Interactive television - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Interactive television (generally known as ITV or sometimes as iTV when used as branding) describes a number of techniques that allow viewers to interact with television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

content as they view it.

Definitions

Interactive television represents a continuum from low interactivity

Interactivity

In the fields of information science, communication, and industrial design, there is debate over the meaning of interactivity. In the "contingency view" of interactivity, there are three levels:...

(TV on/off, volume, changing channels) to moderate interactivity (simple movies on demand

Video on demand

Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video or audio content on demand...

without player controls) and high interactivity

Interactive media

Interactive media normally refers to products and services on digital computer-based systems which respond to the user’s actions by presenting content such as text, graphics, animation, video, audio, etc.-Terminology:...

in which, for example, an audience member affects the program being watched. The most obvious example of this would be any kind of real-time voting

Voting

Voting is a method for a group such as a meeting or an electorate to make a decision or express an opinion—often following discussions, debates, or election campaigns. It is often found in democracies and republics.- Reasons for voting :...

on the screen, in which audience votes create decisions that are reflected in how the show continues. A return path to the program provider is not necessary to have an interactive program experience. Once a movie is downloaded for example, controls may all be local. The link was needed to download the program, but texts and software which can be executed locally at the set-top box

Set-top box

A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...

or IRD

Integrated receiver/decoder

An integrated receiver/decoder is an electronic device used to pick-up a radio-frequency signal and convert digital information transmitted in it.-Consumer IRDs:...

(Integrated Receiver Decoder) may occur automatically, once the viewer enters the channel.

Return path

To be truly interactive, the viewer must be able to alter the viewing experience (e.g. choose which angle to watch a football

Football

Football may refer to one of a number of team sports which all involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball with the foot to score a goal. The most popular of these sports worldwide is association football, more commonly known as just "football" or "soccer"...

match), or return information

Information

Information in its most restricted technical sense is a message or collection of messages that consists of an ordered sequence of symbols, or it is the meaning that can be interpreted from such a message or collection of messages. Information can be recorded or transmitted. It can be recorded as...

to the broadcaster

Broadcasting

Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...

.

This "return path," return channel

Return channel

In communications systems that use star topologies, the return channel is the transmission link from a user terminal to the central hub....

or "back channel" can be by telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

, mobile SMS

SMS

SMS is a form of text messaging communication on phones and mobile phones. The terms SMS or sms may also refer to:- Computer hardware :...

(text messages), radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

, digital subscriber line

Digital Subscriber Line

Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...

s (ADSL) or cable

Cable

A cable is two or more wires running side by side and bonded, twisted or braided together to form a single assembly. In mechanics cables, otherwise known as wire ropes, are used for lifting, hauling and towing or conveying force through tension. In electrical engineering cables are used to carry...

.

Cable TV viewers receive their programs via a cable, and in the integrated cable return path enabled platforms, they use the same cable as a return path.

Satellite

Satellite

In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....

viewers (mostly) return information to the broadcaster via their regular telephone lines. They are charged for this service on their regular telephone bill. An Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

connection via ADSL, or other, data communications technology, is also being increasingly used.

Interactive TV can also be delivered via a terrestrial aerial

Television antenna

A television antenna, or TV aerial, is an antenna specifically designed for the reception of over the air broadcast television signals, which are transmitted at frequencies from about 41 to 250 MHz in the VHF band, and 470 to 960 MHz in the UHF band in different countries...

(Digital Terrestrial TV

Digital terrestrial television

Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...

such as 'Freeview' in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

). In this case, there is often no 'return path' as such - so data cannot be sent back to the broadcaster (so you could not, for instance, vote on a TV show, or order a product sample) . However, interactivity is still possible as there is still the opportunity to interact with an application which is broadcast and downloaded to the set-top box (so you could still choose camera

Camera

A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...

angles, play games etc.).

Increasingly the return path is becoming a broadband

Broadband

The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...

Internet Protocol

The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...

connection, and some hybrid receivers are now capable of displaying video from either the IP connection or from traditional tuners. Some devices are now dedicated to displaying video only from the IP channel, which has given rise to IPTV

IPTV

Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...

- Internet Protocol Television. The rise of the "broadband return path" has given new relevance to Interactive TV, as it opens up the need to interact with Video on Demand servers, advertisers, and web site operators.

