➤ What is IPTV (Internet Protocol Television)?

What is IPTV?

Internet protocol television can be defined as a broadband medium that provides multimedia services in the form of television, audio, video, graphics, etc. distributed over Internet protocol networks intended to provide the desired quality of service, security, and reliability of the substance.

IPTV has established itself as the most efficient method of transmitting television programs. It generally operates on the basis of a request and broadcasts only the program requested by the subscriber. Each time you change your channel, it delivers a new series of programs to the viewer.

On the other hand, in the conventional mode of transmitting TV programs, all the channels are broadcast simultaneously.

Its use is not limited to Internet television, but is mainly used in high-speed subscription telecommunications networks to access channels at the subscriber's home using set-top boxes and routers.

So, today, it can be watched on a PC, laptop, and even on a smartphone if you have a broadband connection to access its services.

Suggested reading: The best free IPTV apps to watch TV

Types of Internet protocol television

1) Live television: Live streaming of TV programs or video/audio/games in live streaming with minimal latency, for example to watch a live cricket match, a live soccer game, the final of a reality TV game, etc. in real time, as it happens.

2) Digital Video Recorder (DVR) or delayed television: It allows you to watch television programs that were originally broadcast a few hours or days ago and to review current programs.

Users can watch their favorite shows later and even if they missed the broadcast due to lack of time at the time of the television broadcast.

3) Video on Demand (VOD): Each user has a collection of different media files stored in their device and can browse and watch them at any time by selecting them. This function of Internet Protocol television uses the real-time streaming protocol for transmission because it deploys a unicast transmission mode.

Today, the most popular VoD services are Netflix and Amazon Prime Video.

Some characteristics of Internet television

This technology offers two-way proficiency to interactive television. It therefore makes it possible to personalize services and the subscriber can choose what he wants to see and when he wants to see it.
Service providers can save the bandwidth used because content is only delivered at the request of the end user based in the network.
The services can be viewed not only on television, but also on a desktop computer, laptop, smartphone, tablet, etc.
It also supports functions such as music on demand, pausing TV, fast forward (which allows you to skip ads), TV replay, weather information and media player, and more.
Advertising can also be broadcast through IPTV, because the insertion of ads is done in many videos that we watch online and that we cannot completely ignore, we have to watch a portion of them.

History of IPTV

The term IPTV appeared in 1995. It was developed by precept software, a combination of Mbone and UNIX compatible Windows applications used to transmit single or multiple source audio and video content using the Real-Time Transport Protocol (RTP) and the Real-Time Control Protocol (RTCP).
In 1999, a telecommunications company in the United Kingdom, Kingston Communications, launched IPTV via a digital subscriber line (DSL). In 2001, it also added the VoD service, which was indeed the very first type of service launched by an organization in the world, and also made it commercial.
In 2005, one of the North American companies launched the high-definition television channel via Internet Protocol TV.
In 2010, many countries in Asia and Europe also launched the VoD service in collaboration with Internet service providers on IPTV services. They also launched DVR services through set-top boxes.

IPTV market size

So far, the American and European markets have established themselves as the largest countries in terms of subscribers. The total number of subscribers is estimated at over 1000 million and is expected to reach $90 billion by 2025.
Demand for IPTV services is increasing worldwide at an annual rate of 30 to 35%.
The huge demand for personalized television content is the main growth factor in the IPTV market. The inclusion of on-demand advertising with content is also one of the main factors that accelerate business in this area and generate revenue and marketing.
According to the study, Asia-Pacific countries like India, South Korea, and China are the emerging IPTV markets, following trends in the North American and European markets.
European countries like France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have the largest market share among all IPTVs.
The main IPTV providers that offer services in the global market are Matrix Stream Technologies, AT&T Inc, Verizon Communication Inc, Orange SK, SK telecom, Cisco Systems, Huawei Technologies, etc.
India has become the largest growth market for Internet Protocol television due to the rapid growth of high-speed Internet services across the country. This growth has increased the size of the Internet Protocol television market to over 100 million in revenue.
In India, it was first launched by MTNL, BSNL, and Reliance JIO in only a few cities, but later it became very popular and demand increased.
Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited launched 4G services that support voice over LTE and other data services in India during 2015. The JIOTV service that provides watching the live TV show, cricket, DVR, etc. was launched in the year 2016.
With JIOTV, Reliance JIO has launched other services like JIO CINEMA for its viewers, to watch the latest movies and web series on demand, JIO Saavan, to listen to music online and offline in various languages, Jio Money Wallet, for online payments, recharge and bill payment, and many other services.

IPTV architecture

The IPTV architecture includes four main blocks, namely a super headend, a video service desk, a local end office, and the subscriber's home.

Headend functions

The network head will download and store all the programs that are broadcast on national television channels day by day.

Then, the content of the programs is processed so that it can be transmitted over high-speed Internet links such as DSL and FTTH links. For the distribution of IPTV channels, the various multicast IP addresses are used.

The main headend routes content to local offices using the multi-program transport flow to video or data nodes at the remote end. The headend acquires video from a variety of sources and also uses an MPEG encoder and media broadcaster to deliver data content.

The headend also ensures content security using the conditional access system (CAS) and the digital rights management system (DRM).

Role of video in the service of the office

It will combine and store local content, video on demand, and the ad server within it. It can also broadcast content using the wireless antenna as well as high-speed IP links to terminal offices in the area.

Role of the local office

The main component at the local terminal level is the DSLAM (digital subscriber line access multiplexer) whose main task is to merge data and telephony services with IP video services.

