What exactly is video conferencing?

We all come across the word 'Video Conferencing' everyday in our emails, news papers and offline marketing brochures goading us upgrade our PC, laptop and mobile phones.

So far I have been neglecting to learn more about it but today I decided to enrich my my knowledge in this field.

A video conference (also known as a video teleconference) is a set of interactive telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously. It has also been called visual collaboration and is a type of groupware.

The core technology used in a video teleconference (VTC) system is digital compression of audio and video streams in real time. The hardware or software that performs compression is called a codec (coder/decoder).

Required components:
* Video input: video camera or webcam
* Video output: computer monitor , television or projector
* Audio input: microphones
* Audio output: usually loudspeakers associated with the display device or telephone
* Data transfer: analog or digital telephone network, LAN or Internet

Application:
This technology is really useful in education, medicine and of business apart from enriching the social contacts.

Acknowledgement: Wikipedia