Forms of interaction

The term "interactive television" is used to refer to a variety of rather different kinds of interactivity (both as to usage and as to technology), and this can lead to considerable misunderstanding. At least three very different levels are important (see also the instructional video literature which has described levels of interactivity in computer-based instruction which will look very much like tomorrow's interactive television):

Interactivity with a TV set

The simplest, Interactivity with a TV set is already very common, starting with the use of the remote control to enable channel surfing behaviors, and evolving to include video-on-demand, VCR-like pause, rewind, and fast forward, and DVR

Digital video recorder

A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...

s, commercial skipping and the like. It does not change any content or its inherent linearity, only how users control the viewing of that content. DVRs allow users to time shift content in a way that is impractical with VHS. Though this form of interactive TV is not insignificant, critics claim that saying that using a remote control to turn TV sets on and off makes television interactive is like saying turning the pages of a book makes the book interactive. In the not too distant future, the questioning of what is real interaction with the TV will be difficult. Panasonic already has face recognition technology implemented its prototype Panasonic Life Wall. The Life Wall is literally a wall in your house that doubles as a screen. Panasonic uses their face recognition technology to follow the viewer around the room, adjusting its screen size according to the viewers distance from the wall. Its goal is to give the viewer the best seat in the house, regardless of location. The concept was released at Panasonic Consumer Electronics Show in 2008. Its anticipated release date is unknown, but it can be assumed technology like this will not remain hidden for long.

Interactivity with TV program content

In its deepest sense, Interactivity with TV program content is the one that is "interactive TV", but it is also the most challenging to produce. This is the idea that the program, itself, might change based on viewer input. Advanced forms, which still have uncertain prospect for becoming mainstream, include dramas where viewers get to choose or influence plot details and endings.

As an example, in Accidental Lovers
Accidental Lovers
Accidental Lovers is a Finnish interactive musical comedy series on Television. Viewers can affect the love relationship between 61-year-old cabaret singer Juulia and 30-year-old pop star Roope by sending mobile text messages to the show.Depending on the nature of the messages the plot takes...

viewers can send mobile text messages to the broadcast and the plot transforms on the basis of the keywords picked from the messages.
Global Television Network
Global Television Network
Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...

offers a multi-monitor interactive game for Big Brother 8 (US) "'In The House'" which allows viewers to predict who will win each competition, who's going home, as well as answering trivia questions and instant recall challenges throughout the live show. Viewers login to the Global website to play, with no downloads required.
Another kind of example of interactive content is the Hugo game on Television where viewers called the production studio, and were allowed to control the game character in real time using telephone buttons by studio personnel, similar to The Price is Right
The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed...

.
Another example is the Clickvision Interactive Perception Panel used on news programmes in Britain, a kind of instant clap-o-meter
Clap-o-meter
A clap-o-meter, clapometer or applause meter is a measurement instrument that purports to measure and display the volume of clapping or applause made by a studio audience or an audience at some other event. It is used to decide the result of competitions based on the popularity of the contestants,...

run over the telephone.

Simpler forms, which are enjoying some success, include programs that directly incorporate polls, questions, comments, and other forms of (virtual) audience response back into the show. There is much debate as to how effective and popular this kind of truly interactive TV can be. It seems likely that some forms of it will be popular, but that viewing of pre-defined content, with a scripted narrative arc, will remain a major part of the TV experience indefinitely. The United States lags far behind the rest of the developed world in its deployment of interactive television. This is a direct response to the fact that commercial television in the U.S. is not controlled by the government, whereas the vast majority of other countries' television systems are controlled by the government. These "centrally planned" television systems are made interactive by fiat, whereas in the U.S., only some members of the Public Broadcasting System has this capability.

Commercial broadcasters and other content providers serving the US market are constrained from adopting advanced interactive technologies

Advanced Television

Advanced television is an umbrella term used to describe an array of features enabled by digital technology that significantly change analog television as it has come to be known during the 20th century...

because they must serve the desires of their customers, earn a level of return on investment for their investors, and are dependent on the penetration of interactive technology into viewers' homes. In association with many factors such as

requirements for backward compatibility of TV content formats, form factors and Customer Premise Equipment (CPE)
the 'cable monopoly' laws that are in force in many communities served by cable TV operators
consumer acceptance of the pricing structure for new TV-delivered services. Over the air (broadcasted) TV is FREE in the US, free of taxes or usage fees.
proprietary coding of set top boxes by cable operators and box manufacturers
the ability to implement 'return path' interaction in rural areas that have low, or no technology infrastructure
the competition from Internet-based content and service providers for the consumers' attention and budget
and many other technical and business road blocks

Interactivity with TV-related content

The least understood, Interactivity with TV related content may have most promise to alter how we watch TV over the next decade. Examples include getting more information about what is on the TV, weather, sports, movies, news, or the like.

