Internet television
Encyclopedia
Internet television is the digital distribution
of television
content via the Internet
. It should not be confused with Web television
- short programs or videos created by a wide variety of companies and individuals, or Internet protocol television
(IPTV) - an emerging internet technology standard for use by television broadcasters. Some Internet television is known as catch-up TV. Internet Television is a general term that covers the delivery of television shows and other video content over the internet, typically by major traditional television broadcasters. It does not describe a technology used to deliver content (see Internet protocol television
). Internet television has become very popular through services such as RTÉ Player
in Ireland
; BBC iPlayer
, 4oD
, ITV Player
(also STV Player
and UTV Player
) and Demand Five
in the United Kingdom
; Hulu
in the United States
; Nederland 24
in the Netherlands
; ABC iview
and Australia Live TV
in Australia
; and Tivibu in Turkey
. See List of Internet television providers.
iPlayer brings in users which stream more than one million videos per week, with one of the BBC's headline shows The Apprentice taking over three percent to five percent of the UK's internet traffic due to people watching the first episode on the BBC iPlayer. Availability of online TV content continues to grow. As an example, in Canada as of May 2011 there were more than 600 TV shows available for free streaming, including several major titles like Survivor
and The Daily Show
with Jon Stewart.
Every night the use of on-demand television peaks at around 10 pm. Most providers of the service provide several different formats and quality controls so that the service can be viewed on many different devices. Some services now offer a HD service along side their SD, streaming is the same but offers the quality of HD to the device being used, as long as it is using a HD screen. During Peak times the BBC iPlayer transmits 12 GB (gigabytes) of information per second. Over the course of a month the iPlayer sends 7 PB (petabytes) of information.
Before 2006, most catch-up services used peer-to-peer
(P2P) networking, in which users downloaded an application and data would be shared between the users rather than the service provider giving the now more commonly used streaming method. Now most service providers have moved away from the P2P systems and are now using the streaming media
. The old P2P service was selected because the existing infrastructure could not handle the bandwidth necessary for centralized streaming distribution. Some consumers didn't like their upload bandwidth being consumed by their video player, which partially motivated the rollout of centralized streaming distribution.
, ITV player, TVCatchup
, Demand Five
, Eurosport player, iSTATION TV and Sky Go.
. Honor systems are also used where users are asked for their dates of birth or age to verify if they are able to view certain content.
For example, the BBC iPlayer's shows are in general available for up to seven days after their original broadcast. This so called "seven-day catch-up" model seems to become an industry standard for internet-television services in many countries around the world. However, some shows may only be available for shorter periods. Others, such as the BBC's Panorama, may be available for an extended period because of the shows documentary nature or its popularity.
In contrast, 4oD channel 4's on-demand service offers many of its television shows that were originally aired years ago. An example of this is the comedy The IT Crowd where users can view the full series on the internet player. The same is true for other hit channel 4 comedies such as The Inbetweeners and Black Books.
Having an extensive archive, however, can bring problems along with benefits. Large archives are expensive to maintain, server farms and mass storage is needed along with ample bandwidth to transmit it all. Vast archives can be hard to catalogue and sort so that it is accessible to users.
The benefits in most cases outweigh these problems. This is because large archives bring in far more users who, in turn, watch more media, leading to a wider audience base and more advertising revenue. Large archives will also mean the user will spend more time on that website rather than a competitors, leading to starvation of demand for the competitors.
An example of content only being aired in certain countries is BBC iPlayer. The BBC checks a user's IP address to make sure that only users located in the UK can stream content from the BBC. The BBC only allows free use of their product for users within the UK as those users have paid for a television license that funds part of the BBC. This IP address check is not foolproof as the user may be accessing the BBC website through a VPN.
Broadcasting rights can also be restricted to allowing a broadcaster rights to distribute that content for a limited time. Channel 4's online service 4oD can only stream shows created in the US by companies such as HBO for thirty days after they are aired on one of the Channel 4 group channels. This is to boost DVD sales for the companies who produce that media.
