Internet Protocol

television

M VIEW IPTV device

Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the

delivery of television content over Internet
Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast
to delivery through traditional terrestrial,
satellite, and cable television formats.
Unlike downloaded media, IPTV offers the
ability to stream the source media
continuously. As a result, a client media
player can begin playing the content (such
as a TV channel) almost immediately. This
is known as streaming media.

Although IPTV uses the Internet protocol it

is not limited to television streamed from
the Internet (Internet television). IPTV is
widely deployed in subscriber-based
telecommunications networks with high-
speed access channels into end-user
premises via set-top boxes or other
customer-premises equipment. IPTV is
also used for media delivery around
corporate and private networks. IPTV in
the telecommunications arena is notable
for its ongoing standardisation process
(e.g., European Telecommunications
Standards Institute).

IPTV services may be classified into live

television and live media, with or without
related interactivity; time shifting of media,
e.g., catch-up TV (replays a TV show that
was broadcast hours or days ago), start-
over TV (replays the current TV show from
its beginning); and video on demand (VOD)
which involves browsing and viewing
items of a media catalogue.

Definition
Historically, many different definitions of
IPTV have appeared, including elementary
streams over IP networks, MPEG transport
streams over IP networks and a number of
proprietary systems. One official definition
approved by the International
Telecommunication Union focus group on
IPTV (ITU-T FG IPTV) is:

IPTV is defined as multimedia

services such as
 television/video/audio/text/grap
hics/data delivered over IP
based networks managed to
provide the required level of
quality of service and
experience, security,
interactivity and reliability.[1]

Another definition of IPTV, relating to the

telecommunications industry, is the one
given by Alliance for Telecommunications
Industry Solutions (ATIS) IPTV Exploratory
Group in 2005:
IPTV is defined as the secure and
reliable delivery to subscribers
of entertainment video and
related services. These services
may include, for example, Live
TV, Video On Demand (VOD) and
Interactive TV (iTV). These
services are delivered across an
access agnostic, packet switched
network that employs the IP
protocol to transport the audio,
video and control signals. In
contrast to video over the public
Internet, with IPTV
 deployments, network security
and performance are tightly
managed to ensure a superior
entertainment experience,
resulting in a compelling
business environment for
content providers, advertisers
and customers alike.[2]

History
Up until the early 1990s, it was not thought
possible that a television programme
could be squeezed into the limited
telecommunication bandwidth of a copper
telephone cable to provide a video-on-
demand (VOD) television service of
acceptable quality, as the required
bandwidth of a digital television signal
was around 200 Mbps, which was 2,000
times greater than the bandwidth of a
speech signal over a copper telephone
wire. VOD services were only made
possible as a result of two major
technological developments: discrete
cosine transform (DCT) video
compression and asymmetric digital
subscriber line (ADSL) data
transmission.[3] DCT is a lossy
compression technique that was first
proposed by Nasir Ahmed in 1972,[4] and
was later adapted into a motion-
compensated DCT algorithm for video
coding standards such as the H.26x
formats from 1988 onwards and the
MPEG formats from 1991 onwards.[5][6]
Motion-compensated DCT video
compression significantly reduced the
amount of bandwidth required for a
television signal, while at the same time
ADSL increased the bandwidth of data that
could be sent over a copper telephone
wire. ADSL increased the bandwidth of a
telephone line from around 100 kbps to
2 Mbps, while DCT compression reduced
the required bandwidth of a digital
television signal from around 200 Mbps
down to about 2 Mbps. The combination
of DCT and ADSL technologies made it
possible to practically implement VOD
services at around 2 Mbps bandwidth in
the 1990s.[3]

The term IPTV first appeared in 1995 with

the founding of Precept Software by
Judith Estrin and Bill Carrico. Precept
developed an Internet video product
named IP/TV. IP/TV was an Mbone
compatible Windows and Unix-based
application that transmitted single and
multi-source audio and video traffic,
ranging from low to DVD quality, using
both unicast and IP multicast Real-time
Transport Protocol (RTP) and Real time
control protocol (RTCP). The software was
written primarily by Steve Casner, Karl
Auerbach, and Cha Chee Kuan. Precept
was acquired by Cisco Systems in 1998.[7]
Cisco retains the IP/TV trademark.

