[MPlayer-users] MMS streams

[Peter Gavin]

I just have a quick question about MMS streams...  I've been
retrieving them using mplayer -dumpstream here and there, and
everything works fine.

I'm not too familiar with the mms protocol (or streaming in general),
but I was wondering, for e.g. WMV3 streams, if the server and/or
client adjusts the video bitrate on the fly if you don't have enough
bandwidth.  For instance, if the video you're watching has a bitrate
of 500 kbps, but your internet connection only affords you 400kbps, if
the stream is somehow "adjusted" by the server, and it ends up sending
you less than the whole data stream.

Or am I just thinking too much, and nothing like this happens at all?
Is a stream fetched using mplayer -dumpstream pretty much identical to
the one that would be stored on the server? (barring differences in
the container format, etc.)

Pete