Informa Telecoms and Media

IPTV (Internet Protocol television) Posted by: Margaret Rouse WhatIs.com Sponsored News Why Hybrid Cloud Object Storage Deployments Require Flexibility –IBM CIO's Guide to Understanding Bimodal IT –Dell See More Vendor Resources Testing Multiplay Networks –Ixia Whitepaper: Multicasting, TAP and Data Aggregation for Telecom –Gigamon IPTV (Internet Protocol television) is the delivery of programming by video stream encoded as a series of IP packets. IPTV is distributed by a service provider and can be free or fee-based and can deliver either live TV or stored video. It can be bundled with other Internet Protocol services, including VoIP and high-speed Internet access. Download this free guide How (and Why) to Buy Video Conferencing Systems Our buyer’s guide focuses on room-based and telepresence video conferencing, and what you need to know before making any purchases for your organization. Start Download In traditional television delivery, all programming is broadcast simultaneously. The available program signals flow downstream and the viewer selects which program he wants to watch by changing the channel. IPTV, by contrast, sends only one program at a time. Content remains on the service provider's network and only the program the customer selects is sent to the home. When a viewer changes the channel, a new stream is transmitted from the provider's server directly to the viewer. Like cable TV, IPTV requires a set-top box. IPTV primarily uses multicasting with Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) version 2 for live television broadcasts and Real Time Streaming Protocol for on-demand programs. Compatible video compression standards include H.264, Windows Media Video 9 and VC1, DivX, XviD, Ogg Theora and the MPEG-2 and -4. IPTV competes with another delivery model known, somewhat confusingly, as iTV (Internet TV). In the iTV delivery model, content is typically distributed through a website. Getting started with IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) To explore how IPTV is used in the enterprise, here are some additional resources: Defining IPTV to clarify your video planning: IPTV has become a catch-all for TV and video content delivered by a service provider, even though IP isn't always used. A clear definition will help plan bandwidth use. Planning an IPTV strategy: Video delivered over IP networks in all of its flavors is a huge opportunity as well as a challenge facing telecom service providers. Technology, provider demographics and content must be aligned. This was last updated in November 2010 Continue Reading About IPTV (Internet Protocol television) This free chapter download offers a crash course in IPTV. Nate Anderson provides "An introduction to IPTV." 'The real meaning of IPTV' offers insight into the business side of IPTV. This Eurocomms.com article predicts battles ahead between IPTV and iTV. Related Terms Internet metering Internet metering is a service model in which an Internet service provider (ISP) tracks the customer's use of bandwidth and ... See complete definition Internet TV Internet TV (ITV) is generally-available content distributed over the Internet. Unlike IPTV (Internet Protocol television), which... See complete definition Zero-TV Zero-TV is Nielsen's category for homes that neither subscribe to cable or satellite television services nor use an antenna to ... See complete definition