Internet radio company AudioNet started

the first continuous live webcasts with
content from WFAA-TV in January 1998
and KCTU-LP on 10 January 1998.[8]

Kingston Communications, a regional

telecommunications operator in the UK,
launched Kingston Interactive Television
(KIT), an IPTV over digital subscriber line
(DSL) service in September 1999. The
operator added additional VoD service in
October 2001 with Yes TV, a VoD content
provider. Kingston was one of the first
companies in the world to introduce IPTV
and IP VoD over ADSL as a commercial
service. The service became the reference
for various changes to UK Government
regulations and policy on IPTV. In 2006,
the KIT service was discontinued,
subscribers having declined from a peak
of 10,000 to 4,000.[9][10]

In 1999, NBTel (now known as Bell Aliant)

was the first to commercially deploy
Internet protocol television over DSL in
Canada[11] using the Alcatel 7350 DSLAM
and middleware created by iMagic TV
(owned by NBTel's parent company
Bruncor[12]). The service was marketed
under the brand VibeVision in New
Brunswick, and later expanded into Nova
Scotia in early 2000[13] after the formation
of Aliant. iMagic TV was later sold to
Alcatel.[14]

In 2002, Sasktel was the second in Canada

to commercially deploy IPTV over DSL,
using the Lucent Stinger DSL platform.[15]

In 2005, SureWest Communications was

the first North American company to offer
high-definition television (HDTV) channels
over an IPTV service.[16]

In 2005, Bredbandsbolaget launched its

IPTV service as the first service provider in
Sweden. As of January 2009, they are not
the biggest supplier any longer;
TeliaSonera, who launched their service
later, now has more customers.[17]

In 2007, TPG became the first internet

service provider in Australia to launch
IPTV. By 2010, iiNet and Telstra launched
IPTV services in conjunction to internet
plans.[18]
In 2008, Pakistan Telecommunication
Company Limited (PTCL) launched IPTV
under the brand name of PTCL Smart TV
in Pakistan. This service is available in 150
major cities of the country offering 140
live channels.

In 2010, CenturyLink – after acquiring

Embarq (2009) and Qwest (2010) –
entered five U.S. markets with an IPTV
service called Prism.[19] This was after
successful test marketing in Florida.

In 2016, Korean Central Television (KCTV)

introduced the set-top box called
Manbang, reportedly providing video-on-
demand services in North Korea via quasi-
internet protocol television (IPTV).
Manbang allows viewers to watch five
different TV channels in real-time, and
read find political information regarding
the Supreme Leader and Juche ideology,
and read articles from state-run news
organizations.

Markets

Residential …

The global IPTV market was expected to

grow from 28 million subscribers at US$12
billion revenue in 2009 to 83 million and
US$38 billion in 2013. Europe and Asia are
the leading territories in terms of the
overall number of subscribers. But in
terms of service revenues, Europe and
North America generate a larger share of
global revenue, due to very low average
revenue per user (ARPU) in China and
India, the fastest growing (and ultimately,
the biggest markets) is Asia.[20]

Services also launched in Bosnia and

Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Canada,
Croatia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro,
Morocco,[21] North Macedonia, Poland,
Mongolia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia,[22]
the Netherlands,[23] Georgia, Greece,
Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Czech Republic,
Slovakia, Hungary,[24][25] Norway, Sweden,
Iceland, Latvia, Turkey, Colombia, Chile
and Uzbekistan.[26] The United Kingdom
launched IPTV early and after a slow initial
growth, in February 2009 BT announced
that it had reached 398,000 subscribers to
its BT Vision service.[27] Claro has
launched their own IPTV service called
"Claro TV". This service is available in
several countries in which they operate,
such as Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua. IPTV is
just beginning to grow in Central and
Eastern Europe and Latin America, and
now it is growing in South Asian countries
such as Sri Lanka, Nepal Pakistan and
India.[28] but significant plans exist in
countries such as Russia. Kazakhstan
introduced[29] its own IPTV services by the
national provider Kazakhtelecom JSC[30]
and content integrator Alacast under the
"iD TV" brand in two major cities Astana
and Almaty in 2009 and is about to go
nationwide starting 2010. Australian ISP
iiNet launched Australia's first IPTV with
fetchtv.[31]

In India, IPTV was launched by MTNL ,

BSNL and Jio in New Delhi, Mumbai and
Punjab. APSFL is another IPTV provider in
the state of Andhra Pradesh.
In Nepal, IPTV was first launched by NEW
IT VENTURE CORPORATION called Net TV
Nepal, the service can be accessed
through its app, web app and Set top
boxes provided by local ISPs, another IPTV
was started by Nepal Telecom called
WOW Time in 2016 which can be
accessed through its app.

In Sri Lanka, IPTV was launched by Sri

Lanka Telecom (operated by SLT
VisionCom) in 2008, under the brand name
of PEO TV. This service is available in
whole country.
In Pakistan, IPTV was launched by PTCL in
2008, under the brand name of PTCL
Smart TV. This service is available in 150
major cities of the country.

