About HTTP and RTSP streaming

HTTP streaming is the standard way of viewing QuickTIme movies stored on an HTTP server. GoLive's streaming track is for RTSP streaming movies only.

HTTP streaming (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

Makes it possible to put movie files on a Web (HTTP) server as you do Web pages and image files. Movies are downloaded in their entirety to the computer's hard drive where the QuickTime plug-in plays them. Because the movies are downloaded to the hard drive, viewers can replay the movies at any time, and a higher data rate (higher quality) is ensured. If you have sprite tracks or 3D tracks, these are visible to the viewers (whereas these tracks are not visible with RTSP streaming).

RTSP streaming (Runtime Streaming Protocol)

Requires a dedicated RTSP streaming server that sends out movie data on an as-needed basis. No file is stored on the viewer's computer. If the Internet is congested, thus preventing portions of the movie from arriving on time, RTSP ignores the fact that some data might be missing. However, because RTSP streaming works without files, it's possible to do live broadcasts, where all viewers see the same movie data at the same time. The advantage of RTSP streaming is that viewers don't have to store large movie files on their hard drives, as they do with HTTP streaming.