Internet Protocol Television

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

With Internet Protocol Television ( IPTV ) the transmission of television programs and movies with the help of is Internet Protocol referred. This differs from the broadband transmission methods DVB-S (via satellite ), DVB-T (via terrestrial antennas) or DVB-C (via broadband cable ). IPTV is thus a generic term that can be found in very many different forms. The different forms range from simple IPTV to computers or mobile phones to special end devices where the user does not even notice that he is using the Internet because he is operating a set-top box via the television , such as Apple TV or T-Home Media Receiver 300 .

definition

The term IPTV is not used uniformly. The most popular definitions are as follows:

  • The International Telecommunication Union defines IPTV very broadly as “ multimedia services ” such as television , video , audio , text, images and data that are transmitted over IP-based networks and the required level of quality ( QoS / QoE ), security, interactivity and reliability provide.
  • In its statutes, the German IPTV Association defines IPTV as the transmission of moving images with the help of the Internet protocol using any end device (mobile, stationary, etc.) and all forms of IP-enabled networks (open and closed networks). The operation of IPTV in closed networks is called Secure IPTV . If, on the other hand, the Internet is used as the transmission network, one speaks of Internet television or web television / web TV. Mobile IPTV, in turn, enables location-independent IPTV usage through the use of a radio connection to an IP-based network.
  • The German TV platform defined in the founding meeting of its "Working Group IPTV" in autumn 2007, the "so-called IPTV" as "a new form of distribution based on the Internet Protocol '(IP)" and bordered this case also against the Internet television as follows:
    • With IPTV, a telecommunications provider provides a specific group of users - the subscribers - with a fixed program bouquet with a defined quality in its broadband network.
    • In contrast to this, with Internet television (“TV over Internet”), any content and programs that are freely available on the Internet can be downloaded by anyone at any time and anywhere.
  • In a statement on the current legal situation, Kempermann / Pieper define IPTV as a television service over a closed network.
  • Some providers of program content understand IPTV as the freely accessible transport of moving images over the Internet. When using this term, the focus is on free access to the content and less on the aspect of secure transmission in the network.

Regional offers

In June 2008, France was the largest IPTV market with 8.5 million IPTV customers compared to 6 million customers for cable TV, also due to the low technical reach of cable TV (only a quarter of households are reached) and the comparatively small variety of programs in the DVB-T offer. In Hong Kong, too, the number of users of IPTV has overtaken that of cable TV. In comparison, in Germany only 0.4% of all television households or 1% of all broadband households receive IPTV.

In Germany, IPTV is regulated by the Telemedia Act 2007 and / or the State Broadcasting Treaty, depending on the classification of the offer .

Support for the next generation network , bidirectional networks, real-time and non-real-time services are stated as important features of IPTV . The DVB standard for IPTV is called DVB-IPTV .

Transmission method

Open Internet vs. closed networks

IPTV is offered for distribution via a telecommunications service provider using a closed data network . Thanks to new video data compression and broadband Internet access , it is now possible to offer television or videos over the open Internet. This form is also sometimes called Internet television . In contrast to IPTV via closed networks and conventional television, there is no functional guarantee for freely available Internet television, since no Internet provider guarantees a minimum bandwidth. It is also technically possible for an Internet access provider to regulate the bandwidth of competing services. The extent to which such a procedure is permissible is currently being politically discussed under the heading of net neutrality .

With regard to the basic functional options, both versions of IPTV over closed networks and freely accessible IPTV (transmission over the Internet or over a high-availability network) are largely identical. With the help of client-side buffer technology, which can temporarily and statistically compensate for fluctuations in download performance from open networks, data rates of more than 2.5 Mbit / s download performance are sufficient, depending on the image size, for a achieve adequate video quality. With constantly increasing data rates, special networks will very quickly become superfluous and already have problems to establish themselves on the market.

In addition to the technical, there is also a legal perspective. Most providers distribute the signals on the basis of contracts with the broadcasters for cable retransmission. However, with reference to Section 20b UrhG, these usually exclude distribution beyond one's own network. The signals may not be transmitted via external networks (including 3G or LTE networks).

