What exactly is IPTV?
IPTV stands for “Internet Protocol Television”. “IP” is the same as your IP address or VoIP (Voice over IP). All that means is that television programming is communicated using the Internet Protocol.
To understand what this means, you need to know a bit more about how non-IPTV works. With cable or satellite television, broadcasters send signals and viewers receive them. You can only watch what is broadcast. Unless you have some sort of recording device, you can’t dictate what happens and when. You log in when you can and see what’s available.
IPTV is different. Instead of transmitting content via light pulses in a fiber optic cable or radio waves from a satellite, it sends shows and movies over your standard internet connection. (You may be using a cable or satellite internet connection, but these are independent of the ones that typically carry your TV signals.)
Instead of airing a range of shows on a specific schedule, most IPTVs use video-on-demand (VOD) or time-shifted media.
There’s a complicated network architecture behind all of this to make it work, including a lot of transcoding from traditional signals to IP-compatible signals. But the important thing is that you don’t have to watch what’s being broadcast. You can tell your provider what you want to watch and they will send it to you right away.
If you’ve used a streaming service like Netflix or Hulu, it’s the same idea, but with TV instead of movies or syndicated shows.
Do you need a decoder for IPTV?
To watch it on TV you need a SmartTV, or a set-top box that “translates” what you’re receiving over your internet connection into a format your TV can read.
Your computer, on the other hand, does not need anything else than using an app or software. Once you sign up for a service, you can use it to stream anything you want in any of the IPTV formats.
You will need only to download an app or software that can stream the content. We recommend to use the free app worldipchannels with a user friendly interface.
So if you can mirror your screen to your TV, you can watch without a set-top box.
Hybrid IPTV
Many TV providers are now taking a hybrid approach to address some of the issues associated with all-IP broadcasts. IPTV requires a lot of bandwidth to transmit a ton of data at high speed.
Hybrid IPTV combines traditional television services with IP-based ones. The main selling point is that everything comes in one box. This allows TV providers to extend their offerings to their subscribers.
It also makes it easier to roll out new products and services without completely overhauling the set-top box. It’s a good way to go from a traditional model to a more modern one.
