Dear Folks,
Iv`e been asked many questions about what IPTV is and indeed how it works,how it will develop and so forth..below I detail some pertinent information.
IPTV
1. What is IPTV?
With IPTV you usually mean distribution of television or video content over a controlled IP network, where the end consumer receives the information through a set-top box which is connected to its normal broadband connection. Just because its name is IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) it does not mean that information is
sent over the internet, only that IP protocol is used. So you should not consider streaming video over the internet as IPTV.
2. What features does IPTV offer?
The biggest difference with today’s distribution of television is that you choose which information you want to have everything is not broadcasted as with terrestrial, cable and satellite. Another big difference is that you will be able to have a high capacity two way communication and have the ability to interact with the service
provider, for example you request a movie from your TV-guide and the program is delivered to you. Other
things that could be provided with IPTV is interactive applications (e.g. video blog) or transactional applications (e.g. TV shopping). Because of the point-to-point connection IPTV offers, every user will be able to view their own individual broadcasts. You will be able to have VoD(Video on Demand) which is your on personal video store where you can decide when you want to see the movie. EPG(Electronic Program Guide) and PVR(Personal Video Recorder), where the EPG will be fully interactive with your own personal needs. You will also be able to use features like pause, fast forward and rewind when you are watching a movie on your TV. It will be possible to have personalized advertising. You will be able to decide yourself, which kind of advertising you would like to see.
3. Technologies behind IPTV
The two primary protocols used for IPTV are IGMP version 2 for channel change signalling for live TV and
RTSP for Video on Demand. There are of course other protocols, for example to distribute and route multicast groups between routers you can use the PIM-SM protocol [4]. For sending live-TV multicasting is used, this is because it would be impossible to withhold the bandwidth it would require to send with unicast.
SDTV will require for full quality a bit rate of 4-6 Mbps.(*Though compression techniques can allow down to 2Mbps.)..To watch HDTV other compression algorithms like H.264 are required otherwise it would consume too much bandwidth.
4. Great IPTV box + Great Service Provision + Great Firmware= The Best Solution.
These are the three most crucial things to understand when considering IPTV..If each facet is the best it can be then the service is dependable and the quality acceptable.
5. The Future..
IPTV setup boxes are HD capable now and indeed we plan to offer HD channels-the only limiting factor at the moment is the capability of ones Broadband service and the slight reluctance of most IPTV service providers to limit their own market by making reception of channels more "difficult" due to increased bandwidths required.
HDTV will require for full quality a bit rate of 8-9 Mbps.(*Though compression techniques can allow down to 4Mbps. for acceptable 720p).
We are at the dawn of a new era,where IPTV will provide reliable t.v. channels of your choice and you pay for the channels and service that suit you-in addition to this V.O.D. services will be offered through the IPTV platform in a more cost effective way than the ITUNES store for example and a simpler/smoother process than free Movies offered via free platforms like XBMC..
