What is IPTV?

iPTV is Internet Protocol Television which uses  packet based streaming video delivery
iPTV  it is a pro consumer technology, it is truly interactive
iPTV is going to set you free
iPTV will transform your reality

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) has become a common denominator for systems where television and/or video signals are distributed to subscribers or viewers using a broadband connection over Internet Protocol. Often this is in parallel with the subscriber's Internet connection, supplied by a broadband operator using the same infrastructure but over a dedicated bandwidth allocation.

IPTV is not a protocol itself.

IPTV is expected to grow at a brisk pace in the coming few years, as broadband is now available to more than 100 million households worldwide.

Current Status:

iPTV technology is mature, full scale realization is just just beginning. Although not new, it has been a long time coming, pending the establishment of a  large enough population connected with broadband and the hardware to receive it. We have reached the threshold where it has become a viable platform for the delivery of high quality video in ways never possible before.
iPTV political and economic ramifications have yet to be fully comprehended

Why is it revolutionary?

IPTV breaks all the rules, and shatters the finite boundaries of broadcast, satellite,  and cable television as we know it, it decentralizes  power, eliminates corporate, government and political controls and puts the consumer in command of both viewing and creation of content. 

• True interactive television
• See anything you want to see, any time, any where, on any device
• Advertiser, sponsor, and subscriber funded content
• Advanced Targeted Interactive Content Delivery
• Planet wide in scope
• Infinite number of  stations and channels, unlimited content
• Eliminates  middle men and media monopolies
• Reduced infrastructure costs

Architecture

Due to the bandwidth requirements of video, IPTV requires broadband connections to be distributed.IPTV covers both live TV (multicasting) as well as stored video (Video on Demand VOD). The playback of IPTV requires either a personal computer or a "set-top box" connected to a TV. The primary underlying protocols used for IPTV are IGMP version 2 for channel change signalling for live TV and RTSP for Video on Demand.
Protocols using peer-to-peer technology to distribute live TV are just starting to emerge. Their primary advantage over traditional distribution models is that they provide a way of sharing data delivery workloads across connected client systems as well as over the distributor's own server infrastructure, which drastically decreases the operational costs for a stream provider.
Video Compression formats used for IPTV include MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, WMV (Windows Media Video 9 and VC1), XviD, DivX, and Ogg Theora.

Advantages

Advantages of IPTV include two-way capability lacked by traditional TV distribution technologies, as well as point-to-point distribution allowing each viewer to view individual broadcasts. This enables stream control (pause, wind/rewind etc.) and a free selection of programming much like its narrowband cousin, the web.

Tripleplay is an expression used by service operators describing a consumer package including telephony, data and video. Offering tripleplay on a broadband connection requires the use of IPTV and IP Telephony (Voice over IP, VoIP)

Alternatives

Alternatives to IPTV are traditional TV distribution technologies such as terrestrial, satellite and cable TV. However, cable can be upgraded to two-way capability and can thus also carry IPTV. IPTV is far superior to traditional platforms. All which have limitations, whereas IPTV has none.

VOD in the US is usually delivered over cable TV using the DVB protocol and is not labeled IPTV services.

The largest operators in IPTV today are:

• Fastweb in Italy (http://www.fastweb.it/)
• Imagenio, operated by Telefonica in Spain [1] (http://www.telefonicaonline.com/on/es/imagenio/)
• Yahoo BB / Softbank in Japan
• NOW Broadband TV in Hong Kong, launched in Q4 2003 [2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IPTV&action=edit&section=5)
• SuperSun in Hong Kong, lanched in Q3 2005
• Intelegen Inc. launched a full service operation in 2005 in conjunction with it's Autonomous Wireless Consumer Mesh Network which is set to establish a consumer owned and operated wireless communications infrastructure that will carry data, voice and video.

In 2004, SBC agreed to pay Microsoft $400 million dollars for software to be used to deliver IPTV services to up to 18 million customers. Separately, SBC is investing over $4 billion USD in its network infrastructure to prepare for the rollout, the largest part with Alcatel ($1.7 billion) including access and fiber technologies, IP routing, Ethernet switching solutions, and network systems integration services. Additionally, Alcatel will work with SBC to ensure the video systems integration. Since the SBC deal, Microsoft and Alcatel have subsequently announced a global collaboration agreement to develop an integrated IPTV delivery solution. In January 2005, US based Verizon signed an agreement to use Microsoft IPTV solution, as well.

Previous to this, Swisscom/Bluewin has been running real live trials since November 2004 with over 600 customers. Besides this, Bell Canada, Bell South, Reliance (India) and TelecomItalia are testing this new technology.

Beyond simple press announcements (excepting Fastweb, Yahoo BB and Swisscom/Bluewin), Belgacom will offer a commercial IPTV service for 2005. Details can be found at (Belgacom TV (http://www.belgacom.be/private/en/jsp/dynamic/product.jsp?dcrName=hbs_belgacomtv)) (in English) and a demonstration of the Belgacom TV service (demo (http://selfcare.belgacom.be/static/pc/data/flash/belgacomtv/belgacomtv_en.html)

Vendors

The term "IP/TV" is an active registered United States trademark owned first by Precept Software, Inc. and now by Cisco Systems, Inc. The IP/TV product is an audio/video system, including both servers and viewers, based on the RTP/RTCP and SDP protocols. It often uses IP multicast as well. IP/TV was introduced in 1995.

Digital broadcast equipment manufacturer Tandberg Television, Harmonic Inc (http://www.harmonicinc.com) has a range of headend hardware and software catering to IPTV applications.

IPTV 24/7 Quality monitoring and analysis vendors

• Agama Technologies (official site (http://www.agama.tv/))

IPTV set-top box manufacturers include:

• Advanced Digital Broadcast (official site (http://www.adbglobal.com/))
• Amino Communications, UK (official site (http://www.aminocom.com/))
• i3 micro (official site (http://www.i3micro.com/))
• Kreatel (official site (http://www.kreatel.com/))
• Pace Micro Technology (official site (http://www.pacemicro.com/))
• Samsung (official site (http://www.samsung.com/))
• Telsey Telecommunications, Italy (official site (http://www.telsey.com/))
• VBrick Systems, USA (official site (http://www.vbrick.com/))

IPTV software vendors include:

• Alcatel (official site (http://www.alcatel.com))
• Microsoft (official site (http://www.microsoft.com/))
• Minerva Networks (official site (http://www.minervanetworks.com/))
• Myrio (official site (http://www.myrio.com/))
• Orca Interactive (official site (http://www.orcainteractive.com/))
• Siemens (official site (http://www.siemens.com/))
• VBrick Systems, USA (official site (http://www.vbrick.com/))
• Video Furnace (official site (http://www.videofurnace.com/))

IPTV end-to-end solutions:

• UTStarcom (official site (http://www.utstar.com/Solutions/Broadband/IPTV_mVision/))
• mxWare (official site (http://www.mxware.com/))
• Intelegen Inc. (official site http://intelegen.com)

IPTV News sources

• informitv (official site (http://informitv.com))
• iptv-report (official site (http://ipt-report.com))
• iptv news (official site (http://www.iptv-news.com))
• TVover.net (official site (http://www.tvover.net))