In the Philippines, PLDT offers Cignal IPTV

services as an add-on in certain ADSL and
fiber optic plans.[32][33]

In Malaysia, various companies have

attempted to launch IPTV services since
2005. Failed PayTV provider MiTV
attempted to use an IPTV-over-UHF
service but the service failed to take off.
Hypp.TV was supposed to use an IPTV-
based system, but not true IPTV as it does
not provide a set-top box and requires
users to view channels using a computer.
True IPTV providers available in the
country at the moment are Fine TV and
DETV. In Q2 2010, Telekom Malaysia
launched IPTV services through their fibre
to the home product Unifi in select areas.
In April 2010, Astro began testing IPTV
services on TIME dotCom Berhad's high-
speed fibre to the home optical fibre
network. In December 2010, Astro began
trials with customers in high-rise
condominium buildings around the Mont
Kiara area. In April 2011, Astro
commercially launched its IPTV services
under the tag line "The One and Only Line
You'll Ever Need", a triple play offering in
conjunction with TIME dotCom Berhad
that provides all the Astro programming
via IPTV, together with voice telephone
services and broadband Internet access all
through the same fibre optic connection
into the customer's home.

In Turkey, TTNET launched IPTV services

under the name IPtivibu in 2010. It was
available in pilot areas in the cities of
Istanbul, İzmir and Ankara. As of 2011,
IPTV service is launched as a large-scale
commercial service and widely available
across the country under the trademark
"Tivibu EV".[34][35] Superonline plans to
provide IPTV under the different name
"WebTV" in 2011. Türk Telekom started
building the fibre optic substructure for
IPTV in late 2007.

Commercial and corporate …

IPTV has been widely used since around

2002 to distribute television and audio-
visual (AV) media around businesses and
commercial sites, whether as live TV
channels or Video on Demand (VOD).
Examples of types of commercial users
include airports, schools, offices, hotels,
and sports stadiums, to name just a few.
Architecture

A simplified network diagram for IPTV

Elements …

This section is in list format, but may read better

as prose. Learn more

IPTV head-end: where live TV channels

and AV sources are encoded, encrypted
and delivered in the form of IP multicast
streams.
Video on Demand (VOD) platform:
where on-demand video assets are
stored and served as IP unicast streams
when a user makes a request. The VOD
platform may sometimes be located
with, and considered part of, the IPTV
headend.
Interactive portal: allows the user to
navigate within the different IPTV
services, such as the VOD catalogue.
Delivery network: the packet-switched
network that carries IP packets (unicast
and multicast).
Endpoints: User equipment that can
request, decode and deliver IPTV
 streams for display to the user. This can
include computers and mobile devices
as well as set-top boxes.
Home TV gateway: the piece of
equipment at a residential IPTV user's
home that terminates the access link
from the delivery network.
User set-top box: the piece of endpoint
equipment that decodes and decrypts
TV and VOD streams for display on the
TV screen.

Architecture of a video server

network
…

Depending on the network architecture of

the service provider, there are two main
types of video server architecture that can
be considered for IPTV deployment:
centralised and distributed.

The centralised architecture model is a

relatively simple and easy to manage
solution. Because all media content is
stored in centralised servers, it does not
require a comprehensive content
distribution system. Centralised
architecture is generally good for a
network that provides relatively small VOD
service deployment, has adequate core
and edge bandwidth or has an efficient
content delivery network (CDN).
A distributed architecture has bandwidth
usage advantages and inherent system
management features that are essential
for managing a larger server network.
Distributed architecture requires intelligent
and sophisticated content distribution
technologies to augment effective delivery
of multimedia contents over the service
provider's network.[36]

Residential IPTV home networks …

In many cases, the residential gateway

that provides connectivity with the Internet
access network is not located close to the
IPTV set-top box. This scenario becomes
very common as service providers start to
offer service packages with multiple set-
top boxes per subscriber.

Networking technologies that take

advantage of existing home wiring (such
as power lines,[37][38] phone lines or coaxial
cables[39][40]) or of wireless hardware have
become common solutions for this
problem, although fragmentation in the
wired home networking market has limited
somewhat the growth in this market.[41][42]

In December 2008, ITU-T adopted

Recommendation G.hn (also known as
G.9960), which is a next-generation home
networking standard that specifies a
common PHY/MAC that can operate over
any home wiring (power lines, phone lines
or coaxial cables).[43] During 2012 IEC will
adopt a prenorm for POF networking at
Gigabit speed. This pre standard will
specify a PHY that operates at an
adaptable bit rate between 100 Mbit/s and
1 Gbit/s depending on the link power
budget.