Some companies pay very large amounts for broadcasting rights with sports and US sitcoms usually fetching the highest price from UK-based broadcasters.
, short commercials and banner advertisements may show up before a video is played. An example of this is on the abc.com catch-up website; in place of the advertisement breaks on normal television, a short thirty-second advertisement is played. This short advertising time means that the user does not get fed up and money can be made on advertising, to allow web designers to offer quality content which would otherwise cost. This is how online television makes a profit.
(HbbTV) consortium of industry companies (such as SES Astra
, Humax
, Philips
, and ANT Software) is currently promoting and establishing an open European standard (called HbbTV) for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of broadcast and broadband digital television and multimedia applications with a single-user interface.
Current providers of internet television use various technologies to provide a service such as peer-to-peer
(P2P) technologies, VoD
systems, and live streaming. BBC iPlayer makes use of the Adobe Flash Player
to provide streaming-video clips and other software provided by Adobe for its download service. CNBC
, Bloomberg Television
and Showtime use live-streaming services from BitGravity
to stream live television to paid subscribers using a standard http protocol. DRM (digital rights management
) software is also incorporated into many internet-television services. Sky Go has software that is provided by Microsoft
to prevent content being copied. Internet television is also cross platform, the Sky Player service has been expanded to the Xbox 360
on October 27 and to Windows Media Center
and then to Windows 7 PCs on November 19. The BBC iPlayer is also available through Virgin Media's on-demand service and other platforms such as FetchTV and games consoles including the Wii
and the PlayStation 3
. Other Internet-television platforms include mobile platforms such as the iPhone
and iPod Touch
, Nokia N96
, Sony Ericsson C905
and many other mobile devices.
Samsung TV has also announced their plans to provide streaming options including 3D Video on Demand through their Explore 3D service.
However, applications are more powerful in that they can manage the downloading of content far better and the content they access can usually be watched offline for thirty days after downloading.
Higher-quality video such as video in high definition (720p+) requires higher bandwidth and faster connection speeds. The generally accepted kbit/s download rate needed to stream high-definition video that has been encoded with H.264 is 3500 kbit/s, whereas standard-definition television can range from 500 to 1500 kbit/s depending on the resolution on screen.
In the UK, the BBC iPlayer deals with the largest amount of traffic yet it offers HD content along with SD content. As more people get broadband connections which can deal with streaming HD video over the internet, the BBC iPlayer has tried to keep up with demand and pace. However, as streaming HD video takes around 1.5 gb of data per hour of video it took a lot of investment by the BBC to implement this on such a large scale.
For users which do not have the bandwidth to stream HD video or even high-SD video which requires 1500 kbit/s, the BBC iPlayer offers lower bitrate streams which in turn lead to lower video quality. This makes use of an adaptive bitrate stream so that if the user's bandwidth suddenly drops, iPlayer will lower its streaming rate to compensate.
This diagnostic tool offered on the BBC iPlayer site measures a user's streaming capabilities and bandwidth for free.
Although competitors in the UK such as 4oD
, ITV Player
and Demand Five
have not yet offered HD streaming, the technology to support it is fairly new and widespread HD streaming is not an impossibility. The availability of Channel 4
and Five content on YouTube
is predicted to prove incredibly popular as series such as Skins
, Green Wing
, The X Factor
and others become available in a simple, straightforward format on a website which already attracts millions of people every day.
Digital distribution
Online distribution, digital distribution, or electronic software distribution is the practice of delivering content without the use of physical media, typically by downloading via the internet directly to a consumer's device. Online distribution bypasses conventional physical distribution media,...
of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
content via the 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...
. It should not be confused with Web television
Web television
Web television, also commonly referred to as web TV, not to be confused with WebTV, Internet television or catch up TV, is an emerging genre of digital entertainment that is distinct from traditional broadcast television...
- short programs or videos created by a wide variety of companies and individuals, or Internet protocol television
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...
