RealPlayer allows you to view highly compressed audio and video files, called RealAudio and RealVideo, as they are downloaded to your computer (through a process called streaming).

The quality of RealAudio through a 14.4 modem is akin to that of AM radio, and to FM at 28.8. The quality improves with a High Speed line such as ISDN. In many ways, what you get from this plug-in is similar to what you get from your car radio. Occasionally, bandwidth problems will cause interference in the signal (as if you'd driven under an overpass) - the audio will sound scratchy. But unlike a radio program or a television broadcast, you can pause and rewind RealPlayer files - unless they're from a live broadcast.

The quality of RealVideo, however, is not as good. The viewing area is small, and the frame-rate is too slow to reproduce a natural, fluid motion. You need at least a 28.8 modem to view RealVideo.

If you'd like to see some samples of RealAudio and RealVideo, take a look at the RealPlayer Showcase.

While it is true that RealAudio was one of the first plug-ins on the Internet, it isn't the only one. Other audio streaming technologies that are well represented on the Internet include TrueSpeech and Liquid Audio.

NOTE: See if you already have this plug-in.

Download RealPlayer