How IPTV Specifically Works

Internet Protocol Television (abbr. IPTV) is the method of delivering content to your television over the internet as opposed to via an antenna, radio signals, or cables. IPTV uses your home’s own internet signal to bring content to your television through some sort of content delivery system via a set top box or other plug in system.


What are the types of IPTV?
3 Types of IPTV services:
Video on Demand (abbr. VOD) relies on the user’s internet connection to deliver the content when and where they want to watch it. This might include television shows, movies, or other video content. Video on demand puts the viewer in control of their watching habits, including start and stop times.
Timeshift records any live streams and re-stream them to match any time zone in the world. Timeshift replays TV content that was broadcast days or  hours ago. Advanced time-shifting features such as Catch-up TV, Start-over and Pause TV.
Live television is television content broadcast in real time, in the present. Examples of live television:  tv programs, morning or awards shows, sports programs, newscasts etc.


How Does IPTV Work?
To understand how IPTV works, you first need to understand how IPTV does not work. With traditional television, programs are broadcast as radio waves which are beamed through the air and captured by an antenna located on the rooftop of a home. The antenna converts the waves back into electrical signals that can be read by a television set. While cable is slightly different than this (it uses fiber-optics instead of radio waves), the main concept is still the same. Internet Protocol Television, on the other hand, does things a little differently. Below, we have listed the steps that IPTV requires.


Storage:
One of the most important aspects of video on demand services, VOD for short, is storage. While live programs are broadcast as they happen, prerecorded programs need to be stored until they are sent out to the viewers. As a result, VOD services must limit the amount of content they have available in order to conserve storage and overall bandwidth use.


Preparation:
With Internet Protocol television, certain steps have to be taken before a program can be delivered to an audience. First, the program, whether it is live or prerecorded, must be converted into a digital format that can be delivered using the Internet Protocol. Luckily, many programs are already recorded in a digital format, so this step is oftentimes not even needs. After the program is confirmed to be in a digital format, it must be compressed. Limits on bandwidth mean that compression is the best method for delivering programs because it ensures that the programs stream smoothly without having to constantly buffer. At the very end of the process, any ads that will be included in the programming are inserted and the entire thing is encrypted.


Streaming:
When you stream something from the internet, you are essentially pulling information from one computer to another. In this way, your computer can take advantage of the true powerhouses of the internet, servers. Servers are the reason that streaming video over the internet is even possible, and the IPTV network is largely built around these machines. Think of it this way, while your computer is receiving all of the information it needs, it is able to do so because the server is there to provide it. By taking on the bulk of the work, servers keep laptops small, affordable, and convenient.

From storage to preparation to delivery, IPTV is quickly changing the way that people think about media. Gone Are the days of large cable companies and networks being in control of how and when people can view their favorite programs. At Setplex, we think this is a wonderful thing. As the producer of IPTV software, middleware and hardware, we cannot wait to see what the future of IPTV holds not only for our business but for the rest of the world. If you’d like to learn more about our products, or Internet Protocol television in general, visit our site today. Don’t let cable companies control your viewing habits any longer, experience the world of IPTV today.

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