Groups such as the Multimedia over Coax

Alliance, HomePlug Powerline Alliance,
Home Phoneline Networking Alliance, and
Quasar Alliance (Plastic Optical Fibre)[44]
each advocate their own technologies.
Telecomms IMS architecture …

There is a growing standardisation effort

on the use of the 3GPP IP Multimedia
Subsystem (IMS) as an architecture for
supporting IPTV services in
telecommunications carrier networks.
Both ITU-T and ETSI are working on so-
called "IMS-based IPTV" standards (see
e.g. ETSI TS 182 027[45]). Carriers will be
able to offer both voice and IPTV services
over the same core infrastructure and the
implementation of services combining
conventional TV services with telephony
features (e.g. caller ID on the TV screen)
will become straightforward.[46] The
MultiService Forum recently conducted
interoperability of IMS-based IPTV
solutions during its GMI event in 2008.[47]

Protocols
IPTV covers both live TV (multicast) as
well as stored video-on-demand/VoD
(unicast). Playback requires a broadband
device connected to either a fixed or
wireless IP network in the form of either a
standalone personal computer or limited
embedded OS device such as a
smartphone, touch screen tablet, game
console, connected TV or set-top box.
Video compression is provided by either a
H.263 or H.264 derived codec, audio is
compressed via a MDCT based codec and
then encapsulated in either an MPEG
transport stream or RTP packets or Flash
Video packets for live or VoD streaming. IP
multicasting allows for live data to be sent
to multiple receivers using a single
multicast group address. H.264/MPEG-4
AVC is commonly used for internet
streaming over higher bit rate standards
such as H.261 and H.263 which were more
designed for ISDN video conferencing.
H.262/MPEG-1/2 is generally not used as
the bandwidth required would quite easily
saturate a network which is why they are
only used in single link broadcast or
storage applications.

In standards-based IPTV systems, the

primary underlying protocols used are:

Service provider-based streaming:

IGMP for subscribing to a live
multicast stream (TV channel) and
for changing from one live
multicast stream to another (TV
channel change). IP multicast
operates within LANs (including
VLANs) and across WANs also. IP
multicast is usually routed in the
network core by Protocol
Independent Multicast (PIM),
setting up correct distribution of
multicast streams (TV channels)
from their source all the way to the
customers who wants to view them,
duplicating received packets as
needed. On-demand content uses a
negotiated unicast connection.
Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP)
over User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
or the lower overhead H.222
transport stream over Transmission
Control Protocol (TCP) are generally
the preferred methods of
encapsulation.
Web-based unicast only live and VoD
streaming:
Adobe Flash Player prefers RTMP
over TCP with setup and control via
either AMF or XML or JSON
transactions.
Apple iOS uses HLS adaptive bitrate
streaming over HTTP with setup
and control via an embedded M3U
playlist file.
Microsoft Silverlight uses smooth
streaming (adaptive bitrate
streaming) over HTTP.
Web-based multicast live and unicast
VoD streaming:
 The Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF) recommends RTP over UDP
or TCP transports with setup and
control using RTSP over TCP.
Connected TVs, game consoles, set-top
boxes and network personal video
recorders:
local network content uses UPnP
AV for unicast via HTTP over TCP or
for multicast live RTP over UDP.
Web-based content is provided
through either inline Web plug-ins or
a television broadcast-based
application that uses a middleware
language such as MHEG-5 that
 triggers an event such as loading an
inline Web browser using an Adobe
Flash Player plug-in.

A telecommunications company IPTV

service is usually delivered over an
investment-heavy walled garden network.

Local IPTV, as used by businesses for

audio visual AV distribution on their
company networks is typically based on a
mixture of:

1. Conventional TV reception equipment

and IPTV encoders
2. IPTV gateways that take broadcast
MPEG channels and IP wrap them to
 create multicast streams.

Via satellite
Although IPTV and conventional satellite
TV distribution have been seen as
complementary technologies, they are
likely to be increasingly used together in
hybrid IPTV networks that deliver the
highest levels of performance and
reliability. IPTV is largely neutral to the
transmission medium, and IP traffic is
already routinely carried by satellite for
Internet backbone trunking and corporate
VSAT networks.[48] The use of satellite to
carry IP is fundamental to overcoming the
greatest shortcoming of IPTV over
terrestrial cables – the speed/bandwidth
of the connection, as well as availability.

