OPENING QUESTION:

My astronomical camera has a resolution of about 6400 x 3200 pixels.

My laptop screen resolution is 2200 x 1500.

What does that mean in terms of viewing my astronomical pictures on my laptop? Is compression involved? Why or why not?

LEARNING OBJECTIVE:  

• I will be able to compare AND contrast buffering with bandwidth during today's class

CALENDAR:

WORDS FOR TODAY:

• innovation: "A new or improved idea, device, product, etc, or the development thereof
• prototype: "A proof of concept"
• CPU: Central Processing Unit
• Binary: 0's & 1's - Base₂
• Octal: Base₈
• Hexadecimal Base₁₆ - 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,A,B,C,D,E,F
• Byte: one binary 'word'
• Bit: one binary 'letter' - either a 0 or 1
• Abstraction: "The difference between the user layer and the software/hardware layer"
• compression -​ to decrease the number of bits used to represent a piece of information

heuristic - a problem solving approach (algorithm) to find a satisfactory solution where finding an optimal or exact solution is impractical or impossible.

lossless compression - a data compression algorithm that allows the original data to be perfectly reconstructed from the compressed data.

lossy compression - a data compression algorithm that sacrifices some amount of the original data to decrease file size

image - A type of data used for graphics or pictures.

metadata - is data that describes other data. For example, a digital image may include metadata that describe the size of the image, number of colors, or resolution.

pixel - short for "picture element", the fundamental unit of a digital image, typically a tiny square or dot that contains a single point of color of a larger image.

Image - A type of data used for graphics or pictures.

metadata - is data that describes other data. For example, a digital image may include metadata that describe the size of the image, number of colors, or resolution

buffering - The process of storing streaming bytes in a reservoir in preparation for playing by an electronic device.

bandwidth - The rate at which data is transmitted across the interweb measure in BITS/second NOT bytes/second.

streaming - the process of sending bits data directly to consumers as a stream of bits and not by file

 

WORK O' THE DAY: 

We have all (I think?) heard the term "buffering" as it applies to streaming video. Work with your team to sketch your best suggestions of what buffering is and how it works and especially why it is downright *critical* for streaming apps.

Let's discuss.

Now let's turn our attention to bandwidth. Let's all measure the bandwidth of our individual laptops by going to a standard DSLSpeedTest site.

Bandwidth as measured by our service providers is always measured in bits/second. Most people see the number 100 mb/sec and read that as 100 megabytes per second. Why is that do you suppose.

Streaming is a WHOLE LOT different from downloading a file. When we download a music file, for example. Our computer communicates with a server on the interweb and initiates the file download.

File downloads

• The server then sends out that file as a series of packets (we'll learn more about those very soon).
• Our computer collects all those packets of data and assembles them together in a file
• Our computer notifies us that the file is complete and has been received
• The file is now available for us to play with music player software.

Streaming

Our video streaming service (such as Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime etc..) displays a menu list of videos/movies for us to watch

We select the video we'd like to watch, usually by clicking on an image of that video

The streaming service servers then initiate a process where a constant stream of bits is sent to our computer. Our computer (and yes, it is always a computer, even if that computer is inside our tv) then does its best to process that constant stream of data from the server. If there isn't enough data to show the movie then we get the dreaded circle/spinner that shows us the data is being buffered. Ugh. When enough data is deposited in our buffer then the computer starts playing the video.

Let's talk about our Video Streaming project

I thought about our different ideas for this project and it occurred to me that combining several of those at once might be ------- interesting?

To wit:

1. You will create a ScreenCastify of a presentation where you will definitively state that Vudu DOES or DOES NOT have technically superior video quality streaming to some other video streaming platform that you select.

2. To support your claim you will provide evidence in the form of an annotated bibliography for four (4) articles that you have carefully researched in which you provide:

   • an APA or MLA citation for that article including an active link to that article that I can access

   • A 1 paragraph summary of the article

   • A 1-2 paragraph description of why the article supports your claim using technical aspects

We will do practice using/submitting ScreenCastify during today's class