Similar (and most likely to pay the bills), is getting more information about what is being advertised, and the ability to buy it—this is called "tcommerce" (short for "television commerce"). Partial steps in this direction are already becoming a mass phenomenon, as Web sites and mobile phone services coordinate with TV programs (note: this type of interactive TV is currently being called "participation TV" and GSN and TBS are proponents of it). This kind of multitasking is already happening on large scale—but there is currently little or no automated support for relating that secondary interaction to what is on the TV compared to other forms of interactive TV. Others argue that this is more a "web-enhanced" television viewing than interactive TV. In the coming months and years, there will be no need to have both a computer and a TV set for interactive television as the interactive content will be built into the system via the next generation of set-top boxes. However, set-top-boxes have yet to get a strong foothold in American households as price (pay per service pricing model) and lack of interactive content have failed to justify their cost.

Many think of interactive TV primarily in terms of "one-screen" forms that involve interaction on the TV screen, using the remote control, but there is another significant form of interactive TV that makes use of Two-Screen Solutions, such as NanoGaming http://www.madisonavenuejournal.com/2007/07/05/prediction_nanogaming_will/index.php. In this case, the second screen is typically a PC (personal computer) connected to a Web site application. Web applications may be synchronized with the TV broadcast, or be regular websites that provide supplementary content to the live broadcast, either in the form of information, or as interactive game or program. Some two-screen applications allow for interaction from a mobile device (phone or PDA), that run "in synch" with the show.

Such services are sometimes called "Enhanced TV," but this term is in decline, being seen as anachronistic and misused occasionally. (Note: "Enhanced TV" originated in the mid-late 1990s as a term that some hoped would replace the umbrella term of "interactive TV" due to the negative associations "interactive TV" carried because of the way companies and the news media over-hyped its potential in the early 90's.)

Notable Two-Screen Solutions have been offered for specific popular programs by many US broadcast TV networks. Today, two-screen interactive TV is called either 2-screen (for short) or "Synchronized TV" and is widely deployed around the US by national broadcasters with the help of technology offerings from certain companies.

One-screen interactive TV generally requires special support in the set-top box

Set-top box

, but Two-Screen Solutions, synchronized interactive TV applications generally do not, relying instead on Internet

Internet

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

or mobile phone servers to coordinate with the TV and are most often free to the user. Developments from 2006 onwards indicate that the mobile phone can be used for seamless authentication through Bluetooth

Bluetooth

Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...

, explicit authentication through Near Field Communication

Near Field Communication

Near field communication, or NFC, allows for simplified transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in proximity to each other, usually by no more than a few centimeters. It is expected to become a widely used system for making payments by smartphone in the United States...

. Through such an authentication it will be possible to provide personalised services to the mobile phone.

Interactive TV services

Notable interactive TV services are:

ActiveVideo Networks
ActiveVideo Networks
ActiveVideo Networks, based in San Jose, California, offers an open application platform called CloudTV that enables the authoring, deployment and distribution of television apps from the network cloud to video products such as televisions, set-top boxes and portable devices.- History and overview...

(formerly known as ICTV) - Pioneers in interactive TV and creators of ActiveVideo: A cloud-based interactive TV platform built on current web and television standards. The network-centric approach provides for the bulk of application and video processing to be done in the cloud, and delivers a standard MPEG stream to virtually any digital set-top box, web-connected TV or media device.
T-commerce
T-commerce
T-commerce is e-commerce that utilizes the full potential of tablet devices to create an immersive consumer experience.T-commerce is e-commerce that utilizes or is performed using the Twitter platform.- See also :* M-commerce* U-commerce* Television...

- Is a commerce transaction through the set top box return path connection.
BBC Red Button
ATVEF - 'Advanced Television Enhancement Forum' is a group of companies that are set up to create HTML based TV products and services. ATVEF's work has resulted in an Enhanced Content Specification which makes it possible for developers to create their content once and have it display properly on any compliant receiver.
MSN TV
MSN TV
MSN TV is the name of both a thin client which uses a television for display , and the online service that supports it....

