IPTV service explained
You may be somewhat familiar with satellite television and cable television. They are the primary modes of video content transmission that use coaxial cables and satellites to transfer the content from the central content hub to the user. But an IPTV service is the new technology that uses the internet to transfer the video content. There will be no middleman to help the transfer happen. A content hub will be there with all the video content. Once a user subscribes for the service and selects a video to watch, a request will come to the server. Now the encoding process will happen that divides the content into small data packets and transfer them to the user via public or private networks such as LAN. You can subscribe to any IPTV providers from around the world. A Dansk IPTV will be regional to Denmark users while an American can also subscribe to it and watch Denmark shows.
What can you do with an IPTV?
Deployment of IPTV systems allows you to provide various services. These include movie streaming, live-action streaming, private professional videos, guides inside the property, self-advertising, promotional activities, etc. Let us discuss all these services in brief.
Main categories of IPTV services
The streaming activity can be divided into three categories as below
Live stream broadcasting
Time-shifted streaming
Video-on-demand
Live stream broadcasting
You would have seen any sports activity live from the venue. This streaming that happens at the same time as live-action is known as live streaming. Mostly sports programs will be streamed live on IPTVs. Some news coverage can also be live on IPTV. There will be many regional and international television channels that offer live reality shows. These shows can either be interactive or non-interactive. If interactive, users can participate in the action either through a video call or an audio connection. A non-interactive live show will be one-way streaming that the broadcasters telecast the live-action to the users.
Time-shifted streaming
Time-shifting is the process of recording live broadcasting using an extra device like a video recorder to view it after some time surpassing the live relay. It will be somewhat similar to the video-on-demand, but not the same. The relay will not be live but will play with a time-lapse. People who are unable to watch the live-action can record the show using this option and can view later. IPTV services include this time-shifting technology.
Video-on-demand
Video on demand is the content delivery services that work with the request of the user to watch a particular show followed by the telecasting from a stored video database. The content providers like Netflix, the big video-on-demand player, will store and record various video content in their database. A user should subscribe to the service to view the programs in it. But IPTV services will contain some of these OTT programs in them that the user can view for free without any subscription. It is a big advantage of using IPTV services.