Most households around the world have television as the main source of home entertainment. Not only does television programs entertain, but many are also educational in nature while some are also good for relaxation. There are also programs about physical exercise, religion, politics, and most of all news. It seems that we live our daily lives with television as a necessity rather than a luxury. For the longest time, we derive our television programs from traditional methods such as cable TV or the satellite receivers. And with modern technology, the broadband internet became popular and accessible so that our traditional methods of connecting to television programs are now replaced with internet connectivity.

Introduction to IPTV Technology

Internet Protocol Television or IPTV delivers television programs on demand, meaning not only can you watch the tv program when it is on broadcast, but you can also choose the tv program you want to watch whenever and wherever you feel like watching. These tv programs get downloaded and played simultaneously via your internet connection with a speed between 10 to 100 Mbps and this process is commonly called streaming.

When telecom connections such as computers communicate or send data from one another, they use a special set of rules to specify interactions between them and these set of rules are called Internet Protocol. As compared to the traditional processes of receiving tv programs using the antenna, satellite dish or fiber-optic cable, this IPTV technology is way faster and can also be watched not only with the use of television but also with your computers and laptops.

Existing television sets normally require an adaptor to fit between the internet connection and the existing television set, just check this out with your broadband provider or local technician. To date, there are 3 types of IPTV:

VOD or video on demand

This flavor of IPTV is commonly known through the likes of Netflix and HOOQ wherein videos are made available on a website where you can choose the program you want. Absolutely, only those that have subscribed and paid can decode and acquire the video streaming. This is where the complexity lies and requires a special kind of storage for the videos, include encoding to ensure only those subscribed and paid can access, and also to ensure the quality of the video streaming is up to standards with the subscribers’ expectations.

Time-shifted IPTV
Before IPTV, people record scheduled TV broadcasts, so they may watch it at their convenience mostly after work or school or during the weekend. With time-shifted IPTV, this is no longer necessary because you might now watch the scheduled broadcasts whenever its convenient for you.

Live IPTV

Also called IP simulcasting, is just like watching normal live broadcast tv the traditional way.

What are the latest trends in IPTV Technology?

1. With the major shift from voice to broadband, there will be a massive competition between the Telcos and the cable industry in terms of market leadership in the communications business.
2. With the popularity of streaming videos and live videos, there will be a shift in the web content from written to video within the next 3 years;
3. Telecom industry and television industry will either collide or collaborate in line with the convergence of broadcast and broadband.

IPTV devices?

With the fast advancement of television technology, one might fear that his television unit is getting obsolete. This may be true technically but with the offerings of IPTV devices in the market, this could be the saving grace. So, the next thing to know is which device would work best for you. In choosing the right IPTV device one should consider the following –

1. Is your requirement intended only for a specific streaming service? If yes, then it would be less costly for you to obtain such a device only instead of the more flexible unit;
2. If you intend to avail of more streaming services like Netflix, iPlayer, All4, Amazon Prime Video or more, then it is wise to get a more flexible unit that can provide your requirements but of course for a much higher cost;
3. You may also opt for higher version devices that have extras such as HDR video streaming or 4K.
4. Or you may choose between a box device or a stick device. A box device is usually attached to your television set and has a separate power source then your tv. While the stick device is pluggable directly to the HDMI connector in your tv and obtains power from within the USB socket of your tv. Normally the decision factors are convenience and how good and stable is the connection.

Here is a listing of some of the best IPTV boxes and devices in the market today:

Now TV Stick - deemed the best budget streamer, it is easy to use and has an excellent movie line-up and comes with a handy voice search remote control.

Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote - has a slick interface, easy to get around, and has flawless playback. This has been labeled as one of the best all-around streaming stick in the market today.

Roku Streaming Stick – has excellent playback quality in both full HD and 4K is easy to use and has an interface that is nice and clear. The remote control does not have a microphone, but you may download an app via your smartphone to enable voice control. This IPTV device is called the best do-it-all internet TV device.

Globmall X4 4K Android 7.1 TV Box – is a rock-solid tv box with all the flexibility of Kodi and a full range of apps and add-ons at a reasonable price. This is tagged as the best-value android-based streamer and a favorite by streamers.

Abox A4 Android TV Box – is deemed the best android tv box. It has a remote with built-in microphone, and a responsive performance brought about by its quad-core processor and 2GB RAM.

Related Challenges

The future of IPTV is dependent on the quality of broadband connections available to users. Vendors are continuously improving the devices like IPTV boxes but the real challenge is the massive value of investments required to convert ordinary broadband connections to the fiber optic broadband that can consistently deliver 10-100 Mbps uninterrupted without fluctuations every now and then. Packet loss is the most common problem encountered by IPTV users wherein there is an experience of latency or delay in the arrival of packets. Since videos over IPTV have higher compression rate attributed to MPEG2 or MPEG4 formats, the effect of packet loss is materially magnified.

Conclusion

As more people come to appreciate the experience of IPTV, demand follows. And where there is demand there is a business which would then drive investments that can solve the quality problems experienced with broadband connectivity.