Online video streaming may be one of the most common uses of the Internet. Whether streaming movies, watching YouTube videos, flipping through Vine clips, or using any other form of streaming media, the average Internet user spends an incredible amount of time watching streaming media. To put this in perspective, users watch 6 billion hours of YouTube video per month. 100 million Internet users watch streaming media every day, and if you were to watch all the video content streamed on the Internet in 1 month, it would take you 5 million years.

If you were to ask the average Internet user to define streaming video, you’d probably get a confusing answer. Something like “video coming off the internet without having to download it” would be the best answer you could get, unless you ask an IT professional. And to some extent, this definition is correct.

One way to view media on your computer is to download it and then play it once it is fully downloaded. All data is on your computer, which you can save, allowing you to view it at any time without an Internet connection. Streaming video is viewing media as a constant stream of data that plays as soon as it arrives on your device. Data is constantly flowing, and if the Internet connection drops, data will stop and media will stop until the connection is stable again.

When streaming media first became a technical possibility, it took a long time for Internet users to see or hear anything. Data flow was slow and often took longer to reach the computer than to play, and media loaded and played jerkily. Since then, the technology has improved, allowing modern netizens with stable internet access to watch a full movie via streaming media without any pauses or delays.

Typically, transmitted media begins as high-quality digital data, known as raw data. This data is compressed and immediately sent over the Internet, where it can be played without downloading or saving to your hard drive. Compression of this data tends to reduce quality so some frames are left out or pixelated when viewed as streaming media.

Compression of this kind is the reason why so many streamed videos appear in poor quality, or why sound clips can be slightly skipped when played. To transmit the data compactly and quickly, a certain level of quality had to be sacrificed. The level at which the video is originally recorded and compressed, as well as the speed at which it is streamed over the Internet, can have an effect on the quality when the streamed video is finally viewed on your computer.

Streaming video has further enhanced the connection of Internet users on a global scale. With the great improvements in technology in the last few years and in the years to come, the world is becoming a smaller place.