The copper twisted pair cabling that forms

the last mile of the telephone and
broadband network in many countries is
not able to provide a sizeable proportion of
the population with an IPTV service that
matches even existing terrestrial or
satellite digital TV distribution. For a
competitive multi-channel TV service, a
connection speed of 20 Mbit/s is likely to
be required, but unavailable to most
potential customers.[49] The increasing
popularity of high-definition television
(with twice the data rate of SD video)
increases connection speed requirements,
or limits IPTV service quality and
connection eligibility even further.

However, satellites are capable of

delivering in excess of 100 Gbit/s via
multi-spot beam technologies, making
satellite a clear emerging technology for
implementing IPTV networks. Satellite
distribution can be included in an IPTV
network architecture in several ways. The
simplest to implement is an IPTV-direct to
home (DTH) architecture, in which hybrid
DVB-broadband set-top boxes in
subscriber homes integrate satellite and IP
reception to give near-infinite bandwidth
with return channel capabilities. In such a
system, many live TV channels may be
multicast via satellite (IP-encapsulated or
as conventional DVB digital TV) with
stored video-on-demand transmission via
the broadband connection. Arqiva’s
Satellite Media Solutions Division
suggests "IPTV works best in a hybrid
format. For example, you would use
broadband to receive some content and
satellite to receive other, such as live
channels".[50]

Hybrid IPTV
 This section's factual accuracy may be
compromised due to out-of-date information.
Learn more

Hybrid IPTV refers to the combination of

traditional broadcast TV services and
video delivered over either managed IP
networks or the public Internet. It is an
increasing trend in both the consumer and
pay TV [operator] markets.[51][52][53]

Hybrid IPTV has grown in popularity in

recent years as a result of two major
drivers. Since the emergence of online
video aggregation sites, like YouTube and
Vimeo in the mid-2000s, traditional pay TV
operators have come under increasing
pressure to provide their subscribers with
a means of viewing Internet-based video
[both professional and user-generated] on
their televisions. At the same time,
specialist IP-based operators [often
telecommunications providers] have
looked for ways to offer analogue and
digital terrestrial services to their
operations, without adding either
additional cost or complexity to their
transmission operations. Bandwidth is a
valuable asset for operators, so many have
looked for alternative ways to deliver these
new services without investing in
additional network infrastructures.
A hybrid set-top allows content from a
range of sources, including terrestrial
broadcast, satellite, and cable, to be
brought together with video delivered over
the Internet via an Ethernet connection on
the device. This enables television viewers
to access a greater variety of content on
their TV sets, without the need for a
separate box for each service.

Hybrid IPTV set-top boxes also enable

users to access a range of advanced
interactive services, such as VOD / catch-
up TV, as well as Internet applications,
including video telephony, surveillance,
gaming, shopping, e-government accessed
via a television set.

From a pay-TV operator's perspective, a

hybrid IPTV set-top box gives them greater
long-term flexibility by enabling them to
deploy new services and applications as
and when consumers require, most often
without the need to upgrade equipment or
for a technician to visit and reconfigure or
swap out the device. This reduces the cost
of launching new services, increases
speed to market and limits disruption for
consumers.[54]
The Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV
(HbbTV) consortium of industry
companies is currently promoting and
establishing an open European standard
for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception
of broadcast and broadband digital TV and
multimedia applications with a single user
interface.[55] These trends led to the
development of Hybrid Broadcast
Broadband TV set-top boxes that included
both a broadcast tuner and an Internet
connection – usually an Ethernet port. The
first commercially available hybrid IPTV
set-top box was developed by Advanced
Digital Broadcast, a developer of digital
television hardware and software, in 2005.
The platform was developed for Spanish
pay TV operator Telefonica,[56] and used
as part of its Movistar TV service,
launched to subscribers at the end of
2005.

An alternative approach is the IPTV

version of the Headend in the Sky cable TV
solution. Here, multiple TV channels are
distributed via satellite to the ISP or IPTV
provider's point of presence (POP) for IP-
encapsulated distribution to individual
subscribers as required by each
subscriber.
This can provide a huge selection of
channels to subscribers without
overburdening Internet trunking to the POP,
and enables an IPTV service to be offered
to small or remote operators outside the
reach of terrestrial high speed broadband
connection. An example is a network
combining fibre and satellite distribution
via an SES New Skies satellite of 95
channels to Latin America and the
Caribbean, operated by IPTV Americas.[57]

While the future development of IPTV

probably lies with a number of coexisting
architectures and implementations, it is
clear that broadcasting of high bandwidth
applications such as IPTV is
accomplished more efficiently and cost-
effectively using satellite[58] and it is
predicted that the majority of global IPTV
growth will be fuelled by hybrid
networks.[59]

Advantages
The Internet protocol-based platform
offers significant advantages, including
the ability to integrate television with other
IP-based services like high speed Internet
access and VoIP.

