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What is FLV?
FLV stands for “Flash Video”. It is a format designed for web video playback that offers high rates of compression and produces high quality video. FLV is becoming more and more popular on the web since it can easily be embedded in a webpage and is supported by the main operating systems via the Adobe Flash Player and web-browser plugin. At present, FLV is the file format widely used by some famous websites, such as YouTube, Google Video, MySpace, etc.
The FLV File Format:
FLV files are composed of a video bit stream and an audio bit stream. The video bit stream that is commonly used is H.263 video standard, which is also called Sorenson Spark. The audio bit stream that is found in most Flash files is encoded as MP3. It should also be noted that FLV files support other forms of audio such as AAC and ADPCM. In addition, support for MPEG 4 is currently in the works and should be available by the end of 2007.
Why FLV becomes more and more popular on the web?
- FLV file sizes are small compared to others (almost 60% less). Thus they take up less space on a server and can be easily downloaded.
- Flash files can be easily viewed by over 90% of web visitors (mostly due to the Flash player browser plug in) , FLV file plays directly in more browsers than Windows Media, Real Player or QuickTime.
- A variety of different types of video files can easily be converted to the Flash format.
- FLV players can be completely customized for logos, brandings and embedded links matching your website or product.
- FLV players can play files from a database like MySQL or MS SQL Server, and are easy to manage.
- Flash Communications servers are easier to maintain than others, and are less prone to security threats.
- Flash can be used for a multitude of uses, for example movies, online presentations, banner ads, internet animations, etc.
FLV Streaming - Progressive and Flash Comm Server:
There are two techniques used to stream an FLV file from a website, Progessive and Flash Comm Server. While this may confuse most end users, the 2 techniques depend on a few parameters that we will outline below.
Progressive Streaming - Introduced in Flash 7.0, this method is a low cost yet effective one for the user. An interface or video player in SWF (Flash File Format) is embedded in the HTML/Php/ASP page. This video player contains the required code to playback a FLV file from a server location. Obviously the FLV file is externally placed. The video plays as the file is downloaded and the user doesn’t have to wait until the whole file is downloaded.
Pros -
1. Easy to set-up and maintain
2. Consistent high quality playback at all connection speeds
3. No streaming servers required normally based on monthly fees
4. Limited technical support required
Cons -
1. The video needs to be downloaded completely before you can navigate to any particular part of it
2. As the file is downloaded, it will reside on the viewer’s computer. Savvy users will be able to access their browser cache or temporary internet files to retrieve the video.
This is not necessarily harmful if you have no concerns about rights management for the video. But in case you want to protect your video, then this method of streaming is definitely not for you!
Flash Comm Server - Also known as Flash Media Server, this method is more professional way of serving streaming video on web. While in progressive download the file is downloaded to the viewer’s machine and played back at the same time, in this method the file resides on the streaming server and is not downloaded while it is played. Apart from that there is no apparent difference between progressive download. The advantages of using Flash Comm Server are twofold. First, your media is protected from thieves. Secondly viewers can seek to any portion of the video to view that portion. This is particularly helpful if you have long hours of training material on your website.
Pros -
1. Ability to handle huge user load.
2. Immediate random access to different parts of a movie.
3. Video remains on server (cannot be saved by viewers).
Cons -
1. Not easy to setup for the average person.
2. Monthly Fees and much costly than progressive download.
How to View flv files?
FLV Files Require a Flash Player to View:
FLV files embedded on a website will be viewable with a browser plug in Flash player. However, it should be noted that besides browser plug in flash players, there are several other media players that support FLV files. Some of the most popular include; VLC Player, Real Player, Windows Media Player and Zoom Player.
When you download flv files to your pc, you can’t directly open them by Windows Media Player, you must download a standalone flv player to play your flv files.There are many flv players on the net, I recommend you to use Aunsoft FLV player, It is the newest product and owns many unique functions.