(IPTV) - an emerging internet technology standard for use by television broadcasters. Some Internet television is known as catch-up TV. Internet Television is a general term that covers the delivery of television shows and other video content over the internet, typically by major traditional television broadcasters. It does not describe a technology used to deliver content (see Internet protocol television
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 television has become very popular through services such as RTÉ Player
RTÉ player
RTÉ player is an on demand video service provided by RTÉ for programmes broadcast on RTÉ Television. RTÉ player is available in two formats; one for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and another format for international audiences...
in Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
; BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer
BBC iPlayer, commonly shortened to iPlayer, is an internet television and radio service, developed by the BBC to extend its former RealPlayer-based and other streamed video clip content to include whole TV shows....
, 4oD
4oD
4oD is a video on demand service from Channel 4. Launched in November 2006, 4oD stands for "4 on Demand". The service offers a variety of programmes recently shown on Channel 4, E4, More4 or from their archives...
, ITV Player
ITV Player
ITV Player is an online video on demand service accessible though the main ITV website. The service offers a variety of programmes from homegrown programming to imports across ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and CITV. Some sports programming is available to watch again via the service, the 2010 FIFA World...
(also STV Player
STV Player
The STV Player is a website based video on demand service accessible though the main STV website and separately in the distinct domain name stvplayer.tv. Current programmes are available for 30 days after transmission on the main STV channel, with archive programming available longer-term...
and UTV Player
UTV
UTV is a television channel based in the UK region of Northern Ireland. The channel is the Channel 3 or Independent Television licensee for Northern Ireland and is operated by UTV Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of UTV Media.- Terrestrial :* Analogue: Normally tuned to 3 * Freeview : 3...
) and Demand Five
Demand Five
Demand 5 is the brand name of video on demand services offered by Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. The service, which was previously known as 'Five Download', went live on 26 June 2008....
in the United Kingdom
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...
; Hulu
Hulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
; Nederland 24
Nederland 24
Nederland 24 is the collective name for a number of specialty digital television channels from Netherlands Public Broadcasting. It also broadcasts a sample channel of the same name featuring a mix of programming from the other thematic channels....
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
; ABC iview
ABC iView
ABC iview is a video on demand and Catch up TV service run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The service became available on 24 July 2008. This was the next step after the podcasting of programmes since July 2006. Currently, this site is only viewable to users in Australia. The site...
and Australia Live TV
Australia Live TV
Australia Live TV is an Australia based online television network run from Chapel Lane Studios in Hindmarsh, South Australia, Adelaide The company started with one sports Internet television show KG and the General but now hosts several shows -Programming:...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
; and Tivibu in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. See List of Internet television providers.
History
Greek internet television Tvonline created by Film Director Angelos Diamantoulakis, is the first web TV in the world. It was built in 2005.Concept
Internet television allows the users to choose the content or the television show they want to watch from an archive of content or from a channel directory. The two forms of viewing Internet television are streaming the content directly to a media player or simply downloading the media to the user's computer. With the "TV on Demand" market growing, these on-demand websites or applications are essential for major television broadcasters. For example, the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
iPlayer brings in users which stream more than one million videos per week, with one of the BBC's headline shows The Apprentice taking over three percent to five percent of the UK's internet traffic due to people watching the first episode on the BBC iPlayer. Availability of online TV content continues to grow. As an example, in Canada as of May 2011 there were more than 600 TV shows available for free streaming, including several major titles like Survivor
Survivor (U.S. TV series)
Survivor is an American version of the Survivor reality television game show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons. The series premiered on May 31, 2000 on CBS...
and The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
with Jon Stewart.
Every night the use of on-demand television peaks at around 10 pm. Most providers of the service provide several different formats and quality controls so that the service can be viewed on many different devices. Some services now offer a HD service along side their SD, streaming is the same but offers the quality of HD to the device being used, as long as it is using a HD screen. During Peak times the BBC iPlayer transmits 12 GB (gigabytes) of information per second. Over the course of a month the iPlayer sends 7 PB (petabytes) of information.
