Please take a couple of minutes to read the following information. You will find comprehensive help regarding the RealPlayer ® within the programme itself, this brief guide is merely to familiarise yourself with some of the terms and concepts you will encounter.
What is the RealPlayer ® ?
The RealPlayer ® is simply a software application, available free of charge, that allows you to listen, see and interact with video, sound or animated clips. A clip can be a musical extract; a music video; a presentation of slides; an animation etc. Technical specifications regarding equipment you will need before obtaining the RealPlayer ® , are given on the website at http://www.real.com/ .
How do you get your chosen clips onto your computer?
As with any web page or e-mail, a clip is simply a file. When you check your new e-mail or click to see a web page, you are 'downloading' files from another computer elsewhere on the Internet. These computers are usually referred to as servers.
By selecting a clip to view, usually by clicking on a text hyperlink or small image (icon), you are instructing your computer to get that file from the server and store it somewhere in your computer. Depending on the size of the file, this may take fractions of a second, or, for large files, hours. The connection that you have to the Internet will also play a part in how long it takes to download a file: if your connection is slow, downloading will take longer than if your connection is fast.
What is Streaming?
The way the RealPlayer ® works is to use a technology known as 'streaming'. All that this means, is that you can see or hear your chosen clips as they are still downloading. The RealPlayer ® stores part of the clip in your computers memory and when a predetermined amount has been stored, it begins to play the clip.
What is Buffering?
This is the technical term used for temporarily storing clips.
You can specify how much the RealPlayer ® should store before beginning to show your clip, e.g. one or two minutes. At the same time, your computer continues to download the rest of the file, so that when the pre-stored amount has been shown the RealPlayer ® is able to continue playing without a pause.
Options and Preferences
There are times when an uninterrupted display is not possible, usually because of congestion on the Internet slowing the download time. For this reason, some users prefer to choose the option which allows buffering of the whole clip before viewing begins.
ESC WebCasts
Webcasts are accessible via the ESC website. They are comprised of video, audio and presentation slides and last for around 15 minutes each. What this means in real terms, is that the size of the files is significant. Download times can vary dramatically dependent on the speed of your Internet connection and Internet 'traffic' (the amount of people using the Internet) at the time of downloading.
What’s a webcast ?
It is a reporting technique using the WWW rather than other broadcast media such as the radio or television. Exploiting the power of the Internet, webcasts offer you the possibility to enjoy digitally captured symposia, scientific sessions and other presentations directly from your desktop through your favorite browser mostly using the new technology of streaming.
Objectives ?
The overall objective of a webcast is to enhance the dissemination of information presented at a congress or meeting to a much wider audience than those in attendance. The sharing of information between specialists involved in cardiology is a vitally important factor in ensuring continued advancement in this field. With a growing number of organizations and individuals around the world having access to the Internet, a webcast is one of the best means of reaching the largest number of people economically. Share this valuable information with your colleagues or students!
The overall objective of a webcast is to enhance the dissemination of information presented at a congress or meeting to a much wider audience than those in attendance. The sharing of information between specialists involved in cardiology is a vitally important factor in ensuring continued advancement in this field. With a growing number of organizations and individuals around the world having access to the Internet, a webcast is one of the best means of reaching the largest number of people economically. Share this valuable information with your colleagues or students!
The overall objective of a webcast is to enhance the dissemination of information presented at a congress or meeting to a much wider audience than those in attendance. The sharing of information between specialists involved in cardiology is a vitally important factor in ensuring continued advancement in this field. With a growing number of organizations and individuals around the world having access to the Internet, a webcast is one of the best means of reaching the largest number of people economically. Share this valuable information with your colleagues or students!
What do you see ?
In most cases, the virtual attendee will be able to see the chosen presentation in its entirety: learn more about the presenter; hear all of the audio; view all of the video; see all of the graphics. All slides and other graphics used are generally synchronised to an audio or video recording of the presentation. When a graphic is shown during the real presentation, a graphic will be displayed during the webcast.
In most cases, the virtual attendee will be able to see the chosen presentation in its entirety: learn more about the presenter; hear all of the audio; view all of the video; see all of the graphics. All slides and other graphics used are generally synchronised to an audio or video recording of the presentation. When a graphic is shown during the real presentation, a graphic will be displayed during the webcast.
In most cases, the virtual attendee will be able to see the chosen presentation in its entirety: learn more about the presenter; hear all of the audio; view all of the video; see all of the graphics. All slides and other graphics used are generally synchronised to an audio or video recording of the presentation. When a graphic is shown during the real presentation, a graphic will be displayed during the webcast.
Therefore if you were unable to attend a session in person, here is your chance to catch up on the subject. Meanwhile, if you were able to attend but did not feel like taking exhaustive notes, here is an ideal tool to review your selected presentation.
***Required Equipment
Standard hardware is required for users to access websites. Almost any computer configured to connect to the World Wide Web should allow users to view webcasts. Loud speakers and a 16-bit sound card are required to reproduce the audio portion of the Webcast. The audio is streamed into your computer using either the RealAudio media player or Netshow software, which can usually be downloaded for free onto your hard disk. All user instructions and navigational tools are provided on the site, as well as help desk information for users with questions or problems. Ensure your computer meets these requirements before going any further.
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