Kernel Streaming or Direct Kernel streaming (Direct KS) is a technique that supports kernel-mode processing of streamed data. It enables efficient real-time streaming for multimedia devices such as sound cards and TV tuner cards. Kernel streaming allows a device driver to create DirectShow-like filters and pins in kernel mode, providing access to hardware, lower latency communication and still be used within a DirectShow filter graph.
Kernel streaming was introduced in Windows 98. When the sound card uses a custom driver for use with the system supplied port class driver PortCls.sys or implements a mini-driver for use with the streaming class driver, applications can bypass the KMixer completely and use the kernel streaming interfaces instead to reduce latency. Windows 98 includes the first kernel streaming driver, Stream.sys. In Windows XP, Microsoft introduced another improved kernel streaming class driver, AVStream.
Music players such as JRiver Media Center, foobar2000 and Winamp support kernel streaming. Compared to the regular "WaveOut method" in Microsoft Windows, kernel streaming requires less CPU time. This comes at the expense of bypassing the KMixer and Windows volume control. Kernel streaming also does not allow device sharing.
Read more about this topic: Windows Legacy Audio Components
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