Before 2006, most catch-up services used peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
(P2P) networking, in which users downloaded an application and data would be shared between the users rather than the service provider giving the now more commonly used streaming method. Now most service providers have moved away from the P2P systems and are now using the streaming media
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
. The old P2P service was selected because the existing infrastructure could not handle the bandwidth necessary for centralized streaming distribution. Some consumers didn't like their upload bandwidth being consumed by their video player, which partially motivated the rollout of centralized streaming distribution.
Market competitors
Many providers of internet-television services exist including conventional television stations that have taken advantage of the internet as a way to continue showing television shows after they have been broadcast often advertised as "on-demand" and "catch-up" services. Today, almost every major broadcaster around the world is operating an internet-television platform. Examples include the BBC, which introduced the BBC iPlayer on 25 June 2008 as an extension to its "RadioPlayer" and already existing streamed video-clip content, and Channel 4 that launched 4oD ("4 on Demand") in November 2006 allowing users to watch recently shown content. Most internet-television services allow users to view content free of charge; however, some content is for a fee. Other internet-television providers include Been TVAustralia Live TV SeeSawSeeSaw (Internet television)
SeeSaw was an Internet television service, born out of the BBC-led Project Kangaroo and launched in the UK on 17 February 2010. It was acquired by the Criterion Media Group in July 2011 but the agreed investment never materialised. The service was shut down on 28 October 2011...
, ITV player, TVCatchup
TVCatchup
TVCatchup is an internet television service for viewing certain UK channels from free-to-air digital terrestrial and satellite broadcasters live without the use of a television receiver. The service re-broadcasts BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel Five and free to air Sky channels. Initially the legality...
, Demand Five
Demand Five
Demand 5 is the brand name of video on demand services offered by Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. The service, which was previously known as 'Five Download', went live on 26 June 2008....
, Eurosport player, iSTATION TV and Sky Go.
Control
Controlling content on the Internet presents a challenge for most providers; to try to ensure that a user is allowed to view content such as content with age certificates, providers use methods such as parental controls that allows restrictions to be placed upon the use and access of certificated material. The BBC iPlayer makes use of a parental control system giving parents the option to "lock" content, meaning that a password would have to be used to access it. Flagging systems can be used to warn a user that content may be certified or that it is intended for viewing post-watershedWatershed (television)
In television, the term watershed denotes the time period in a television schedule during which programs with adult content can air....
. Honor systems are also used where users are asked for their dates of birth or age to verify if they are able to view certain content.
Archives
An archive is a collection of information and media much like a library or interactive-storage facility. It is a necessity for an on-demand media service to maintain archives so that users can watch content that has already been aired on standard-broadcast television. However, these archives can vary from a few weeks to months to years, depending on the curator and the type of content.For example, the BBC iPlayer's shows are in general available for up to seven days after their original broadcast. This so called "seven-day catch-up" model seems to become an industry standard for internet-television services in many countries around the world. However, some shows may only be available for shorter periods. Others, such as the BBC's Panorama, may be available for an extended period because of the shows documentary nature or its popularity.
In contrast, 4oD channel 4's on-demand service offers many of its television shows that were originally aired years ago. An example of this is the comedy The IT Crowd where users can view the full series on the internet player. The same is true for other hit channel 4 comedies such as The Inbetweeners and Black Books.
Having an extensive archive, however, can bring problems along with benefits. Large archives are expensive to maintain, server farms and mass storage is needed along with ample bandwidth to transmit it all. Vast archives can be hard to catalogue and sort so that it is accessible to users.
The benefits in most cases outweigh these problems. This is because large archives bring in far more users who, in turn, watch more media, leading to a wider audience base and more advertising revenue. Large archives will also mean the user will spend more time on that website rather than a competitors, leading to starvation of demand for the competitors.
