There are basically two ways of doing this. One way is to buy a card for about $100 that will turn your computer monitor into a TV. You'll have to have a TV antenna or a cable TV connection which plugs into the back of this card. The second way of doing this uses software you can download for free from the Web. Instead of hooking up to cable, you get your TV programs from the Web. This second way is called "streaming".

Streaming is a way of moving video (and other types of media) over the Internet. Because the Internet wasn't originally designed for the steady flow of data required for video, streaming was invented to transform the stops and starts of Internet data into a steady flow or "stream" on your screen.

You may already have it if your computer is relatively new. Otherwise, you can go to download it.

Picture a bucket with a hole in the bottom of it and a hose pouring water into the top. If you put a little bit of water in the bucket and then open the hole in the bottom, you'll get a steady stream out of the bottom even if you turn the hose on and off. As long as there is some water in the bucket, things flow smoothly. Streaming software on your computer takes the stops and starts of Internet data, delays for a little bit, and then starts to show a steady video picture on your computer screen. This works fairly well as long as your network

Yes and no. The quality you will get on your computer depends upon many factors - your computer, your computer screen, your speakers, your streaming software, the speed of your Internet connection, the degree of congestion on the Internet, and the speed of the video being sent to you. In most cases, you get a small picture with somewhat jerky motion because much of the video available via the Web was encoded for slow speed delivery via modem. However, as computers and networks get faster, streaming can provide a picture that is as good or better than what you see on a standard television set.

Television uses about 27 to 45 million bits per second for a standard picture. Using advanced compression technologies, a VHS quality picture can be delivered using less than 1 million bits per second. This is still a lot more than 50 thousand bits per second, about the maximum you can squeeze through a 56 kbs modem. As more bits are discarded to squeeze through a modem, the picture is made smaller and fewer frames per second are shown.

Much of the information contained in a video is really in the sound, the audio. Thus, streaming can be a valuable tool for student instruction, staff training, news and internal communication, marketing, sports and entertainment. It has the advantage that it can be delivered to computers just about anywhere via the Internet. So, a university is no longer limited by its "campus walls." It can reach out to students on campus, in their homes, in their offices, or in their hotels half way around the world.

You need a computer, an Internet connection and free software downloaded from the Web. You can get pro versions of streaming software players for less than $50. They give you more options, but you don't need them. It is helpful to have a faster machine and a fair amount of memory. It's also helpful to have a high-speed connection on campus, in an office or via cable-modem. You can look at the streaming software sites for specific requirements.

There are three major vendors in the streaming software game: Apple, Microsoft and Real Networks. Apple has QuickTime 4 which comes pre-installed on new Apple computers. Microsoft has its Media Player which comes pre-installed with Windows machines. Real has to be installed.

Apple QT, Microsoft Media Player and Real will all work on a PC.

Apple QT and Real will work on your Mac.

Unfortunately, at this time, these players are not interchangeable. Although each player will try to play a particular stream, they aren't always successful. Each streaming software player is designed primarily to play media encoded for it. So, you may want to have QT, Real and if you're a PC owner, Media Player. Real Networks charges fees based upon the number of computers that can attach to a server at any one time. At present, only 60 people can tune in at once for the basic Real Server. Apple is a relatively recent addition and is of special interest because it has no licensing fee for educational institutions. Up to 2,000 people can tune in at one time to an Apple server.

You can stream just about any media, live or pre-recorded, including radio, TV, lectures, movies, PowerPoint presentations, and music. Live streaming is not always as good as pre-recorded material, especially if it is video with a lot of motion. Computers are used to encode the audio and video, and as fast as they are, they're still not fast enough. They can do a better job of encoding the video for streaming when they can stop and spend extra time on complex pieces of video or music. That's why we code live events twice - once while the event is taking place and once again later on from a recording to make a better quality stream for people who want to catch the event at a later time.

Streaming is a fast growing service on the Web. Many major TV networks, radio stations, magazines, news services, corporations and universities are using it. Each of the players points to many examples and some sites such as Broadcast.Com are devoted to streaming media.