IPTV is growing quickly, with new providers and services popping up alongside traditional TV providers with more IPTV offerings.
But what is IPTV? What does IPTV stand for? How does it work? And how can you use it to improve your TV-watching experience?
IPTV stands for “internet protocol television.” The “IP” in IPTV is the same as the one in your IP address or VoIP (voice over IP). All that means is television programming is being communicated using the internet protocol.
To understand what that means, you need to know a bit about how non-IPTV works. With cable or satellite TV, broadcasters send out signals and viewers receive them—you’re only able to watch what’s being broadcasted. Unless you have some sort of recording device, you don’t get to dictate what’s on when. You just tune in when you can and watch what’s available.
IPTV is different. Instead of transmitting content via light pulses in fiber-optic cable or radio waves from a satellite, IPTV sends shows and movies through your standard internet connection. (You may be using a cable or satellite internet connection, but these are independent of the ones that usually carry your TV signals.)
Instead of broadcasting a range of shows on a specific schedule, most IPTV uses video on demand (VOD) or time-shifted media.
There’s some complicated network architecture behind all of this making it work, including lots of transcoding from traditional signals to IP-friendly ones. But the important thing is that you don’t have to watch what’s being broadcast. You can tell your provider what you want to watch, and they’ll send it to you immediately.
If you’ve used a streaming service like Netflix, it’s the same idea, but with TV instead of movies or syndicated shows.
Do You Need a Set-Top Box for IPTV?
Because most TVs aren’t equipped for IPTV, you may need a set-top box that “translates” what you receive over your internet connection into a format that your TV can read. With the likes of Amazon Firestick.
Your computer, on the other hand, doesn’t need anything to watch IPTV. Once you sign up for a service, you can use it to stream whatever you want in any of the IPTV formats
Video on Demand (VOD)
VOD streaming is exactly what it sounds like; you get video whenever you demand it. Movie-streaming sites are VOD providers. There’s no time limit on what you can watch (other than what the service currently has the rights for).
You tell the service what you want to watch, they send it to you via the internet, and you watch it. Simple.
Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are popular examples of VOD services.
Live IPTV
Like broadcast TV, you can also watch shows live on IPTV. Many people watch sporting events this way; it’s easy to stream a game on your phone while you’re on the go.
Other than being broadcast over the internet instead of through traditional TV media, live IPTV is pretty much the same as regular TV.
FOX Sports Go, CBS Sports HQ, TV, and Sling TV all offer live IPTV.
IPTV
The IPTV we offer comes with sport, movies live TV and so much more. I have been using it for over 3 years now I no longer have Sky in all my rooms as I once had I only having it on my main TV and the rest I use IPTV on.
I use IPTV each day and I will be he first to admit there is times the stream drops or you need to close and come back into it. But over all it is great I have had many to try out to get working and have been now with my current provider for over a year after trying a number of IPTV providers.
I have set a number of these devices up for friends and family who too have been using IPTV and love it.