- MSN TV supplies computerless Internet access. It requires a set-top box that sells for $100 to $200, with a monthly access fee.
Philips Net TV - solution to view Internet content designed for TV; directly integrated inside the TV set. No extra subscription costs or hardware costs involved.
Interactive TV purchasing system An Interactive TV purchasing system was introduced in 1994 in France. The system was using a regular TV set connected together with a regular antenna and the Internet for feedback. A demo has shown the possibility of immediate purchasing, interactively with displayed contents.

Closed-circuit Interactive television

Television sets can also be used as computer display

Computer display

A monitor or display is an electronic visual display for computers. The monitor comprises the display device, circuitry, and an enclosure...

s or for video games

User interaction

Interactive TV is often described by clever marketing gurus as "lean back" interaction, as users are typically relaxing in the living room environment with a remote control in one hand. This is a very simplistic definition of interactive television that is less and less descriptive of interactive television services that are in various stages of market introduction. This is in contrast to the similarly slick marketing devised descriptor of personal computer

Personal computer

A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...

-oriented "lean forward" experience of a keyboard

Computer keyboard

In computing, a keyboard is a typewriter-style keyboard, which uses an arrangement of buttons or keys, to act as mechanical levers or electronic switches...

, mouse and monitor

Computer display

A monitor or display is an electronic visual display for computers. The monitor comprises the display device, circuitry, and an enclosure...

. This description is becoming more distracting than useful as video game users, for example, don't lean forward while they are playing video games on their television sets, a precursor to interactive TV. A more useful mechanism for categorizing the differences between PC and TV based user interaction is by measuring the distance the user is from the Device. Typically a TV viewer is "leaning back" in their sofa, using only a Remote Control as a means of interaction. While a PC user is 2 ft or 3 ft from his high resolution screen using a mouse and keyboard. The demands of distance, and user input devices, requires the application's look and feel to be designed differently. Thus Interactive TV applications are often designed for the "10ft user experience" while PC applications and web pages are designed for the "3ft user experience". This style of interface design rather than the "lean back or lean forward" model is what truly distinguishes Interactive TV from the web or PC. However even this mechanism is changing because there is at least one web-based service which allows you to watch internet television on a PC with a wireless remote control.

In the case of Two-Screen Solutions Interactive TV, the distinctions of "lean-back" and "lean-forward" interaction become more and more indistinguishable. There has been a growing proclivity to media multitasking

Media multitasking

For other uses, see multitasking Media multitasking involves using TV, the Web, radio, telephone, print, or any other media in conjunction with another...

, in which multiple media devices are used simultaneously (especially among younger viewers). This has increased interest in two-screen services, and is creating a new level of multitasking in interactive TV. In addition, video is now ubiquitous on the web, so research can now be done to see if there is anything left to the notion of "lean back" "versus" "lean forward" uses of interactive television.

For one-screen services, interactivity is supplied by the manipulation of the API

Application programming interface

An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...

of the particular software installed on a set-top box, referred to as 'middleware

Middleware

Middleware is computer software that connects software components or people and their applications. The software consists of a set of services that allows multiple processes running on one or more machines to interact...

' due to its intermediary position in the operating environment. Software programs are broadcast to the set-top box in a 'carousel'.

On UK DTT (Freeview uses ETSI based MHEG-5

MHEG-5

MHEG-5, or ISO/IEC 13522-5, is part of a set of international standards relating to the presentation of multimedia information, standardised by the Multimedia and Hypermedia Experts Group...

), and Sky's DTH platform uses ETSI based WTVML

WTVML

- Worldwide TV Mark-up Language :See also waptvWTVML is an XML based content format designed to allow web site operators to easily develop and deploy Interactive TV services, typically it reduces the time taken for web site operators to create a TV Site, and results in the Site being deployable on...

in DVB-MHP systems and for OCAP

OpenCable Application Platform

The OpenCable Application Platform, or OCAP, is an operating system layer designed for consumer electronics that connect to a cable television system, the Java-based middleware portion of the platform. Unlike operating systems on a personal computer, the cable company controls what OCAP programs...

, this is a DSM-CC Object Carousel.

