web radio
With Internet radio, innovative technologies have developed that give new meaning to classic radio listening. Internet radio is becoming an interesting alternative to FM broadcasting due to several factors and could overtake it in listener favor in the near future.
First of all, there is the range of web radio stations and the online stations of the classic radio stations, which is many times more extensive and much more dedicated to individual interest groups than the range of FM stations. Web radio can be received via DSL connection or WLANs. It can be received on the move with smartphones, tablets, notebooks or netbooks; via mobile networks or with a surfstick. Thanks to improved audio codecs, the quality has improved significantly compared to the past and is comparable or even better than FM broadcasting. The range of web radios goes far beyond that of classic radio receivers. In addition to the live stream, the listener can get information about the titles or the already played titles or the program.
The two variants of the Internet radio
As far as the realization is concerned, there are two different technical approaches under the name Internet radio: the physical radio device with access to worldwide radio stations and a streaming technology with which radio programs can be played back with a computer, notebook or smartphone.
- Internet radios as radio devices have a modern, classic or historical design and receive the IP data packets transmitted over the Internet via a DSL connection and by means of a rod antenna via the in-house WLAN.The station management and selection is done via the Reciva.com Internet service with the Barracuda board. The latter takes care of the reception and decoding of the internet radio stations. Otherwise, the radio case contains the WLAN module and a network connection, the power supply, an amplifier and the speaker. When switched on, the WLAN module searches for a suitable WLAN connection to the WLAN router. It can take a few seconds for the WLAN module to find a connection with optimal reception quality. To bridge this waiting time, the last station heard is often played. Since there are an enormous number of Internet radio stations - estimates are well over 10,000 - Reciva.com preselects the stations and arranges them in groups and subgroups. The lists of radio stations can be viewed on the display of the Internet radio or on the personal computer and the favorites can be adopted.
- With Internet radio or web radio, broadcasts are transmitted in real-time or live streaming or time-shifted. The transmission capacity depends on the number of streaming stations. Some stations, and there are a six- digit number worldwide, operate with several hundred thousand or even millions of stream slots. Web radios, like classical broadcasting, require a broadcasting license in accordance with the Interstate Broadcasting Treaty(RStV). To receive the web radios using a personal computer or notebook, you need a sound card, speakers, special software, e.g. RealAudio, Windows Media Player or Streamworks from Xing, and a fast Internet connection. During playback, information about the audio document is displayed in status lines. An alternative playback option works with a digital player, the Squeezebox.