A switched IP network also allows for the

delivery of significantly more content and
functionality. In a typical TV or satellite
network, using broadcast video
technology, all the content constantly
flows downstream to each customer, and
the customer switches the content at the
set-top box. The customer can select from
as many choices as the telecomms, cable
or satellite company can stuff into the
"pipe" flowing into the home. A switched IP
network works differently. Content
remains in the network, and only the
content the customer selects is sent into
the customer's home. That frees up
bandwidth, and the customer's choice is
less restricted by the size of the "pipe" into
the home. This also implies that the
customer's privacy could be compromised
to a greater extent than is possible with
traditional TV or satellite networks. It may
also provide a means to hack into, or at
least disrupt (see Denial of service) the
private network.

Economics …

The cable industry's expenditures of

approximately $1 billion per year are based
on network updates to accommodate
higher data speeds. Most operators use
2–3 channels to support maximum data
speeds of 50 Mbit/s to 100 Mbit/s.
However, because video streams require a
high bit rate for much longer periods of
time, the expenditures to support high
amounts of video traffic will be much
greater. This phenomenon is called
persistency. Data persistency is routinely
5% while video persistency can easily
reach 50%. As video traffic continues to
grow, this means that significantly more
CMTS downstream channels will be
required to carry this video content. Based
on today's market, it is likely that industry
expenditures for CMTS expansion could
exceed $2 billion a year, virtually all of that
expenditure being driven by video traffic.
Adoption of IPTV for carrying the majority
of this traffic could save the industry
approximately 75% of this capital
expenditure.[60]

Interactivity …

An IP-based platform also allows

significant opportunities to make the TV
viewing experience more interactive and
personalised. The supplier may, for
example, include an interactive
programme guide that allows viewers to
search for content by title or actor's name,
or a picture-in-picture functionality that
allows them to "channel surf" without
leaving the programme they're watching.
Viewers may be able to look up a player's
stats while watching a sports game, or
control the camera angle. They also may
be able to access photos or music from
their PC on their television, use a wireless
phone to schedule a recording of their
favourite show, or even adjust parental
controls so their child can watch a
documentary for a school report, while
they're away from home.

In order that there can take place an

interaction between the receiver and the
transmitter, a feedback channel is needed.
Due to this, terrestrial, satellite, and cable
networks for television do not allow
interactivity. However, interactivity with
those networks can be possible by
combining TV networks with data
networks such as the Internet or a mobile
communication network.

Video-on-demand …

IPTV technology is bringing video on

demand (VoD) to television,[61] which
permits a customer to browse an online
programme or film catalogue, to watch
trailers and to then select a selected
recording. The playout of the selected item
starts nearly instantaneously on the
customer's TV or PC.
Technically, when the customer selects the
movie, a point-to-point unicast connection
is set up between the customer's decoder
(set-top box or PC) and the delivering
streaming server. The signalling for the
trick play functionality (pause, slow-
motion, wind/rewind etc.) is assured by
RTSP (Real Time Streaming Protocol).

The most common codecs used for VoD

are MPEG-2, MPEG-4 and VC-1.

In an attempt to avoid content piracy, the

VoD content is usually encrypted. Whilst
encryption of satellite and cable TV
broadcasts is an old practice, with IPTV
technology it can effectively be thought of
as a form of Digital rights management. A
film that is chosen, for example, may be
playable for 24 hours following payment,
after which time it becomes unavailable.

IPTV-based converged services …

Another advantage is the opportunity for

integration and convergence. This
opportunity is amplified when using IMS-
based solutions.[62] Converged services
implies interaction of existing services in a
seamless manner to create new value
added services. One example is on-screen
Caller ID, getting Caller ID on a TV, and the
ability to handle it (send it to voice mail,
etc.). IP-based services help to enable
efforts to provide consumers anytime-
anywhere access to content over their
televisions, PCs, and mobile device, and to
integrate services and content to tie them
together. Within businesses and
institutions, IPTV eliminates the need to
run a parallel infrastructure to deliver live
and stored video services.

Limitations
IPTV is sensitive to packet loss and delays
if the streamed data is unreliable. IPTV
has strict minimum speed requirements in
order to facilitate the right number of
frames per second to deliver moving
pictures. This means that the limited
connection speed and bandwidth available
for a large IPTV customer base can reduce
the service quality delivered.

