Dropout is the scourge of streaming technologies, those annoying breaks in the presentation of video or audio. This is why companies spend all that time and money trying to come up with the best compression and streaming combination. When the player finds that it is missing a needed packet it will either forget about it and move to the next logical packet in the succession, or it will pause and wait for the packet. It depends on which streaming format you are using. The considerations page discusses compromises that need to be made to make the media files accessible at limited bandwidth.
Video requires a great deal of compromise.
Video files require more bandwidth and therefore need greater compression. The most common result is a noticeable loss in the frame rate of the video. It s been shown that it is more disconcerting for a client when audio breaks up than when the images are slow to change. Smart compression can reduce the clip with this in mind and reduce the required bandwidth to avoid dropout. This approach uses a separate server specifically designed for efficient streaming of media over data networks.