Broadcasting rights
Broadcasting rights vary from country to country and even within provinces of countries. These rights govern the distribution of copyrighted content and media and allow the sole distribution of that content at any one time.An example of content only being aired in certain countries is BBC iPlayer. The BBC checks a user's IP address to make sure that only users located in the UK can stream content from the BBC. The BBC only allows free use of their product for users within the UK as those users have paid for a television license that funds part of the BBC. This IP address check is not foolproof as the user may be accessing the BBC website through a VPN.
Broadcasting rights can also be restricted to allowing a broadcaster rights to distribute that content for a limited time. Channel 4's online service 4oD can only stream shows created in the US by companies such as HBO for thirty days after they are aired on one of the Channel 4 group channels. This is to boost DVD sales for the companies who produce that media.
Some companies pay very large amounts for broadcasting rights with sports and US sitcoms usually fetching the highest price from UK-based broadcasters.
Profits and costs
With the exception of Internet-connectivity costs many online-television channels or sites are free. These sites maintain this free-television policy through the use of video advertisingVideo advertising
The term video advertising could encompass online display adverts such as MPU’s that have video within them, but it is generally accepted that it refers to advertising that occurs on Internet television...
, short commercials and banner advertisements may show up before a video is played. An example of this is on the abc.com catch-up website; in place of the advertisement breaks on normal television, a short thirty-second advertisement is played. This short advertising time means that the user does not get fed up and money can be made on advertising, to allow web designers to offer quality content which would otherwise cost. This is how online television makes a profit.
Technologies used for Internet television
The Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TVHybrid Broadcast Broadband TV
Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV is both an industry standard and promotional initiative for hybrid digital TV to harmonise the broadcast, IPTV, and broadband delivery of entertainment to the end consumer through connected TVs and set-top boxes...
(HbbTV) consortium of industry companies (such as SES Astra
SES Astra
Astra is the name for the geostationary communication satellites, both individually and as a group, which are owned and operated by SES S.A., a global satellite operator based in Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. The name is sometimes also used to describe the channels broadcasting from these...
, Humax
Humax
Humax is an electronics company. Founded in South Korea in 1989, it manufactures set-top boxes, digital video recorders and other consumer electronics. It is publicly traded on KOSDAQ....
, Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....
, and ANT Software) is currently promoting and establishing an open European standard (called HbbTV) for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of broadcast and broadband digital television and multimedia applications with a single-user interface.
Current providers of internet television use various technologies to provide a service such as peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
(P2P) technologies, VoD
VOD
VOD may stand for:*Velocity of detonation, the speed of a shock wave through a detonated explosive*Veno-occlusive disease, a complication of bone marrow transplantation*Versant Object Database, a database management system...
systems, and live streaming. BBC iPlayer makes use of the Adobe Flash Player
Adobe Flash Player
The Adobe Flash Player is software for viewing multimedia, Rich Internet Applications and streaming video and audio, on a computer web browser or on supported mobile devices. Flash Player runs SWF files that can be created by the Adobe Flash authoring tool, by Adobe Flex or by a number of other...
to provide streaming-video clips and other software provided by Adobe for its download service. CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
, Bloomberg Television
Bloomberg Television
Bloomberg Television is a 24-hour global network broadcasting business and financial news. It is distributed globally, reaching over 200 million homes worldwide. It is owned and operated by Bloomberg L.P...
and Showtime use live-streaming services from BitGravity
Bitgravity
BitGravity is a Burlingame, CA, based content delivery network . The company was founded in 2006 and is notable because of its strategic partnership with Tata Communications which makes it one of the new breed of content delivery networks facilitating the telecommunication industries' push into the...
to stream live television to paid subscribers using a standard http protocol. DRM (digital rights management
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
) software is also incorporated into many internet-television services. Sky Go has software that is provided by 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...
to prevent content being copied. Internet television is also cross platform, the Sky Player service has been expanded to the Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
on October 27 and to Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center
Windows Media Center is a digital video recorder and media player developed by Microsoft. It is an application that allows users to view and record live television, as well as organize and play music and videos...
and then to Windows 7 PCs on November 19. The BBC iPlayer is also available through Virgin Media's on-demand service and other platforms such as FetchTV and games consoles including the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
and the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. Other Internet-television platforms include mobile platforms such as the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
and iPod Touch
IPod Touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
, Nokia N96
Nokia N96
Nokia N96 is a Nokia smartphone in the Nseries range of products. It is the official successor to Nokia N95.The handset was publicly announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, February 2008, and started shipping in September 2008. Europe, Middle East and Asia-Pacific are the first locations...
