the creator publishes the product or subject to everyone, they have to consider all media platforms. One of which is through mobile devices as there is a variety of ways to view it from a phone. You can either go from the internet and on to sites that sponsor the product with a video on it such as Facebook or any social networking site. Another way is to download the app in order to access the information. Both of these methods are popular with the recent generations as nearly everyone has or will have a smart phone. For people that don’t have a smart phone, there are options such as through email or visible on a computer. However this is a problem for some as it doesn’t allow the people who don’t have a computer to access the information they want to publish. However, one way in which a person could see the subject is if they are in a cinema and therefore see it during the adverts. The main example of this type of video is a film trailer that will play short films that on average last around 5/6 minutes.

I will now give examples of websites and how they use video into it. As I have discussed above, the website 4od, (http://www.channel4.com/programmes/4od) has to use lossy compressed videos as it has to ensure that it is capable to play hundreds of long length videos. However, it also has to cater for smaller videos and therefore has to ensure there is lossless compression on them. 4od plays films as well of TV shows that are featured on the TV channel. This is different to websites such as youtube because it has a bigger band width and different compression size due to the types of videos it plays. It is very similar to BBC iplayer as they both show the same footage, both films and shorter programs. Further more, there is also the ability to download them as well as stream them so that it offers more to the viewer. A reason why a person would want to download a certain video is that they can watch it whenever or where ever on their own media software. By playing it on a different media software such as windows media player,could allow the footage to be played faster and also alter the quality of both the actual footage and the sound.

The website, Youtube, (http://www.youtube.com/only) plays short lossy clips such as film trailers and user generated videos. They are lossy clips because they are low quality and require less pixels compared to high quality videos played on websites such as 4od. They are lossy compression as the it is easier and quicker to download in the site and also means that they are quicker for the viewer to watch. Users want the fast ability to watch these videos as it can be more convenient for them and also because if they take to long to load people wont watch them and therefore get less viewers on the website as a whole. On the other hand,  4od plays both full length films and shorter videos. 40d is very similar to BBC iplayer in this case as both of them allow short and long videos to be played. They also allow downloads as well as being streamed and watched online, offering both options to the viewer. This is better for the viewer as there is two options that they can choose from depending on which is more convenient to them. The quality of sound and also the video is very good however as the videos are streamed, they do take a while to buffer and load in order to watch them. This could be tedious for the viewers as they have to wait prolonged amounts of time in order to watch a program. However, YouTube uses videos very differently to 4od. They are user content generated and therefore are not as high in quality as they are on 4od. They also sometimes take a while for them to buffer which means they are also streamed and not downloaded. Further more, the sound quality is usually very clear if the videos are taken on a professional video recorder or a digital camera. There are many videos that are made on phones and are therefore not as strong in professionalism as the videos on 4od. Never the less, there are very little websites that allow videos to be downloaded as it is illegal and must be paid for. An example of this is iTunes which is the software and a website. It allows both films and music videos to be downloaded with songs off the store.

The BBC iplayer website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/consists) of videos that can be both streamed and downloaded in different qualities. These are similarly seen in youtube in the bottom right hand corner of the tool bar. The allowance of changing the quality means that the once its changed, the video may lack in clear detailed footage, but could play at a faster speed and be more benificial for people who want to watch things quicker regardless of the quality. This is an option on many different websites and is extreamly useful. It will take less time to stream a low quality shot as less pixels have to be formated. Examples of types are high quality  240p and 360p. The 'p' stands for progression and the number means pixels it has. These are of lossless compression as the piece can be played regarding their pixel size.

A website that is completely different to the previous that i will evaluate is the creature comforts website (http://www.creaturecomforts.tv/uk/). In this website, they use very small video's on the right hand side of the screen. There i the option to view a piece of footage of each character in action and also a piece on the homepage of all of them in an episode. The point of this website is to simply show a taster of what the site has to offer and what the program is about. The video on the homepage begins to play immideatly when you enter the site, but still has the option to pause or stop it. The box that the video is in is miniscule, and doesnt provide as many options as websites like youtube do. For example there is not an option to change the quality of the video or even enlarge it to full screen. This makes the website weaker in comparrison with youtube and 4od as they offer this to the viewer and originally have a larger footage size on the screen. As the creature comforts advert has a small space for their video, it automatically insists that the quality of the video itself is poor and hard to see. This could further effect the sound, making it difficult for people who have poor eye sight or are hard of hearing.  

Well now you are full of all the knowledge there is to know about websites, videos and all the technical terms you need to know which you can teach this to others and show everyone this guide. Its now your job to tell others all your new found information. Good luck!