"buffering"- what is it?

[david uk]

I am curious- yesterday I followed a link to watch a video on a band's official website (sparks- I posted about it in the zoo)....

it worked fine last night, but today I tried to watch it several times and it kept stalling saying "buffering 10%....20%" etc... sorry to be ignorant but what is this. I found it most annoying as everytme it happened I had just started dancing around the room and had to sit down- it felt like musical chairs:p and was very annoying....

also is there any reason why it happened today and not last night? could it have anything to do with the volume of internet traffic at any particular time of day?

just curious... and desperate for an uninterrupted dance:p

[RedjackRyan]

Online audio/video requires that you have a connection that can handle the bandwidth and more. When alot of data is coming in to your computer, and your computer can't keep up, your computer will "hiccup," pause, or perhaps disconnect from the music stream.

Many things can cause your computer not to keep up:

You don't have a fast enough internet connection (modem users can't listen to the MP3 stream, for example)

You are doing other things such as web browsing, email, etc. while listening, and those may take away too much bandwidth for the audio stream to continue

A slow computer or older, broken audio players sometimes fail to decode the audio stream into music fast enough, and either quit or "hiccup" to catch up

And the #1 reason: you can't control the Internet. Even if you have a good DSL or cable internet connection, and you are only using it to listen to streaming audio, the specific route your computer uses to connect to whatever it is you are trying to listen to is unpredictable. Sometimes this route may have stops along the way that cause problems.


Sometimes you can get around this issue by downloading the complete file to your computer prior to actually playing it, With WIndows machines you can right mouse click on the filename and do a Save As and save the file wherever you like.

[DaveM]

Being on dial-up, "buffering" generally means I'm not going to be able to see or hear whatever it was I set out to see or hear. Sigh.

[John L]

you can't control the Internet.

well, maybe YOU can't....

[RedjackRyan]

Oh great and powerful Oz!!


We're not worthy! We're not worthy!

[david uk]

Ben I was actually able to watch the video uninterrupted later in the evening... yay

[RedjackRyan]

Uber Geek John must've threatened the net with his l33t powers!

Glad you were able to enjoy your video, david!