P
Prestwick
Guest
I researched IPTV and On Demand technologies and theories for my University thesis.
One of the main conclusions is that don't go burning your physical media players (DVD, HDDVD/BR, etc) or your terrestrial/cable/satellite receivers just yet. IPTV and On Demand technology is very exciting and, yes, there is the infrastructure in place for this to happen. However, the actual technology in producing and displaying what your connection chucks at you is still very much in its infancy.
There are many competing standards for IPTV set top boxes, on top of that they have to implement whatever extra variations which differ from nation to nation. For example, alot of digital television cards for computers are not equipped to take advantage of the MHEG standard which provides digital text services for British television. Thus, that big red button on your remote lies sadly unused.
Secondly, you have a problem, not from content providers (yet), but more from the companies run the telecoms infrastructure. In the UK, British Telecom run the telecoms network, it is up to them what direction the network runs in. Cable infrastructure is there but only runs along the main towns and cities connected by the big motorways and nowhere else.
The problem is that as long as you have one player with vested interest who owns the network, you will have no progress in regards to the development of a sustainable IPTV and On Demand network and if you do, it will always be in a way that will only benefit the incumbent telco.
Content providers also provide a block to development but only because they don't quite understand how it all works and their demands on royalty fees per program per play are unreasonable. This attitude is starting to change and they are signing deals with telcos and smaller ISPs like Tiscali who are dabbling in IPTV.
In the UK at least, you have this situation. Most of the On Demand or near-IPTV services are run by British Telecom, Tiscali and Homechoice. The latter two provide IPTV via an 8mb ADSL connection via MPEG-2 (although whether they're moving towards the more efficient MPEG-4 right now I do not know). British Telecom is more a standard DVB Terrestrial set top box with a hard drive and a connection to on demand programs and films, again via an 8mb ADSL connection.
Virgin Media, the Cable operator, are better placed with cable connections up to 20mb as of this year and they have a huge selection of on demand content as well as more or less de-facto IPTV via a cable connection.
Abroad, AT&T are working with Microsoft to deliver an IPTV service and are taking the extravagant step of running fibre directly to the home which is a hugely expensive more but it shows how scared traditional telcos like AT&T and BT are about IPTV, OD and the internet generally.
Paris runs an IPTV service because of restrictions on television aerials and satellite dishes.
In the end, the infrastructure, the bandwith is there and within a decade the technology to put all of this in a presentable form in the living room will be there. Until then, we'll just have to suffer physical formats just a while longer...
One of the main conclusions is that don't go burning your physical media players (DVD, HDDVD/BR, etc) or your terrestrial/cable/satellite receivers just yet. IPTV and On Demand technology is very exciting and, yes, there is the infrastructure in place for this to happen. However, the actual technology in producing and displaying what your connection chucks at you is still very much in its infancy.
There are many competing standards for IPTV set top boxes, on top of that they have to implement whatever extra variations which differ from nation to nation. For example, alot of digital television cards for computers are not equipped to take advantage of the MHEG standard which provides digital text services for British television. Thus, that big red button on your remote lies sadly unused.
Secondly, you have a problem, not from content providers (yet), but more from the companies run the telecoms infrastructure. In the UK, British Telecom run the telecoms network, it is up to them what direction the network runs in. Cable infrastructure is there but only runs along the main towns and cities connected by the big motorways and nowhere else.
The problem is that as long as you have one player with vested interest who owns the network, you will have no progress in regards to the development of a sustainable IPTV and On Demand network and if you do, it will always be in a way that will only benefit the incumbent telco.
Content providers also provide a block to development but only because they don't quite understand how it all works and their demands on royalty fees per program per play are unreasonable. This attitude is starting to change and they are signing deals with telcos and smaller ISPs like Tiscali who are dabbling in IPTV.
In the UK at least, you have this situation. Most of the On Demand or near-IPTV services are run by British Telecom, Tiscali and Homechoice. The latter two provide IPTV via an 8mb ADSL connection via MPEG-2 (although whether they're moving towards the more efficient MPEG-4 right now I do not know). British Telecom is more a standard DVB Terrestrial set top box with a hard drive and a connection to on demand programs and films, again via an 8mb ADSL connection.
Virgin Media, the Cable operator, are better placed with cable connections up to 20mb as of this year and they have a huge selection of on demand content as well as more or less de-facto IPTV via a cable connection.
Abroad, AT&T are working with Microsoft to deliver an IPTV service and are taking the extravagant step of running fibre directly to the home which is a hugely expensive more but it shows how scared traditional telcos like AT&T and BT are about IPTV, OD and the internet generally.
Paris runs an IPTV service because of restrictions on television aerials and satellite dishes.
In the end, the infrastructure, the bandwith is there and within a decade the technology to put all of this in a presentable form in the living room will be there. Until then, we'll just have to suffer physical formats just a while longer...
