What is IPTV?

IPTV or IP Television means transmitting TV signals with high quality of image and sound, via IP internet protocols, directly on the television screen. IPTV is not the same thing with television broadcast via internet. IPTV is currently used by great telecommunications companies in the world and it has been a real boom lately. This new experience in the domain of audiovisual systems is broadcast via broadband connection directly to the customers’ televisions, through a Set Top Box (not a computer). The technical term “lean-back” is used for IPTV compared to “lean-forward” technology involved by using a computer to watch TV programs on the internet.

What technologies are involved? MPEG-2 is the most popular system of video coding (codec) used in the TV, but it is not the most efficient in the case of IPTV. The services used currently have proved that MPEG-2 can be used successfully in broadband transmissions. Some IPTV service providers take into consideration the new standard MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) and the new standard Windows Media Video 9 of Microsoft, which can reduce consistently band requirements, thus allowing IPTV systems to transport more channels in standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD).

IPTV service is provided to customers on broadband connection and a Set Top Box (STB), and the services provided are accessed directly on the television screen, not the monitor connected to a computer. STB functions like a web browser and the television channels are accessed through its special functions. Anyway, this information can be useful in order to make the difference between internet television and IPTV.