, Sony Ericsson C905
Sony Ericsson C905
The Sony Ericsson C905 is a high-end mobile phone in Sony's 'C' range, which, with the low-end 'S' range, supplants the earlier 'K' range of camera phones. It is the flagship model in Sony Ericsson's range for 2008 and it was released on 22 October 2008...
and many other mobile devices.
Samsung TV has also announced their plans to provide streaming options including 3D Video on Demand through their Explore 3D service.
Website vs. applications
The main problem with on-demand video services that are applications on desktop computers is getting users to download them and register. It is far easier for a user to simply log onto a webpage without registering than to have to spend time registering and downloading often large applications.However, applications are more powerful in that they can manage the downloading of content far better and the content they access can usually be watched offline for thirty days after downloading.
Stream quality
Stream quality refers to the quality of the image and audio transferred from the servers of the distributor to the user's home screen.Higher-quality video such as video in high definition (720p+) requires higher bandwidth and faster connection speeds. The generally accepted kbit/s download rate needed to stream high-definition video that has been encoded with H.264 is 3500 kbit/s, whereas standard-definition television can range from 500 to 1500 kbit/s depending on the resolution on screen.
In the UK, the BBC iPlayer deals with the largest amount of traffic yet it offers HD content along with SD content. As more people get broadband connections which can deal with streaming HD video over the internet, the BBC iPlayer has tried to keep up with demand and pace. However, as streaming HD video takes around 1.5 gb of data per hour of video it took a lot of investment by the BBC to implement this on such a large scale.
For users which do not have the bandwidth to stream HD video or even high-SD video which requires 1500 kbit/s, the BBC iPlayer offers lower bitrate streams which in turn lead to lower video quality. This makes use of an adaptive bitrate stream so that if the user's bandwidth suddenly drops, iPlayer will lower its streaming rate to compensate.
This diagnostic tool offered on the BBC iPlayer site measures a user's streaming capabilities and bandwidth for free.
Although competitors in the UK such as 4oD
4oD
4oD is a video on demand service from Channel 4. Launched in November 2006, 4oD stands for "4 on Demand". The service offers a variety of programmes recently shown on Channel 4, E4, More4 or from their archives...
, ITV Player
ITV Player
ITV Player is an online video on demand service accessible though the main ITV website. The service offers a variety of programmes from homegrown programming to imports across ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and CITV. Some sports programming is available to watch again via the service, the 2010 FIFA World...
and Demand Five
Demand Five
Demand 5 is the brand name of video on demand services offered by Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. The service, which was previously known as 'Five Download', went live on 26 June 2008....
have not yet offered HD streaming, the technology to support it is fairly new and widespread HD streaming is not an impossibility. The availability of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
and Five content on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
is predicted to prove incredibly popular as series such as Skins
Skins (TV series)
Skins is a BAFTA award-winning British teen drama that follows a group of teenagers in Bristol, South West England, through the two years of college. The controversial plot line explores issues such as dysfunctional families, mental illness , adolescent sexuality, substance abuse and death...
, Green Wing
Green Wing
Green Wing is a British sitcom set in the fictional East Hampton Hospital. It was created by the same team behind the sketch show Smack the Pony, led by Victoria Pile, and stars Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan and Julian Rhind-Tutt....
, The X Factor
The X Factor (UK)
The X Factor is a British television music competition to find new singing talent. Created by Simon Cowell, it began in September 2004 and is contested by aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. It is the originator of the international X Factor franchise. The seven series of the show to date...
and others become available in a simple, straightforward format on a website which already attracts millions of people every day.