The set-top box can then load and execute the application. In the UK this is typically done by a viewer pressing a "trigger" button on their remote control (e.g. the red button

Red Button (Digital Television)

Red Button is a button on the remote control for certain digital television set top boxes in the UK, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and By Directv in the USA. It is for interactive television services such as BBC Red Button and Astro...

, as in "press red").

Interactive TV Sites have the requirement to deliver interactivity directly from internet servers, and therefore need the set-top box's middleware to support some sort of TV Browser, content translation system or content rendering system. Middleware examples like Liberate are based on a version of HTML

HTML

HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....

/JavaScript

JavaScript

JavaScript is a prototype-based scripting language that is dynamic, weakly typed and has first-class functions. It is a multi-paradigm language, supporting object-oriented, imperative, and functional programming styles....

and have rendering capabilities built in, while others such as OpenTV

OpenTV

OpenTV is an interactive television company founded in 1994. Its main business involves the sale of set-top-box operating systems and software. On March 28, 2010 OpenTV became a fully owned subsidiary of the NAGRA Kudelski Group and officially delisted from the NASDAQ, where it was previously...

and DVB-MHP can load microbrowsers and applications to deliver content from TV Sites. In October 2008, the ITU

Itu

Itu is an old and historic municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population in 2009 was 157,384 and the area is 641.68 km². The elevation is 583 m. This place name comes from the Tupi language, meaning big waterfall. Itu is linked with the highway numbered the SP-75 and are flowed...

's J.201 paper on interoperability of TV Sites recommended authoring using ETSI WTVML

WTVML

to achieve interoperability by allowing dynamic TV Site to be automatically translated into various TV dialects of HTML

HTML

HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....

/JavaScript

JavaScript

, while maintaining compatibility with middlewares such as MHP

MHP

MHP may stand for:*Minsk-1 Airport*Montana Highway Patrol*Monty Hall problem*A mental health professional*Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi - a Turkish nationalist political party*Multimedia Home Platform...

and OpenTV

OpenTV

via native WTVML

WTVML

microbrowsers.

Typically the distribution system for Standard Definition digital TV is based on the MPEG-2

MPEG-2

MPEG-2 is a standard for "the generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information". It describes a combination of lossy video compression and lossy audio data compression methods which permit storage and transmission of movies using currently available storage media and transmission...

specification, while High Definition distribution is likely to be based on the MPEG-4

MPEG-4

MPEG-4 is a method of defining compression of audio and visual digital data. It was introduced in late 1998 and designated a standard for a group of audio and video coding formats and related technology agreed upon by the ISO/IEC Moving Picture Experts Group under the formal standard ISO/IEC...

meaning that the delivery of HD often requires a new device or set-top box, which typically are then also able to decode Internet Video via broadband return paths.

Interactive television projects

Some interactive television projects are consumer electronics boxes which provide set-top interactivity, while other projects are supplied by the cable television companies (or multiple system operator, or MSO) as a system-wide solution. Even other, newer, approaches integrate the interactive functionality in the TV, thus negating the need for a separate box. Some examples of interactive television include:

MSOs
Multi system operator
A Multiple System Operator or Multi System Operator is an operator of multiple cable television systems. A cable system in the United States, by Federal Communications Commission definition, is a facility serving a single community or a distinct governmental entity, each with its own franchise...
- Cox Communications
  Cox Communications
  Cox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television, telecommunications and wireless services in the United States...
  
  (US)
- Time Warner
  Time Warner
  Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
  
  (US)
- Comcast
  Comcast
  Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
  
  (US)
- Cablevision (US)
Previous MSO trials or demos
- TELE TV from Bell Atlantic, Nynex, Pac Tel, CAA (US) - no longer in operation
- Full Service Network
  Full Service Network
  Time Warner's Full Service Network. Formerly the Full Service Network, also known as FSN was an 18-month trial interactive television service launched by Time Warner Inc. in Orlando, Florida. The FSN was active between 1994 and 1997 targeting an initial number of 4,000 households with services...
  
  from Time Warner (US) - no longer in operation
- GTE mainStreet
  GTE mainStreet
  GTE mainStreet, also known as mainStreet USA, was one of the first interactive television projects.Internet style content was available through this television service before the internet was widely accessible. mainStreet started in the mid-1980s and matured technically with rich new content from...
  
