not the viewer is allowed to save the video file to the hard disk. Table 18.1 outlines the three video delivery formats and highlights when they should be used in your projects. Table 18.1. Video Delivery Formats Factor Direct Progressive Streaming Clip is under 5 seconds long X X Clip is 5 to 30 seconds long X X Clip is over 30 seconds long X Low viewership expected X Medium to high viewership expected X Instant start X Intellectual property protection X Live video streams X Variable streaming rates based on visitor's bandwidth X   Of course, how you view that video is entirely up to the media type, which ultimately means that you'll need the appropriate media player installed on your computer to view the media type. Media players are discussed in the next section.           Media Players To view video on the web, you must have a media player. Regardless of whether you are allowing your users to download, progressively downloading, or streaming media files, users must have a media player that supports the media type you're offering on your web pages. Many sites offer media content in three formatsWindows Media Player, Real Media, and QuickTimeand a fourth, Flash video, is slowly gaining steam and making its mark on the web. The world of media players is constantly changing. As of this writing, Apple has announced QuickTime 7, Microsoft is shipping Media Player 10, Real is allowing free downloads of its RealPlayer 10.5, and Macromedia has introduced Flash Player 8. Today's media players play much more than video. Microsoft's Media Player and Real's RealPlayer allow direct purchases and subsequent downloads of music and movies directly from their players. Even better, these players are now directly integrating mobile devices such as Apple's iPod, Creative's Nomad series, and even Windows Media Player for Pocket PC. Beyond that, most media players are interoperable, meaning that they'll all play each others media types with few to no problems and little quality degradation. RealMedia RealNetworks (Real) was the first to offer a streaming server and is considered the grandfather of streaming video. As of this writing, it has the largest part of the market share with more than 55% of users using the RealPlayer product in some form or fashion. RealPlayer supports video, images, text, Flash movies, and audio. The three primary software components of RealMedia are listed here: RealPlayer: By far one of the most versatile media players on the market, Real's RealPlayer can play various media types. RealPlayer can be downloaded for free at http://www.real.com. Additionally, services such as RealRhapsody (an online music store), RadioPass (offers online radio station access), and SuperPass (provides video on demand) can be purchased for prices ranging from $9.99/month$12.99/month or RadioPass for $49.99/year.