Overview of Platforms and availability
| Service | Supporting company/companies | Regional availability | Website-based | Windows application | Mac application | Linux Linux Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds... application | Android application | Console application | TV set application | Set Top Box application
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| BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer, commonly shortened to iPlayer, is an internet television and radio service, developed by the BBC to extend its former RealPlayer-based and other streamed video clip content to include whole TV shows.... |
BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... |
UK | Wii, PS3 | Samsung, Sony, Philips | Virgin Media On Demand, Freesat | ||||||
| Tivibu | Argela Argela Argela is a Turkish-based multinational corporation that designs and sells networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Founded in 2004, acquired by Turk Telekom in 2006, and headquartered in Istanbul, Argela has branches in Santa Clara, Dubai and Ankara.Argela’s products include... |
TR | Argela Argela Argela is a Turkish-based multinational corporation that designs and sells networking, voice, and communications technology and services. Founded in 2004, acquired by Turk Telekom in 2006, and headquartered in Istanbul, Argela has branches in Santa Clara, Dubai and Ankara.Argela’s products include... Android Player |
Pending | None | Ttnet Ttnet TTNET is the largest Internet service provider in Turkey and has around 6 million subscribers. TTNET is a subsidiary of Türk Telekom.Currently, Dr. Paul Doany is Chairman of the Board of Directors.... on Demand |
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| Sky Go | Sky | UK & Ireland | Xbox 360 | ||||||||
| ITV Player ITV Player ITV Player is an online video on demand service accessible though the main ITV website. The service offers a variety of programmes from homegrown programming to imports across ITV1, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4 and CITV. Some sports programming is available to watch again via the service, the 2010 FIFA World... |
ITV | UK | PS3 | Virgin Media On Demand | |||||||
| VuNow | Verismo Networks | World | VuNow Service | ||||||||
| ABC iview ABC iView ABC iview is a video on demand and Catch up TV service run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The service became available on 24 July 2008. This was the next step after the podcasting of programmes since July 2006. Currently, this site is only viewable to users in Australia. The site... |
Australian Broadcasting Corporation Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster... |
Australia | iPad | PS3 | Samsung, Sony | ||||||
| 4OD 4oD 4oD is a video on demand service from Channel 4. Launched in November 2006, 4oD stands for "4 on Demand". The service offers a variety of programmes recently shown on Channel 4, E4, More4 or from their archives... |
Channel 4 | UK & Ireland | PS3 | Virgin Media On Demand | |||||||
| SeeSaw SeeSaw (Internet television) SeeSaw was an Internet television service, born out of the BBC-led Project Kangaroo and launched in the UK on 17 February 2010. It was acquired by the Criterion Media Group in July 2011 but the agreed investment never materialised. The service was shut down on 28 October 2011... |
Arqiva Arqiva Arqiva is a telecommunications company which provides infrastructure and broadcast transmission facilities in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The present company, with headquarters located at Crawley Court in the village of Crawley, Hampshire, was formed by National Grid Wireless... |
UK | |||||||||
| Hulu Hulu Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other... |
FOX, NBC Universal, ABC,.. | US | PS3, XBOX360 | Samsung, Vizio | |||||||
| RTÉ Player RTÉ player RTÉ player is an on demand video service provided by RTÉ for programmes broadcast on RTÉ Television. RTÉ player is available in two formats; one for the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and another format for international audiences... |
RTÉ RTE RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey... |
Ireland | PS3 | ||||||||
| TG4 Beo TG4 TG4 is a public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers. The channel has been on-air since 31 October 1996 in the Republic of Ireland and since April 2005 in Northern Ireland.... |
TG4 TG4 TG4 is a public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers. The channel has been on-air since 31 October 1996 in the Republic of Ireland and since April 2005 in Northern Ireland.... |
Ireland/Worldwide | |||||||||
| TV3 Catch Up | TV3 | Ireland |
See also
- Comparison of streaming media systemsComparison of streaming media systemsThis is a comparison of streaming media systems. A more complete list of streaming media systems is also available.-General:The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of streaming media systems both audio and video...