  (US) a former product of GTE, also provided over select Continental Cablevision and Daniels cable television systems.
- Smartbox from TV Cabo
  TV Cabo
  ZON Multimédia is a Portuguese media holding company whose main assets include a satellite, cable operator and ISP, a movie distributor and a virtual carrier of mobile phone services. Its services include cable television, cable internet and VOIP. ZON Multimédia is the spun off media arm of...
  
  , Novabase
  Novabase
  Established in 1989, Novabase is a Portuguese IT company. In 2009, its turnover was €241 million, and the company employed about 2000 employees in 2009. Novabase has been listed on the Euronext Lisbon stock exchange since July 2000....
  
  and Microsoft
  Microsoft
  Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
  
  (PT) - this no longer in operation, although some of the equipment is still used for the digital TV service. This was the pioneer project.
Consumer electronics solutions
- TiVo
  TiVo
  TiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by TiVo, Inc. and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList"...
- ReplayTV
  ReplayTV
  ReplayTV is a brand of digital video recorder , a term synonymous with personal video recorder . It is a consumer video device which allows users to capture television programming to internal hard disk storage for later viewing...
- UltimateTV
  UltimateTV
  Ultimate TV may refer to:* UltimateTV - A defunct online service* Microsoft UltimateTV - Microsoft's DVR intended to compete with TiVo...
- Miniweb Interactive
- Microsoft Windows XP Media Center
  Windows XP Media Center Edition
  Windows XP Media Center Edition is a version of the Windows XP operating system designed to serve as a home-entertainment hub. The last version, Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, was released in October 2004.-Versions:...
- Philips Net TV
Two-Screen Solutions, or "enhanced TV" solutions
- See Enhanced TV
  Enhanced TV
  Enhanced TV is one example of interactive TV. It is used in particular in reference to Two-Screen Solutions TV + PC services. Generally users of these ETV services have their TV and computer in the same room, and navigate their web browser to a particular program-specific Web site that is...
Hospitality & healthcare solutions
- LodgeNet
- Miracle TV Corp.: Tru2Way
  Tru2Way
  Tru2way is a brand name for interactive digital cable services delivered over the cable video network, for example interactive program guides, interactive ads, games, chat, web browsing, and t-commerce. The brand also appears as “'” and is used to market cable services, applications, and devices...
  
  and IPTV
  IPTV
  Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
  
  Centralized and Stand Alone solutions.

Mobile phone interaction with the STB and the TV

ITEA WellCom Project
Eureka ITEA2 WellCom Project
Eureka ITEA 2 WellCom was a collaborative research project running under the ITEA2 programme within the EUREKA framework. It was launched in April 2007 and ended in April 2009. The WellCom consortium was composed of 15 European organizations including Large companies, SMEs, research institutes and...

using Bluetooth
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...

and NFC
NFC
NFC may refer to:* Nagacorp FC, a Cambodian sporting club* National Finance Center, a division of the United States Department of Agriculture* National Football Conference, a constituent conference of the National Football League...

for authentication, pairing and seamless service access

Interactive Video and Data Services

IVDS is a wireless implementation of interactive TV, it utilizes part of the VHF TV frequency spectrum (218–219 MHz).

External links

The Enhanced Television Cookbook: PBS's (US Public Television) Interactive Television How to
A guide to the production techniques used for interactive television
Dr. Bruce Klopfenstein's Interactive Television Blog maintained by the University of Georgia's director of its New Media Centers Consortium interactive television project
Georgia Tech's Experimental Television Lab Georgia Institute of Technology
Georgia Institute of Technology
The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...

's Lab directed by Dr. Janet Murray
Janet Murray
Janet Murray is a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she is the director of graduate studies in the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture. Before coming to Georgia Tech in 1999, she was a Senior Research Scientist in the Center for Educational Computing Initiatives...
Interactive Television Alliance
The Madison Avenue Journal: Prediction: NanoGaming Will Replace Nielsen
- Digital TV Consumer test reports - UK Government-funded website to help consumers choose the equipment needed to switch to digital television
- Three Enhanced TV Binary Interchange Format (EBIF) tutorials - with links to download the source code for each.
Azuyo's MyLivingRoom Software allows users to video-chat with other users while watching TV
"I want my Twitter TV" Fast Company (magazine)
Fast Company (magazine)
Fast Company is a full-color business magazine that releases 10 issues per year and reports on topics including innovation, digital media, technology, change management, leadership, design, and social responsibility...

, November 2010 Interactive TV through Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.