A guide to important terminology for Video Cloud and internet video.
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ActionScript
A programming language for scripting Adobe Flash movies and applications. Video Cloud supports ActionScript 2 and 3; Video Cloud 3 (and later) players are written in ActionScript 3.
Ad request
A request (call) made from a Video Cloud player to an ad server. The ad request is an HTTP call and includes key/value pairs that pass information that helps the ad server target an appropriate ad for the context. Not every ad request will return an ad.
API token
An alphanumeric string is appended to Media API calls to authenticate your application with the system and permit the transaction.
Apple HLS
Apple HTTP Live Streaming, a protocol implemented by Apple for delivering video on demand to Apple mobile devices including the iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. Apple HLS breaks the video into a sequence of small file downloads, each download loading one short chunk of the video using HTTP. The iTunes App Store rules call for the use of Apple HLS for long form video content (greater than 5 Mb or 10 minutes). Note that Apple HTTP Live Streaming has nothing to do with live streaming video.
Affiliate
Web publishers who syndicate Video Cloud players.
AS2 player
A player created in the Brightcove Console, using one of the version 2.0 player templates and based on ActionScript 2.0. Since the Console is no longer maintained or supported, and since Video Cloud's current players offer so many enhanced features and functionality, we urge you to replace any of your AS2 players with players you create with the latest version of Video Cloud. See also version 2.0 player.
AS3 player
A Video Cloud player created in the Publishing module or using the Player API, using one of the version 3.0 player templates and based on ActionScript 3.0. See also version 3.0 player.
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Background image
A graphic placed in players as part of the look and feel of the player.
Batch provisioning
A feature that automates file uploading and the creation of videos and playlists using an XML manifest and FTP. Also referred to as batch upload.
BEML (Brightcove Experience Markup Language)
Video Cloud's system for creating custom player templates, defined in an XML template file that you can upload using the Publishing module. Custom player templates are available only to Video Cloud Pro and Enterprise customers.
Blog
A web-based publication consisting of periodic contributions, often in reverse chronological order.
Boolean
A value that is either "true" or "false".
Broadband video channel
A collection of related videos distributed through the Internet.
Bumper
A short video clip that can appear before a full-length video or when a player loads.
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Click-through URL
Several image components in Video Cloud players can optionally include a URL to which to send viewers who click on the image.
Codec
A program for encoding or decoding digital media. Compare with container.
Console
The Brightcove Console, Brightcove's previous user interface. The Video Cloud Studio replaced the Console in the Brightcove 3 release in September 2008. Since the Console is no longer maintained or supported, and since Video Cloud's current players offer so many enhanced features and functionality, we urge you to replace any of your ActionScript 2 players with players you create with the latest version of Video Cloud.
Container
A video container is a format that defines how the video's metadata is stored along with the video and audio data. It does not define the coding or compression of the data. For example, MP4 can be a container for H.264 files and FLV can be a container for VP6 video files.
Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A service offering networked servers that transparently deliver content (especially large media content) to end users. Two prominent CDNs are Akamai and Limelight.
CSS
Cascading Style Sheets are a standard mechanism for controlling the design of an HTML page.
Cue points
Invisible markers inserted at specific points in a video that can be used to trigger external events, such as a mid-roll ad request or a closed caption. You can set cue points in either the Video Cloud Advertising module or using the Media Write API or FTP Batch Provisioning.
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DFXP
Distribution Format Exchange Profile (DFXP) is an XML-based captioning format developed by W3C.
DRM encoded
Digital Rights Management is a way to encrypt media files to control usage and prevent piracy.
Dynamic delivery
See Multi-bitrate streaming.
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Encoding
Converting video and audio data into a stream that can be played in a player.
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Flash
A technology platform for creating and delivering web multimedia and rich Internet applications.
Flash-based application
An application created with Adobe Flash.
Flash full-length video
A Flash Video (FLV) file used in a Video Cloud video.
FLV (Flash Video) format
A file container format used to deliver video over the Internet to the Adobe Flash Player. FLV files typically have a .flv file extension. Flash Video content may also be embedded within SWF files. Flash Video is viewable on most operating systems, via the widely available Adobe Flash Player and web browser plugin, or one of several third-party programs.
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Geo-filtering
Putting geographic restrictions on playback of videos, often for reasons of rights ownership.
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H.264 format
A file format used to deliver video over the Internet. The H.264 format is recommended for online video delivery. H.264 files typically use the MP4 container and have a .mp4 file extension.
Hexadecimal
A numerical notation used to specify colors on web pages. Twenty-four bit color is represented in the format #RRGGBB, where RR specifies the the Red component of the color, GG the Green component and BB the Blue component.
HTML
(HyperText Markup Language) A markup language designed for the creation of web pages with hypertext and other information to be displayed in a web browser.
HTML5
The next revision of HTML. In HTML5, the <video> tag supports video playback. Currently, HTML5 is most relevant for video playback on mobile devices.
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JavaScript
A scripting programming language best known for its use in web sites, although it is also used to enable scripting access to objects embedded in other applications.
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
A commonly used standard method of lossy compression used for digital images. JPEG is the standard image format used in the Brightcove service for thumbnails, video stills, and background images.
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Key/Value pairs
When a player sends ad requests, it includes one or more key/value pairs (like category=sports) that give the ad server information about the context of the ad and improve ad targeting.
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Logo
A proprietary graphic that symbolically represents a company's brand.
Logo overlay
A small transparent image that is displayed in the video playback window. Also sometimes called a digital on-screen graphic (DOG), bug, or watermark.
Loop/looping
When the videos in a playlist are completed and the playlist starts playing at the beginning.
Live streaming video
A protocol for streaming video of an event as it happens, by pushing captured and encoded streams directly as opposed to distributing encoded files for streaming as for VOD.
