History of Internet TV
Internet TV (IPTV) stands for Internet protocol television
which many people prefer to call Internet personalized
television. ABC’s World News program was the very first
television program to be broadcast over the Internet in
1994.
If you never heard of IPTV, you are not alone as many people do
not know what it is, even though they might already have
experienced a taste of what it is. In simple terms, IPTV is a
television service that users subscribe to so that they can
receive television shows on their TV that is connected to an
Internet protocol network via a broadband or DSL connection.
Most people have digital or satellite television now and have
the ability to watch videos on demand. The cable or satellite
company provides a list of videos that the user can choose to
watch. The movie will begin to play when the user selects it.
It is called video on demand because the consumer gets to
select when they want to watch the movie, unlike with regular
network television where the viewer doesn’t get to decide when
they will watch a program. The viewer must watch the program
when the network airs it or must make provisions to video tape
or TiVo the show to watch at a later date. Video on demand is a
tiny taste of what IPTV is about, but it is so much more than
that.
IPTV programming combines video, data and voice services and
while this is not a new idea, it is finally and idea that is
ready to go viral. Now that technology is moving forward with
leaps and bounds, providing a service fusing all three into one
service is a reality. Broadband and DSL provide a high speed
pipe through which the data can be sent. In the past internet
access was very slow and could not reasonably transmit audio
and video in a quick enough way to be beneficial. Technological
advances with broadband and DSL have changed the scope of what
is possible. Subscribers to IPTV would have to have a box
attached to their broadband or DSL Internet connection so that
the programming can be received via the television. The box is
similar to those that are installed by cable companies.
The term IPTV was coined in 1995 by a company called Precept
Software. The company engineered and created a software
application that could transfer audio and video over the
internet using an Internet Protocol. The application was
designed to offer distance training solutions for businesses.
Precept Software was acquired Cisco Systems in 1998. Cisco was
looking to integrate streaming video with network management
technology to create a network platform for delivering
high-quality video over IP. Cisco still owns the rights to the
IPTV trademark, and is considered a big palyer in the IPTV
arena.
Audionet.com is an Internet radio company that began
broadcasting news content from several television stations in
1998 featuring continuous live Internet feeds. Audionet.com
claims to be the very first company broadcasting continuous web
casts. Today, Audionet.com carries programming from over 85
television stations along with full length music current music
releases and catalogs of past releases. Audionet.com has many
users from other countries.
Shortly thereafter other companies jumped into broadcasting
continuous live web casts with content from local television
stations. Many of these companies offer programming from other
countries which has been fairly successful. Countries such as
China and India do not have the infrastructure to support cable
so they are banking on the success of IPTV.
The main feature of IPTV is the interactive capabilities that
will be available to subscribers. It will be different from
cable programming because with cable, the subscribers are
forced to accept the programming that the cable companies
provide. With IPTV, subscribers will be able to select the
programming that they want. For example, the viewer will be
able to watch programming based upon subject title or the
actor’s name. The video will be overlaid with graphics, text
and audio, so if the viewer chooses they will be able to look
up information such as sports stats on the player or team that
they are watching or can find out past acting credits of actor
they are watching.
IPTV will be like TiVo because the viewer will be able to
record programming and will have the ability to pause live
action, fast-forward and rewind. If a subscriber can set it up
so that they receive incoming e-mail and instant messages over
the television. Their caller0ID can be displayed on the
television too. The viewer will be able to watch IPTV as
picture in picture, so they can surf the Internet or watch
another channel while still watching the original programming
in the small picture in picture on screen.
The possibilities of what IPTV can offer subscribers are
endless. If a subscriber is running late, with a cell phone or
PDA he can call his IPTV and tell it to record the baseball
game that he won’t be home to see. If your are watching a
cooking show, the viewer can dash off an email to the chef.
Subscribers will be able to order the clothing that their
favorite actors are wearing on TV, and all from the comfort of
their living room sofa or recliner.
IPTV is currently in the testing phase in the United States.
There are some kinks that need to be worked out as to how the
delivery system works. To be a successful product, the
broadband infrastructure must be in place to meet the demands
of the subscriber. If a television show breaks up during
transmission because the pipeline isn’t large enough to accept
all of the data that needs to get through, the subscribers are
not going to keep paying for the service.
European telephone and internet companies are offering IPTV
subscriptions now, and the subscriber rate is rising. It is
estimates that there will be over 50,000,000 households
subscribing to IPTV by the year 2010. Will you be one of
them?
by Sarah Staar - 08-08-2008
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Source: http://www.videostreaminglist.com
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