Although a few countries have very high-

speed broadband-enabled populations,
such as South Korea with 6 million homes
benefiting from a minimum connection
speed of 100 Mbit/s, in other countries
(such as the UK) legacy networks struggle
to provide 3–5 Mbit/s[63] and so
simultaneous provision to the home of TV
channels, VOIP and Internet access may
not be viable. The last-mile delivery for
IPTV usually has a bandwidth restriction
that only allows a small number of
simultaneous TV channel streams –
typically from one to three – to be
delivered.[64]

Streaming IPTV across wireless links

within the home has proved troublesome;
not due to bandwidth limitations as many
assume, but due to issues with multipath
and reflections of the RF signal carrying
the IP data packets. An IPTV stream is
sensitive to packets arriving at the right
time and in the right order. Improvements
in wireless technology are now starting to
provide equipment to solve the
problem.[65]

Due to the limitations of wireless, most

IPTV service providers today use wired
home networking technologies instead of
wireless technologies like IEEE 802.11.
Service providers such as AT&T (which
makes extensive use of wireline home
networking as part of its AT&T U-verse
IPTV service) have expressed support for
the work done in this direction by ITU-T,
which has adopted Recommendation G.hn
(also known as G.9960), which is a next-
generation home networking standard that
specifies a common PHY/MAC that can
operate over any home wiring (power lines,
phone lines or coaxial cables).[66][67]

Latency …

The latency inherent in the use of satellite

Internet is often held up as reason why
satellites cannot be successfully used for
IPTV. In practice, however, latency is not
an important factor for IPTV, since it is a
service that does not require real-time
transmission, as is the case with
telephony or videoconferencing services.

It is the latency of response to requests to

change channel, display an EPG, etc. that
most affects customers’ perceived quality
of service, and these problems affect
satellite IPTV no more than terrestrial
IPTV. Command latency problems, faced
by terrestrial IPTV networks with
insufficient bandwidth as their customer
base grows, may be solved by the high
capacity of satellite distribution.

Satellite distribution does suffer from

latency – the time for the signal to travel
up from the hub to the satellite and back
down to the user is around 0.25 seconds,
and cannot be reduced. However, the
effects of this delay are mitigated in real-
life systems using data compression, TCP-
acceleration, and HTTP pre-fetching.[68]

Satellite latency can be detrimental to

especially time-sensitive applications such
as on-line gaming (although it only
seriously affects the likes of first-person
shooters while many MMOGs can operate
well over satellite Internet[69]), but IPTV is
typically a simplex operation (one-way
transmission) and latency is not a critical
factor for video transmission.

Existing video transmission systems of

both analogue and digital formats already
introduce known quantifiable delays.
Existing DVB TV channels that simulcast
by both terrestrial and satellite
transmissions experience the same 0.25-
second delay difference between the two
services with no detrimental effect, and it
goes unnoticed by viewers.

Bandwidth requirements
This section does not cite any sources.
Learn more
Bandwidth capacity for simultaneously two HDTV
streams, two SD streams, additional to HSD and voice

Digital video is a combination of sequence

of digital images, and they are made up of
pixels or picture elements. Each pixel has
two values, which are luminance and
chrominance. Luminance is representing
intensity of the pixel; chrominance
represents the colour of the pixel. Three
bytes would be used to represent the
colour of the high quality image for a true
colour technique. A sequence of images is
creating the digital video, in that case,
images are called as frames.
Movies use 24 frames per second;
however, the rate of the frames can
change according to territories' electrical
systems so that there are different kinds
of frame rates, for instance, North America
is using approximately 30 frames per
second where the Europe television frame
rate is 25 frames per second. Each digital
video has dimensions width and height;
when referred to analogue television, the
dimension for SDTV is 720×480 pixels, on
the other hand, numerous HDTV requires
1920×1080 pixels. Moreover, whilst for
SDTV, two bytes (16 bits) is enough to
create the colour depth, HDTV requires
three bytes (24 bits) to create the colour
depth.

Thereby, with a rate of 30 frames/second,

the uncompressed data rate for SDTV
becomes 30×720×480×16, in other words,
147,456,000 bits per second. Moreover, for
HDTV, at the same frame rate,
uncompressed date rate becomes
30×1920×1080×24 or 1,492,992,000 bits
per second. Using that simple calculation,
a service provider's service delivery to the
subscribers is limited unless a lossy
compression method is used.
There is no absolute answer for the
bandwidth requirement for the IPTV
service because the bandwidth
requirement is increasing due to the
devices inside the household. Thus,
currently compressed HDTV content can
be delivered at a data rate between 8 and
10 Mbit/s, but if the home of the consumer
equipped with several HDTV outputs, this
rate will be multiplied respectively.

