What is Internet protocol television (IPTV)?

[Admin]

Internet protocol television (IPTV) uses IP as the transport platform to send video signals to the television via high-speed Internet connections such as fiber-to-the-X connections (FTTx) and/or next-generation digital subscriber lines (xDSL). With this technology, consumers will be in complete control of what, when, and where they watch television programming.

[wejones]

Internet protocol television (IPTV) uses IP as the transport platform to send video signals to the television via high-speed Internet connections such as fiber-to-the-X connections (FTTx) and/or next-generation digital subscriber lines (xDSL). With this technology, consumers will be in complete control of what, when, and where they watch television programming.

I'm not quite sure if this message indicates that Sadoun is or will be offering hardware capable of dealing with this technology, but I am starting to get overwhelmed with the many acronyms associated with related technology. I'm curious how all this fits in with display of real time transport streams in general, and also VOD and IP/DVB transmissions? Ie how does this relate to streaming of .mpg files from computers or the FTA sat signals, which can be re-transmitted over a network and displayed on TV with the aid of devices like a Roku-HD1000, or by cheaper devices like MediaMVP, or PC based devices? Or does what is described above only relate to VOD (video on demand) type services?

I'm somewhat interested because I know that satellite transmission of video on demand type and other IP/DVB techniques is becoming more of a trend, and I am curious whether there is any consumer technology that will be capable of displaying video of this sort, and if so, will it also be capable of displaying real time video from other generic sources or is technology likely to be only capable of dealing with one particular {subscription} service?

I fear that my question is even more confused than I am.

[be236]

Would why you need hardware to get IPTV? If they signal is via Internet should they simply make software program to decode the signal (assuming it's free/unecrypted).. and even if it's encrypted, then require some subscription in the software etc...

But dont think DSL is fast enough to watch these channels? I've watched some free TV off the net and it's so jerky and pixelated... not very enjoyable to watch...

[wejones]

Would why you need hardware to get IPTV? If they signal is via Internet should they simply make software program to decode the signal (assuming it's free/unecrypted).. and even if it's encrypted, then require some subscription in the software etc...

But dont think DSL is fast enough to watch these channels? I've watched some free TV off the net and it's so jerky and pixelated... not very enjoyable to watch...

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You're probably right on both points, if talking about live video. I was mainly trying to find out if there is consumer hardware in the works that encorporates the required software in a set top box or something. I was thinking something like my Roku box, to which I can send video in http or udp streams.

Re speed, I don't know how fast DSL or cable internet is (I don't have a high speed connection), but I think the key is that it may not be live. I now send regular live TS video across my lan, and can watch it either on my TV (via Roku) or on any of my computers (via VLC). I could sometimes watch SD on slow wireless net (I think that is like 5 mbps or so), but it usually breaks up. It goes through a 10 mbps lan OK as long as there isn't other activity. Low bitrate HD will go through a 50 mbps wireless net, but high speed HD requires a 100 mbps lan. So this all seems too fast for most internet connections if it's live, even if compressed in mpeg4 format.

However, I think that this stuff is supposed to be sent prior to you watching it. Ie I may be wrong, but I think it's sent at whatever speed you have, and stored on hard drive until you start to watch it. So the hardware I was wondering about would be like a dedicated computer with hard drive, and decoding software, and a good video card that can output to a TV. But my deeper question, is whether in fact this IPTV is the same thing as video on demand , some of which is already being sent via IP/DVB on satellite, or if IPTV is something different. I thought that perhaps someone might produce a STB that could decode and store satellite VOD type signals in addition to regular TS video.
Ie, I'm really trying to find out just what IPTV is, and what kind of hardware is in the works, and if it is generic in nature or specific to each subscription service.

[Sadoun]

Yes, a STB is required to watch live IPTV. Otherwise, a PC will not be appealing to all consumers who don't want to spend the money on a PC to watch TV.

I have seen a few IPTV service providers at the CES 2007 show. Most bundle a few channels and stream it from their servers using some kind of encryption that only received using their STB and with an authorized account.

High speed broadband service is required. Anything less than 16 mb speed will not work well if you have multiple TV and you want to watch different channels independantly (including HDTV). With current DSL/Cable speeds you will only watch 1 or 2 SD channels only. The quality of the picture is like watching a VHS tape.

The major telecoms like AT&T is distributing IPTV service in test markets using fiberoptic cables and high speed internet.

Europe (specially France) BTW is way ahead of us in this regard. They have IPTV service for years now.

[SYI]

I hear about the speeds needed to run IPTV. WHat I want to know is how fast will my customers be FAPed when they use IPTV. How may bites, Bytes, Megs per hr/day/show?

Any insite will be helpful

[be236]

I think I'll stick with watching regular TV on Internet (not IPTV) since they are usually provided free by the TV stations' websites, etc...

[lumpkin666]

I work for a company who provides cable service using IPTV style devices (amino STB's). I don't work in that division, so I know little about it. At my home, we have Fiber bringing the signal in, but internally a 10/100 ethernet network provides realtime IPTV feeds to all 8 TV's , highspeed internet to 6 pc's, and VOIP to 2 independent phone lines, and I see absolutely no pixelation or signs of signal quality issues.

The IPTV mpeg encoding for this system does use some "proprietary" encryption, but I do believe that with the right authorization, a PC could receive/decrypt the signal, as the provider of the video encoding devices advertises that it can be viewed over PC or STB.

[EyesofThunder]

How much bandwidth does IPTV need? Will it make a significant drain on my net connection? If I am doing a serious download, will my TV signal from the IPTV box suffer?

We had a lifelong subscription to SkyAngel and they are now abandoning being on Dish/Echostar's sat at 61.5 and going to IPTV, but they still can't seem to tell me much about it other than you need a min 1.5Mb connection.

Is there anyone actually using it yet in any significant capacity?

Thanks!

[yuzhanin]

How much bandwidth does IPTV need? Will it make a significant drain on my net connection? If I am doing a serious download, will my TV signal from the IPTV box suffer?

We had a lifelong subscription to SkyAngel and they are now abandoning being on Dish/Echostar's sat at 61.5 and going to IPTV, but they still can't seem to tell me much about it other than you need a min 1.5Mb connection.

Is there anyone actually using it yet in any significant capacity?

Thanks!

I would look into free online streaming TV channels to understand if your connection is fast enough and how your router handles streaming video while doing a large download.

Check wwiTV for a list of channels and try several channels with progressively higher bit rates.

One thing to keep in mind is that the programming providers' capacities may be limited, so I would try to pick ones with theoretically higher capacity (like TV Marti, ABC News or Shop NBC).