Streamed media is displayed to the end user as it is delivered over the network in real time.
A few seconds of latency at the beginning of the delivery is the only wait, whether the clip is large or small. The advantage of streamed media is that you don't have to wait to see or hear your media. The disadvantage is its quality may degrade as it is streamed because streaming software adjusts to changes in line speed, dropping frames as it needs. Most media can be streamed now with or without the encoded file residing on a streaming server. The advantage of using a server to stream media is that there is more control over content and bandwidth and usually a faster service.