Now, the main function of the local office is to combine all this information and distribute it in the subscriber area using digital subscriber line (DSL) links or STM links. The DSL also acts as a separator because it changes the format of the content to make it accessible to the end user.

End of subscriber

This can be understood by the following example: if the end user wants the content in the data format, the DSL modem is used to convert the IP data into a format compatible with the laptop or desktop computer. To extract video content, we deploy the STB (set-top box) which makes it compatible with a television.

Since video server networks will use huge bandwidths to store and stream stored and on-demand video, two architecture models are proposed to optimize the use of the bandwidth deployed on these networks.

Architecture models

The first is a centralized architecture model, in which all content is stored on a centralized server. It is a good solution for broadcasting small web series and small VOD content.
The other is a distributed architecture model, in which content is distributed among the various nodes in a network and a distinctive bandwidth is allocated to them according to the needs of the network.

The distributed architecture is a bit complex, but it is effective for delivering a large amount of content across large networks used by large service providers.

Bandwidth requirement

The bandwidth required by IPTV for the access link is 4 MBPS per channel for SDTV and 20 MBPS per channel for HDTV. For video on demand, the bandwidth required is 25 MBPS for high definition video quality.

IPTV set-top box (STB)

The function of the set-top box is to convert the incoming signal into a video signal that the user can watch on their television using an HDMI cable, an AV cable, or, nowadays, a Wi-Fi connection.
One end of the set-top box is connected to the television while the other is connected to the Internet via a router or modem using an RJ45 cable that provides high-speed Internet connectivity within the home.
The set-top box has numerous other ports and features, but there is no need to discuss all of them here as not all of them are relevant.
The set-top box can be connected to the tablet or smartphones easily using Wi-Fi LTE networks.

Protocols used in Internet protocol television

IPTV carries both the video on demand (VoD) service, which is a unicast service, and over-the-air television, which is a multicast service. To look at these applications, the fixed or wireless broadband IP network is connected via embedded operating system devices such as tablets, smartphones, game consoles, PCs, and set-top boxes.

To watch these services, the video compression is performed by the codec generated by H.263 or H.264 and the audio compression is performed by the codec generated by MDCT and after that the encapsulation is done using the MPEG transport stream or the RTP packets for a television broadcast of the live and stored VoD services.

The protocols used are as follows:

The IGMP protocol is used for video streaming based on the service provider. It is also used to change the live broadcast channel from one channel to another. Routing in the network is carried out by the PIM protocol (Protocol-independent multicast), which ensures the distribution of television channels from the source to the final destination of the customer who wishes to view the content.
The real-time transport protocol (RTP) via UDP is used to visualize content on demand. The encapsulation method deployed here is the H.222 transport flow over TCP.
For web-based unicast and multicast live observation, one uses RTP via TCP or UDP by deploying RTSP over TCP for configuration and control purposes.
To watch local content by connecting to the television via the set-top box and playing the game online, you use UPnP AV via HTTP over TCP or UDP.

IPTV hybrid

Due to the increase in demand to watch online video sites such as YouTube, satellite and cable television operators need to find a solution to maintain their business by allowing users to watch videos on the Internet at the same time as television channels on televisions.

Furthermore, pay-TV operators also want them to provide the required service without adding additional costs and infrastructure to their respective networks.

Hybrid IPTV is a good solution to meet the requirements of pay TV users and operators. It is a combination of conventional television services and video on demand based on IP networks.

A hybrid set-top box allows content from various sources, such as cable and satellite broadcast channels, to be merged with video content that needs to be broadcast over IP networks via an Ethernet connection on the device.

Now, the television customer can view both TV channels and video content from a wider range of available content, without the need for additional infrastructure.

With hybrid IPTV set-top boxes, it is also possible to access several types of advanced services such as TV show rehearsal, online gaming, shopping, online betting, live gaming, and electronic governance, etc. on the television itself.

As a television operator, providers have the option of granting access to the various services mentioned above to consumers according to the needs and requests of the user to activate or deactivate the service. The service provider and the end user thus benefit from a certain degree of flexibility without the network and the service being complex.

Benefits of IPTV

To access IPTV services, all we have to do is install the IPTV set-top box and we can watch the content, which is very economical to use.
Its most recent versions can be easily viewed using a Wi-Fi connection as well. It is not mandatory to use a wired Internet connection. This makes it easy to use.
Internet protocol television is purely digital and therefore supports all the latest technologies to offer good QoS.
Several types of programs can be watched simultaneously on the TV screen and smartphones without any interruption.
In addition to video on demand services, we can also use other services like voice, data, online gaming, real-time combat, and phone services.
Programs can be watched while avoiding the advertisements that intersect between television series and other programs by transferring them from the remote control. It saves time for subscribers.
The IPTV system is user-friendly and time-saving as the end user can watch broadcasts from the stored server at any time and at their choice using the fast-forward, rewind, pause, and play buttons.

Internet protocol television limits

There is no guarantee that you will be able to watch the shows on IPTV without any technical problems, that is, if many users watch the same show at the same time, the server becomes busy and the end user will not be able to watch the show on this channel and the channel will show an error.
Sometimes, some channels take a long time to broadcast a show and continue to buffer every 30 seconds. If this happens frequently, users lose the desire to watch the show.
Sometimes it crashes very often due to synchronization issues between the end user and the video service desk.

Conclusion.

In this tutorial, we have learned different aspects of IPTV, which is one of the most emerging trends in the communication and entertainment industry today.

Suggested reading: The best IPTV services for the Amazon FireStick

We also explored the architecture and mode of operation of the various components of IPTV, as well as their advantages and limitations.