The high-speed data transfer will increase

the needed bandwidth for the viewer, at
least 2 Mbit/s is needed to use web-based
applications on the computer. Additionally
to that, 64 kbit/s is required to use landline
telephone for the property. In minimal
usage, to receive an IPTV triple-play
service requires 13 Mbit/s to process in a
household.

Privacy implications
Due to limitations in bandwidth, an IPTV
channel is delivered to the user one at a
time, as opposed to the traditional
multiplexed delivery. Changing a channel
requires requesting the head-end server to
provide a different broadcast stream,
much like VOD (For VOD the stream is
delivered using unicast, for the normal TV
signal multicast is used). This could
enable the service provider to accurately
track each and every programme watched
and the duration of watching for each
viewer; broadcasters and advertisers
could then understand their audience and
programming better with accurate data
and targeted advertising.

In conjunction with regulatory differences

between IPTV and cable TV, this tracking
could pose a threat to privacy according to
critics.[70] For IP multicast scenarios, since
a particular multicast group (TV channel)
needs to be requested before it can be
viewed, the same privacy concerns apply.
Vendors
Global sales of IPTV systems exceeded
US$2 billion in 2007, although only a small
number of companies supply most current
IPTV system solutions. Some, such as
Movistar TV, were formed by telecoms
operators themselves, to minimise
external costs, a tactic also used by PCCW
of Hong Kong. Some major telecoms
vendors are also active in this space,
notably Accenture (Accenture Video
Solution), Alcatel-Lucent (sometimes
working with Movistar TV), Ericsson
(notably since acquiring Tandberg
Television), Huawei, NEC, PTCL Smart TV,
Sri Lanka Telecom, Thomson, and ZTE, as
are some IT houses, led by Microsoft.
Delaware-based AlphaOTT Tokyo-based
The New Media Group, Malaysian-based
Select-TV, Oslo/Norway-based SnapTV,
and California-based UTStarcom, Inc. also
offer end-to-end networking infrastructure
for IPTV-based services, and Hong Kong-
based BNS Ltd. provides turnkey open
platform IPTV technology solutions.

Channel PEAR is a "collaborative, cloud-

based media platform"[71] that allows
users to create a private channel[72] on
which they can discover, share, and view
video files, MRSS feeds, and live IPTV
streams from around the world, through
devices such as Kodi,[73] Plex,[74] and
Roku.[75]

Hospitality IPTV Ltd, having established

many closed network IPTV systems,
expanded in 2013 to OTT delivery
platforms for markets in New Zealand,
Australia, and Asia Pacific region.

Google Fiber offers an IPTV service in

various US cities which includes up to 1
Gigabit-speed internet and over 290
channels depending on package via the
fiber optic network being built out in
Kansas City Kansas and Kansas City
Missouri.

PEAR IPTV self-declares as "the leading

IPTV provider in the world".[76]

Many of these IPTV solution vendors

participated in the biennial Multiservice
Switching Forum Interoperability 2008
(GMI) event which was coordinated by the
MultiService Forum (MSF) at five sites
worldwide from 20 to 31 October 2008.
Test equipment vendors including
Netrounds, Codenomicon, Empirix, Ixia, Mu
Dynamics and Spirent joined solution
vendors such as the companies listed
above in one of the largest IPTV proving
grounds ever deployed.

Service bundling
For residential users, IPTV is often
provided in conjunction with video on
demand and may be bundled with Internet
services such as Internet access and
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
telecommunications services. Commercial
bundling of IPTV, VoIP and Internet access
is sometimes referred to in marketing as
triple play service. When these three are
offered with cellular service, the combined
service may be referred to as quadruple
play.

Regulation
Historically, broadcast television has been
regulated differently from
telecommunications. As IPTV allows TV
and VoD to be transmitted over IP
networks, new regulatory issues arise.[77]
Professor Eli M. Noam highlights in his
report "TV or Not TV: Three Screens, One
Regulation?" some of the key challenges
with sector specific regulation that is
becoming obsolete due to convergence in
this field.[78]
See also
Comparison between OTT and IPTV
Comparison of streaming media
systems
Comparison of video services
Content delivery network
Internet television
List of music streaming services
List of streaming media systems
P2PTV
Protection of Broadcasts and
Broadcasting Organizations Treaty
SAT>IP
 Software as a service
Streaming media
TV gateway
Web television
Webcast

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Further reading
Anderson, Nate (12 March 2006). "An
Introduction to IPTV" . Ars Technica.
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
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