After about a week of testing, research and brainstorming we are getting closer to a decision on our web streaming solution. With a ton of options from Windows Media, Quicktime, MPEG-1,2,or 4, Real, or Flash. Today, all indicators today are pointing us towards using Flash Streaming.

Bottom-line for us is this:

- Availability to endusers
- Quality experience (with 512kb max stream)
- Easy to manage
- Must be streamed (25-60 min feeds)

Another huge plus with Flash is the true rich media content. Within the Flash SWF file, the movie stream is just one component. With feature rich media websites I see a huge plus with Flash Streaming.

So, with the media type close to being decided, the final decision is who will host the media. There are three major players that we are looking at, VitalStream, NineSystems and Speedera. What we have discovered it Vitalstream is far and away the most experienced when it comes to Flash Streaming. However, they are very lacking when it comes to features and storage capabilities. Currently the leading vendor is NineSystems. At first there pricing was very high, but they have worked that down.

More to come, but I think we will have a decision this week. FYI, many people are asking...we use Sorenson Squeese 4 to encode and create the streaming files.

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tags: flash video | streaming video