Learn in the textbookMultimedia Basics, Delivery, and Rights Protection
DefinitionStreaming (ストリーミング) is a delivery method that plays audio or video data in order from the parts already received while the rest is still arriving.
ExplanationBecause playback can begin from whatever has arrived, even a long video can be watched without waiting for all of it. To keep playback from stalling, the receiver temporarily holds data a little ahead of what is playing, and this storage area is called a buffer.
AnalogyLike conveyor-belt sushi, you do not wait for every plate to arrive; you eat each one as it comes around.
Memory hookA stream is a small river, and the name comes from data flowing in continuously like running water.