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Media API
The Video Cloud Media API (Application Programming Interface) provides read and write access to your Video Cloud Media Library, using a web service approach to make method calls over HTTP.
Media Library
The collection of videos, playlists, and other assets in your Video Cloud account.
Metadata
Metadata refers to the descriptions, tags, genre, and other related information that you provide in the definition of a video.
MPAA film rating system
A system, instituted by the Motion Picture Association of America, to rate a movie based on its content. The MPAA rating system (G, PG, R, etc.) is the most recognized system for classifying potentially offensive content, but is usually restricted to use in the film industry because the MPAA has trademarks on each individual rating.
Multi-bitrate streaming
A feature that supports multiple versions, or renditions, for a single video and enables delivering a rendition that best matches the viewer's browser size and bandwidth. We formerly referred to this as "dynamic delivery."
Muxing and demuxing
Writing and reading of audio and video streams into and from various container formats.
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Playback
The playing of video media in a Video Cloud player.
Player API
The Video Cloud Player API (Application Programming Interface) allows developers to use JavaScript and ActionScript to create custom player experiences and to control player behavior.
Player publishing code
The code "snippet" (JavaScript, ActionScript, or HTML) used to embed a Video Cloud player in a web page, pop-up window, or Flash application.
Playlist
A collection of videos that are grouped together in a particular order for playback in a Video Cloud player. (Previous versions of Video Cloud used the term "Lineup" for this.)
PSD
The default file extension of the proprietary file format of Adobe System's Photoshop program.
px
Abbreviation for pixels.
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Rendition
When you use multi-bitrate streaming, you can create multiple versions of the same video, each with a different bit rate and dimensions. Each of these versions is referred to as a rendition. Video Cloud multi-bitrate streaming chooses the best rendition, based on the player's dimensions and the viewer's connection speed.
Reference ID
A unique ID assigned by a publisher to a video or playlist. The reference ID (ref id) is distinct from the video ID or playlist ID (lineupID), which are unique IDs generated by Video Cloud. The reference ID enables coordination between Video Cloud and other services, such as a publisher's content management system. Videos and playlists must have reference IDs if you are creating or updating them with FTP batch provisioning.
RSS feed
Really Simple Syndication is a popular technology for notifying users of updates to content in a web site, blog, or Internet TV channel.
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Search engine
A program, such as Google, designed to help find information on the web.
Smart player
A Video Cloud video player that is capable of running either as a Flash player or as an HTML5 player. When a smart player loads using the JavaScript player publishing code, it detects the device that is loading it. If the device supports Flash, then the player loads in Flash mode. If the device does not support Flash, but does support HTML5, then the player loads in HTML5 mode.
Social network website
A web site, such as Facebook or MySpace.com, which offers its viewer members the ability to share messages, media, and other information with each other.
Still image
A static image that displays in the playback area of a video player before or after video playback.
SWF (Small Web Format) file
SWF is a compressed and uneditable vector graphics format used in Flash applications.
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Tags
Individual keywords or phrases for organizing content. Brightcove supports the use of tags to as a way for publishers to organize and classify videos.
Thumbnail
A small image associated with a video used in listings for the video in players, web sites, and video search engines.
TV Parental Guidelines
A content rating system established by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for classifying TV shows based on the age appropriateness of the content.
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URL
A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a way to identify a resource and its location on the Internet (for example http://www.brightcove.com).
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Version 2.0 player
A player created in the Brightcove Console, using one of the version 2.0 player templates and based on ActionScript 2.0.
Version 3.0 player
A Video Cloud player created in the Video Cloud Studio's Media module or using the Player API, using one of the version 3.0 player templates and based on ActionScript 3.0. All players created in the Video Cloud Studio beginning with the Brightcove 3 release in September 2008 are version 3.0 players.
Video
A single video title to play in a Video Cloud player. A video is based on a video file, which can start out as one of many supported video file formats, but which is transcoded into an FLV file or H.264 file if it isn't already in one of those formats. In addition, a video can include metadata such as:
- name
- short description
- long description
- tags
- video still image
- thumbnail image
- bumper
- logo overlay
Video Cloud Enterprise
The Video Cloud edition designed for very large publishers that have complex needs, or own and operate multiple web properties. Video Cloud Enterprise features the ability to create an association of related Video Cloud accounts, making Enterprise the best fit for large conglomerates that want to centralize operations such as content rights management, legal, and billing across multiple web properties or business units, while granting their family of associated publishing companies creative autonomy and freedom to design players, develop programming, and distribute content. To learn more about the three editions of Video Cloud , see Online Video Editions.
Video Cloud Express
The Video Cloud edition designed for the needs of individuals or small companies who require the flexibility and reliability of the leading online video publishing platform at a price that is in line with their traffic, audience, or messaging goals. See Getting Started with Video Cloud Express. To learn more about the three editions of Video Cloud, see Online Video Editions.
Video Cloud Pro
The Video Cloud edition designed for the larger, professional publishing team that owns and operates a single web property. Video Cloud Pro features a number of capabilities that are important to publishers as they grow beyond entry-level operations and become more sophisticated with online video publishing. To learn more about the three editions of Video Cloud, see Online Video Editions.
Video Cloud player
A Flash or HTML5 application for viewing a video or one or more playlists of videos.
Video Cloud Studio
A rich Internet application for accessing and controlling the Video Cloud service. The Studio includes the Media module, Publishing module, Advertising module, and Analytics module.
Video editing tools
A software application for editing video files on personal computer.
Video still
A static image that displays in the playback area of a video player before or after video playback.
VOD
Video on Demand. A protocol that allows for playback of distributed video files via streaming or progressive download at will—that is, on demand. As opposed to live streaming video.
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