[vlc] Re: basic VideoLAN question

[John Michael Zorko]

Dana,

Perhaps I can help (John loves to help).

> I'm a little confused- I just set up vlc to to video on demand from my
> web server.  What is the difference between getting this video through
> vlc, and simply double-clicking on a, say, .mpeg file in explorer on a
> network share?

VLC actually streams out the MPEG file as an MPEG transport stream 
(sort of like how digital cable companies stream movies to your set-top 
box).  Double-clicking on a file on a network share just tells Windows 
Media Player (or whatever player you're using) to read that file and 
play it.  From your perspective, they may be the same, but because VLC 
streams media as a transport stream, it is possible that other, 
non-Windows and non-PC devices will be able to play it (i.e. set-top 
boxes).  Also, the MPEG spec is available to everyone -- contrasted 
with the Windows Media spec, which is, sadly, not.

> And one more question-  what exactly is the difference between vlc and
> vls?  I looked at the docs but didn't grasp it.

VLC is a player that can also act as a simple streamer by streaming the 
current item in its' playlist to a unicast / multicast address.  VLS is 
not a player, but it is a more full-function streamer than VLC is.  VLC 
can be compared to Windows Media Player with a DirectShow source filter 
to relay out the data it's playing to others, while VLS can be compared 
to Windows Media Server / QuickTime Streaming Server / ShoutCAST / 
IceCast.

I hope this helps.

Regards,

John

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