You may not have heard of IPTV, but you may have used it several times. Media activists usually know about IPTVs, and ordinary people don’t know much about it. IPTV is growing rapidly with new investments as well as the introduction of new services. But first we need to know what is IPTV? how it works? How to improve the experience of watching TV by subscribing to it? In this article, we will answer all these questions, so stay with us.
What is IPTV and what is its use?
IPTV actually stands for Internet Protocol Television, which means Internet-based TV. TVs equipped with this technology are programmed in such a way that they are able to communicate with the Internet through the famous IP protocol.
To better understand the IPTV function, it is better to first examine how normal TVs work. Satellite or cable televisions are such that broadcast stations send signals to users, so the user is only able to watch what is being broadcast on the television. The user is not able to select the program and cannot choose what program to watch. In fact, in these televisions, the viewer can only choose a program from among the available programs that are available at a certain time.
But what is IPTV? As mentioned, IPTV refers to Internet-based TV. IPTV will provide the content to the viewer through the Internet instead of providing it through light pulses in optical fibers or satellite radio waves. In IPTV, instead of certain programs being available to the user at certain times, the user is able to choose the desired programs. IPTV providers use a service called VOD, which means video on demand. So, the most important difference between IPTV and regular TVs is that the user can choose what content to watch and receive it at the desired time.
Big companies like Netflix and Hulu use IPTV. These companies focus on movies rather than TV and you can get a VIP subscription to use them.
Types of IPTV
There are three types of IPTV:
Video on demand
Delayed streaming service
Live streaming service
In the following, we will examine all these cases and give explanations about each one.
VOD or video on demand
As the name of this service suggests, the user can receive the desired video at the desired time. If we want to give an example for VODs, we can refer to movie streaming sites. There is no time limit in this service and the user just announces what movie he wants to watch, then the producers of this service send the desired movie to the user via the Internet and the user can easily watch it. Some of the providers of this service include Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Video. Some of the providers of this service also do interactive ads, and by choosing these ads, the user enters the desired website and can get to know more details about this ad and get information about it.
Delayed streaming service
Currently, many media networks have provided the possibility for their users to watch the missed programs at another time. The delayed streaming service is similar in some ways to the video-on-demand service. The main difference between these two services is the time limit in the delayed streaming service. You will not be able to watch your favorite series that was produced a few years ago. In fact, you cannot use a delayed streaming service for this and must use a VOD service to watch this content.
Live streaming service
You can also watch live programs in IPTV. For example, you will be able to watch live sports events. In this sense, IPTV is very similar to regular television. Famous examples that offer this service include: Hulu, Sling TV, Fox Sports Go, Live TV and CBS Sports HQ. The speed of expansion and development of this service is relatively high, but it has not been able to reach the popularity of the video-on-demand service in the field of IPTV. The VOD service is available at a lower cost on regular televisions, and perhaps this is the reason why this service is popular among everyone.