- Comparison of video servicesComparison of video servicesThe following tables compare general and technical information for a number of notable video hosting services. Please see the individual products' articles for further information...
- Content delivery networkContent Delivery NetworkA content delivery network or content distribution network is a system of computers containing copies of data placed at various nodes of a network....
- Digital televisionDigital televisionDigital television is the transmission of audio and video by digital signals, in contrast to the analog signals used by analog TV...
- Grid castingGrid castingGrid casting or gridcasting is a file and stream sharing system that cooperates transparently by using idle bandwidth on a user's computer to deliver large scale live or on-demand broadcasts...
- Interactive televisionInteractive televisionInteractive television describes a number of techniques that allow viewers to interact with television content as they view it.- Definitions :...
- Internet radioInternet radioInternet radio is an audio service transmitted via the Internet...
- IPTVIPTVInternet 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...
- Home theater PCHome theater PCA Home Theater PC or Media Center appliance is a convergence device that combines some or all the capabilities of a personal computer with a software application that supports video, photo, music playback, and sometimes video recording functionality...
- List of Internet television providers
- List of streaming media systems
- MulticastMulticastIn computer networking, multicast is the delivery of a message or information to a group of destination computers simultaneously in a single transmission from the source creating copies automatically in other network elements, such as routers, only when the topology of the network requires...
- P2PTVP2PTVThe term P2PTV refers to peer-to-peer software applications designed to redistribute video streams in real time on a P2P network; the distributed video streams are typically TV channels from all over the world but may also come from other sources...
- Protection of Broadcasts and Broadcasting Organizations TreatyProtection of Broadcasts and Broadcasting Organizations TreatyThe WIPO Protection of Broadcasts and Broadcasting Organizations Treaty or the Broadcast Treaty is a treaty designed to afford broadcasters some control and copyright-like control over the content of their broadcasts...
- Push technologyPush technologyPush technology, or server push, describes a style of Internet-based communication where the request for a given transaction is initiated by the publisher or central server...
- Smart TVSmart TVSmart TV, which is also sometimes referred to as "Connected TV" or "Hybrid TV", , is the phrase used to describe the current trend of integration of the internet and Web 2.0 features into modern television sets and set-top boxes, as well as the technological convergence between computers and these...
- Software as a serviceSoftware as a ServiceSoftware as a service , sometimes referred to as "on-demand software," is a software delivery model in which software and its associated data are hosted centrally and are typically accessed by users using a thin client, normally using a web browser over the Internet.SaaS has become a common...
- Streaming mediaStreaming mediaStreaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
- Television networkTelevision networkA television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
- Video advertisingVideo advertisingThe term video advertising could encompass online display adverts such as MPU’s that have video within them, but it is generally accepted that it refers to advertising that occurs on Internet television...
- Web televisionWeb televisionWeb television, also commonly referred to as web TV, not to be confused with WebTV, Internet television or catch up TV, is an emerging genre of digital entertainment that is distinct from traditional broadcast television...
- Web-to-TVWeb-to-TVA Web-to-TV installation uses a variety of third-party components, typically built around a PC capable of running a browser and the most popular codecs and a home network....
- WebcastWebcastA webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand...
External links
- http://theconnectedset.tv/iptv_platforms_youview_googletv_virgintivo_etc/ "Overview of internet connected TV platforms in the UK" The Connected Set (Feb 2011)
- IPTV future The Register 2006-05-05
- As Internet TV Aims at Niche Audiences, the Slivercast Is Born New York Times 2006-03-12
- IPTV vs Internet Video
- TV's future stars will come from the webThe Guardian 2008-09-11
- Your top web TVThe Telegraph 2007-08-03
- International TV Explorer Industry project identifying internet TV services around the world (2010)
- http://www.apps-world.net/blog/2011/09/north-america/discover-how-the-development-of-tv-apps-is-going-to-change-home-entertainment-at-appsworld/ How internet TV is going to change home entertainment
- geo news live Live TV Channels WebSite