The Irish Times on the Web, in an important technological development, will transmit live TV coverage of the Dublin St Patrick's Day parade on the Internet.
The first "webcast" transmission of a parade from Ireland will run from 12.30 to 3.00 p.m. on March 17th and can be accessed at http://www.irish-times.com
The coverage will be relayed from a video camera in Westmoreland Street to a personal computer with a video-capture facility. It will then be transmitted to Tinet, Telecom Eireann's Internet server, in "Real Video" format.
A simultaneous sound feed will relay the music and background sounds from the parade. There will be no commentary.
Those who intend to watch the parade on the World Wide Web will need to download the "Real Player" application which is available from http://www.real.com free of charge.
The quality of pictures will depend on the speed of the viewer's modem. Those with slow connections, for example, are likely to view jerky motion, while those with fast Internet connections should receive pictures similar in quality to normal television broadcasts.
Mr George Walker, technology manager of The Irish Times on the Web, said that a 28.8Kb modem connection is the minimum requirement for video reception.
In a separate video project, readers of The Irish Times on the Web will be able to send video greetings to friends and relatives abroad.
Those who wish to do so should send an email request to "stpatricks@irish-times.com" or contact The Irish Times front office in D'Olier Street, at 6792022, extension 700.
To cope with what is expected to be unprecedented access to its site, The Irish Times on the Web has set up a "mirror" site in the United States through Highway Technologies in Florida.