Proponents of IPTV over closed networks argue that the number of high-definition televisions in households is currently growing steadily and that these bandwidths of more than 4 Mbit / s are required for adequate SDTV picture quality. For HDTV , data rates of more than 8 Mbit / s would be necessary; In addition, several television sets should be able to be operated at the same time in each household, which would result in a respective multiplication of the bandwidth requirement. IPTV proponents therefore assume a future need for Internet bandwidth of at least 30–50 Mbit / s per household and are of the opinion that such bandwidths, as well as an IPTV-like quality of service in the open Internet, cannot be guaranteed in the medium term.

Client-server vs. peer to peer

The video data is transmitted to the clients by network-based video servers. The resulting load in the network is determined by the spatial distribution of the video servers in the network. If the video servers are concentrated in one location, the star-shaped distribution can quickly overload the network.

In the case of a peer-to-peer connection, on the other hand, the video data is not transmitted from a central server, but rather the receiver collects the video data of a post from many distributed servers (mostly from other users). With this decentralized algorithm, the video data can also be transmitted multiple times or in both directions in individual network sections.

Unicast vs. Multicast

There are two methods of data transmission from the broadcasting server's streaming server to the IPTV reception system:

  • Unicast : With unicast, an individual data stream is available to each viewer. This allows the viewer to individually determine the starting point of a program or a video contribution ( video-on-demand service). In parallel, this leads to an increased network load, since each stream requires bandwidth.
  • Multicast : With the multicast procedure, all recipients receive the same data from the sender at the same time. This means that initially only a linear broadcast system is possible (linear, since the order of the broadcasts cannot be influenced by the user). This essentially corresponds to the principle of broadcasting. Compared to unicast, multicast has the advantage that the network load for the sender does not increase with the number of participants. Nevertheless, the network load increases considerably in recipient networks. However, a video-on-demand service is not possible. As a compromise, there is the option of offering a near video on demand service in which the video is repeatedly broadcast with a time delay. The maximum waiting time for a video is then the time interval between the repetitions.

Data rate

The data rate required to transmit moving images from the transmitter to the receiver depends on the coding used . Common factors are:

  • Image size
  • Color depth
  • Image changes
  • Number of audio channels
  • possibly additional synchronous information

The coding methods commonly used are VC1 and H.264 . For PAL or ( SDTV ) quality (Standard Definition Television) an average data rate of 2–6 Mbit / s is required. For HDTV , an average data rate of 6-16 Mbit / s is necessary. A broadband connection to the subscriber is necessary for this (e.g. DSL , ADSL2 / VDSL , cable modem ).

Sat-over-IP technology

The so-called Sat-over-IP technology (also called SAT> IP) is a new variant of direct satellite reception . It enables the conversion of satellite signals from DVB-S and DVB-S2 in the vicinity of the receiving unit ( LNB ) into IP packets for distribution in local networks . TV reception can then take place via appropriate DLNA clients.

Receiving devices

For technical reasons, IPTV over closed networks requires a device (set-top box) approved by the IPTV organizer for reception on the television. For reception on the PC, the user must know the multicast addresses of the television streams in order to be able to receive the programs with the appropriate software (e.g. VLC player). For copyright reasons, a program offer can be restricted to a certain type of output (PC or set-top box, television, etc.). However, these boundaries are blurred because PCs are connected to the television or TV signals can be played on the PC. With IPTV, the end device receives data streams via an Internet connection, divides them into sub-streams (audio, video, data, etc.), decodes and delivers an image and audio signal to the video-audio output unit. For licensing reasons, the set-top box also often decrypts the video signals. This is the main reason for the providers to only allow certain boxes.

