IPTV Research project

In recent years several new ways to watch television have developed over the internet, although it is quite hard to define it all under one term as various different providers use different methods of providing Internet television.

Firstly there are websites such as BBC i-Player and 4 On Demand. These websites have collections of shows that are broadcast of the channel that run the websites, The shows are there available to stream for free over the internet to watch on a computer. These have become increasingly popular recently as overall it is more convenient and there is a wider selection than simply the pushed shows playing on TV at any one time. However these are generally restricted to what each site can legally play. There are websites that have a huge range on content on but aren’t run legally, these websites were up before the legal counterparts but the quality is generally much poorer and there is a risk involved as it isn’t from law abiding sources, also content is often removed when found by the producers so what is available changes a lot, and although there is a huge selection it seems to be random.

There are then websites such as Joost that have bought some shows and may have some Site created content; however the selection is quite poor in competition with the likes of 4OD even with more varied sources. These generally don’t have as big a selection of things to watch but the sources are more varied. YouTube could be placed in this category however YouTube removes TV shows even though it has plenty on it it shouldn’t be there and it supposed to be entirely user created content.

Hulu is an American website that has been created by ABC, Fox and NBC and is negotiating with Disney. This has a huge selection of shows and is made legally by Networks sharing content and working together. This is currently only avalible in America but will be coming to the UK soon. Hulu also offers a desktop program for computers allowing people to access it’s content more easily and watch with a remote as if their Monitor was a TV, overall it makes using Hulu easier and simpler, however the idea isn’t entirely original Veoh TV has made a desktop program. Then there are similar software such as Media Portal and Boxee which do the same simply putting a lot of content together to be watched from a simple interface, allowing a choice of programs to be browsed over and watched on TV or a computer streamed over the internet.

Internet Protocol Television is a term referring to the convergence on TV and Internet streaming, it’s truest form is BT vision or the upcoming Project Canvas which act as a TV box, however are connected to the internet and allow you a selection of stream shows to watch on your TV rather than on your computer or through your computer. It is very hard to say which of the other sorts of software or websites fall under this category however as every different internet TV provider offers slightly different content and uses slightly different Media converged to different degrees, Some actually providing IPTV from a broadcaster, others just rearranging what’s already on the internet.

There are a large amount of benefits to IPTV especially for the audience as it makes television more available whenever you want, this service is ideal for a consumer. However a downside is for the broadcasters as they get less from advertising as it isn’t as effective over the internet however it is becoming more effective and there are becoming more and more sites which force people to watch adverts before playing the chosen content and most people will happily accept this. There is also a large issue with Web 3.0 advertising, as allowing people to choose what they watch and using the internet to provide TV allows what we watch and when to be looked over and a profile about us created to make more specific adverts show up while using IPTV or watching TV online.

Watching television online allows people to implement Pull media usage as there is a much wider selection, It also allows people to pause just like “plus” television does, however there is no restrictions on this, as the whole program is on the internet you can easily skip to any particular part. It also allows people to sit down and watch several episodes from a series without having to wait a week between each episode; this will make a huge impact on how TV is watched as a cliff-hanger is no longer a nuisance when you can watch the next episode right after.

Overall I think watching Television online is very young still and as such won’t be as good as it could be for some time. There are still lots of sites offering almost half a service by having so little to watch or simply linking to other sites. Project Canvas looks like a benchmark that will define IPTV and replace most it’s current counterparts by making them simple gimmicks by comparison. Over the last few years a lot of different companies have been trying to find a working system for watching television online and experimenting with convergence of several different media in many different ways. Although the definitive all in one online television system has yet to be developed It is obviously close with the recent coming of IPTV over simple links to shows online, however I believe the biggest obstacle in between what is currently available and what the “perfect” IPTV system would be is mostly legal issues in between companies as technology has advanced proficiently now to allow incredibly fast and good quality television over the internet.