InternetProtocolTelevision.com is here to provide the most
currrent and updated news and progress of IPTV.
IPTV is an acronym for Internet Protocol TV. It essentially is
a
technology that delivers video or TV broadcasts over the Internet.
Instead of receiving television or video over the broadcast waves,
cable lines or through a satellite TV service, your TV is hooked
directly into a broadband Internet router and receives digital signal
directly over the Internet.
Many analysts have stated that IPTV is definitely the trend for the future of television broadcasts. Many broadband operators, telephone companies and cable companies that already pipe in broadband Internet to homes can easily add this service.
Advantages
There
are many advantages of IPTV over current digital or over the air
broadcast TV signals; here are a few of them.
- Integration
& The "Triple Play"
Integration can be a great way for many companies to offer several services in one integrated package. For instance, IPTV can also be packaged with normal broadband Internet as well as VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol). All these services can be over one line sent directly to the consumer. This means that costs can be reduced and the consumer only has to deal with one provider instead of possibly three, making it more convenient.
- Switched IP
Most home owners don't realize that cable TV broadcasters and
Satellite TV broadcasters generally send all television signals at one
time and then the consumer chooses which signal to show on the
television set. This means that lots of bandwidth is used
unnecessarily. With switched IP (IPTV uses switched IP technology), the
entire process is more efficient. All the TV data is held in a center
location and only the channel that the consumer at home chooses is
piped in. This means much more bandwidth for either better quality
broadcasts or the ability to add much more data choices due to the fact
that bandwidth is no longer such a big issue.
- Interactivity
& Caller ID
Interactivity is much easier to perform with IPTV than a
normal
cable, satellite or broadcast TV system. Because IPTV is delivered over
the Internet where the consumer already has a modem in place, it is
extremely easy for data to move from the TV company to the house, as
well as data moving easily from the house back to the TV company. There
will surely be many innovations on how to best interact between the
consumer and TV company via television. Some ways interactive TV is
already used is to purchase products directly from your TV set, such as
buying items seen on a commercial or even ordering pizza. Another way
that interactive TV can be used is by people requesting more
information from their TV set on a program that they watched such as
statistics while watching a baseball game. In addition, there are many
ways that people can vote or take surveys while watching their favorite
TV program.
- Home Or Bussiness
Network
Not only is your TV set hooked up to the Internet, but all
other
computers in your home are hooked up to the same network, allowing you
to use your TV to play media files that are stored on other computers.
This may include digital photos, videos, surf the web or play music. In
addition, many monitors have TV tuners built in or can accommodate TV
tuners making your computer monitor an additional TV set in the
home.
- Video on Demand
(VOD)
Video on Demand (VOD) is an interactive feature that allows
you to
request programs such as movies, TV shows, etc at your convenience. For
instance, you might want to watch an HBO special that has already took
place. A few years ago, you would have had to check the listings and
made time to watch it or recorded it on your VCR or DVR. Today, you can
easily turn on your TV set, scroll through a menu and request the
programming that you wish to watch. IPTV makes this interactivity
extremely efficient and convenient.
- Better Quality
More Options
IPTV produces a great picture and plenty of programming options such as interactivity, networking, integration, etc; however it can also deliver better images due to its compression. IPTV uses an improved standard of compression than the current digital television standard (FTA). This means that not only are file sizes being sent to your TV set smaller in size, the quality of the TV image is higher.