The following IPTV devices are available:

  • PC : Usually only a software installation is necessary (for example MediaPortal or LinuxMCE ), an image output via a TV set is also possible.
  • UMTS cell phones and other mobile devices with large displays are IPTV-compatible. (see: Mobile TV )
  • Set-top box : For this purpose, the IPTV set-top box is generally connected to the router (Internet connection) on one side and to the SCART socket or the HDMI input of the television on the other . There are currently no pure IPTV televisions on the market, but there are now flat screens (LCD or LED televisions) with an integrated Internet connection (LAN / WLAN) and the necessary software (e.g. from Panasonic / VieraCast, Samsung, Sony, Loewe)
  • IP-Box : Proprietary boxes to connect the television to the Internet, for example AppleTV, Boxee / DLink, or boxes based on the Google TV software
  • Digital signage and other advertising and information display systems. (The return channel is rarely used.)
  • Kiosk systems that display video data.
  • Game console : hardware arrangement similar to set-top boxes.

IPTV services and additional interactive functions

IPTV offers more than traditional television image transmission. The integral return channel of IPTV opens up a multitude of functions for the viewer, some of which are also known from interactive television , DVD players or video recorders .

  • Search for and recommend video or TV channels. The search is done by entering plain text queries or with the help of the viewer profile, which knows the preferences ( TiVo ). This information is compared with meta information (tags), results of image recognition systems and algorithms of the semantic network and adequate suggestions are generated (see also Theseus ).
  • Video-on-Demand (or database television ) enables any video contribution to be played at any time. (Video podcast is often used synonymously.)
  • Near-Video-on-Demand : Allows any video contribution to be played at fixed start times.
  • Timeshift television is a restricted video-on-demand service in which viewers can only access content that they have previously stored on a storage medium (usually hard disk) in the end device (PVR video recorder) or on the server (nPVR - network (based) Personal video recorder).
  • Access to electronic program guides
  • subtitle
  • Teletext
  • Activation of multi-channel sound and foreign language channels
  • Purchase transactions and t-commerce
  • Functions of Web 2.0 :
    • The viewer can make recommendations, comments and keywords for video contributions and IPTV channels and thereby improve the quality of the service.
    • The viewer can create individual playlists (compilations of video contributions) and make them available to other viewers. The editing (selection and order) is shifted to the viewer.
    • Uploading video contributions.

Legal Aspects

A German provider of an IPTV offer must observe a number of state, state and supranational laws and regulations.

According to the new regulation in 2006, the main components are:

Depending on the offer, as with any economic activity, further legal provisions may apply:

Guarantee of the IPTV provider

With IPTV, an IPTV provider guarantees the functionality of television reception at the client. In the case of data transmission over the general Internet (Internet television), the provider cannot accept such a guarantee, as the network and the terminal device used are beyond its sphere of influence.

Economical meaning

Worldwide availability of IPTV.

Financing models

There are currently at least three types of IPTV refinancing:

  • Viewer-financed IPTV
  • Advertising-financed IPTV, in which the viewer has to receive advertising in addition to the desired TV report,
  • T-Commerce. This includes teleshopping and other tele-services (advice, competitions, betting, lottery, auctions, games, dating, etc.) where the broadcaster (in this case media service provider) works directly towards a purchase transaction.

Sales potential and users

By 2012 around 2.5 million households in Germany could use IPTV. This establishes a further form of television transmission in addition to cable, satellite and antenna. This forecast comes from Goldmedia and BITKOM. The direct revenues that can be achieved with IPTV are also increasing. According to the study, they could amount to more than 420 million euros in 2012. The revenue forecast takes into account the basic fees for the channel packages, as well as revenues from pay-TV fees, video-on-demand and additional services that are subject to a charge. However, advertising revenues and indirect revenues from the marketing of triple-play packages on telephony and Broadband internet is no longer necessary.

Compared to other EU countries, Germany currently lags behind when it comes to television via Internet protocol. In France, for example, in June 2008 there were 8.5 million IPTV customers. Italy and Spain are also significantly further.

Technical reach and market penetration

All of the above refinancing models gain in importance the greater the technical reach of IPTV (regardless of whether it is PC- or STB-based or via mobile devices).

