V2_ uses Apple's Quicktime applications for creating and broadcasting video streams. You may be using Apple's client to play these video streams.To create a stream we are currently using Apple's QuickTime Broadcaster (QTBC). There are a number of alternatives, Wirecast and mp4live. Wirecast does offer a lot more features (like subtitling, multiple layers and simultaneous support for multiple devices), but it is closed source. The video streams are broadcasted using the Darwin Stream Server (DSS). This is the open source version of Apple's QuickTime Streaming Server (QTSS). We have DSS running on a server running Debian.
V2_ uses the H.264 format to encode video streams with good compression. It's an open, but patented, standard which is widely accepted and supported by many manufacturers and producers. It's compatible with portable devices and portable over different systems. The resulting files can be watched in most players and easily converted if necessary or archived. Live streaming is done over Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) and implies support for this protocol by client software.
If you have an account, you can us the V2_ stream platform to broadcast movies yourself. Here you can find information on on-site requirements for a successfull stream, the settings for Quicktime Broadcaster and example html code to embed a stream in a website.