Streaming

Real-time delivery of digital media (audio, video) from a server to a client, enabling instant playback without full file download.

Streaming is the continuous, sequential transmission of data packets, allowing a client device to play media immediately: no full file download required. This efficiency is powered by protocols like HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) and MPEG-DASH, which break content into small, indexed chunks. Global Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) are critical; they cache and distribute content across 300+ data centers, drastically reducing latency for services like Netflix, Spotify, and Twitch. Adaptive bitrate streaming is key to quality, dynamically adjusting the video resolution (e.g., from 480p to 4K) based on the user's current network speed to minimize buffering.

https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/video/what-is-streaming/