  • PC-based IPTV: According to estimates from 2004, almost 17 million broadband connections should be sold by 2010. This has already been exceeded: the association of providers of telecommunications and value-added services estimated in 2007 that by the end of 2007 19.1 million DSL connections had been switched in Germany. This means that a significant target group of potential users of PC-based IPTV offers can already be reached. According to a representative survey by the opinion research institute Forsa , every second Internet user (49%, approx. 25 million German citizens) uses corresponding IPTV offers. Short video clips and web TV content are dominant, while long formats with a TV-like character are still underrepresented in use.
  • STB-based IPTV: Currently (as of September 2007) no official subscriber numbers are known for the German market. In 2006 there were 3.6 million IPTV subscribers worldwide, 2.4 million of them in Western Europe. Market researchers assume that in 2010 more than 1.3 million German households will receive television via IPTV set-top boxes . According to its own information, the number of IPTV customers of Deutsche Telekom in 2007 was only in the five-digit range; in January 2008, 116,000 IPTVs were reported by Deutsche Telekom. At the beginning of 2015, the group reported more than 2.4 million IPTV customers (Entertain).
  • Mobile IPTV: According to a study by the German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media , in 2006 more than 6.5 million cell phones were UMTS-capable. In 2010, a UMTS subscriber number of almost 9 million is expected. (see mobile television )

IPTV special interest channels versus radio television channels

Experts assume that IPTV will cause a similar change in the television market as the music industry experienced at the beginning of the millennium . It is forecast that small ( genre , branch and niche ) broadcasters together will gain significant market shares at the expense of the established (mainstream) broadcasters . Aggregators who collect small productions try to bundle and market these sector programs and sector contributions. They also represent a strong competition to the established television stations. The market will therefore diversify more and more and the total advertising budget will have to be spread over more and more IPTV and radio stations and contributions. Established broadcasters are trying to counter this development with their own IPTV appearances and participation in aggregators. The displacement process takes place via Internet television and IPTV, as users do not recognize the difference themselves. WEBTV, IPTV and Internet television are understood to be synonymous with receiving television on the PC via the Internet. The First: library or ZDFmediathek not distinguish the terms, but merely give users menus at hand to be able to see moving pictures through various divisions / broadcasts. Experienced Internet television users switch to the higher quality IPTV if the bandwidth of browser-based Internet television is insufficient. More and more niches, Rügen.TV, Venture.TV Dogs.TV are becoming big channels. Every Bundesliga club and many other smaller football clubs now operate their own IPTV service. The mass of small providers is growing and thus binding their web-based communities.

At the beginning of 2007, the first major displacement processes took place.

Internet service provider versus broadcast network operator

With the ability to operate IPTV, Internet service providers are in direct competition with television broadcasters. Satellite and cable network operators in particular are trying to stop this trend with additional interactive offers.

Some Internet service providers acquire rights to broadcast television content and thus intervene directly in the television broadcasting market.

Internet service providers (usually in the network of a telephone company ) can now offer customers the most important electronic communication media in one package (telephony, Internet access , television ( triple play ) and additional mobile telephony ( quadruple play )).

Some IPTV relevant market figures

(* from 2007 estimates)
2004 2005 2006 2007 * 2008 * 2009 * 2010 *
PC-based internet television
DSL subscribers in Germany 7.9 million 10.3 million 15.6 million 21 million
DSL subscribers in Europe 39 million 107 million
DSL subscribers worldwide 107 million 150
Set-top box -based Internet television
STB subscribers in Germany 47,000 100,000 1.3 (l) -2.8 million
STB subscribers in Europe 0.7 million 1.6 million 3.3 million 6.3 million 10.0 million 8.7–13.6 million 16.7 million
STB subscribers worldwide 3.2 million 6.4 million 13.3 million 24.7 million 36.3 million 25 (i) -48.8 million
mobile internet television
UMTS subscribers in Germany 2.3 million 6.5 million 10.7 million
UMTS subscribers in Europe 200 million
UMTS subscribers worldwide 1,000 million
Internet television broadcasts
German broadcasts on Internet television almost 200 over 900
European internet television
Worldwide internet television a good 3,000 over 10,000

Special areas of application for IPTV

In addition to the classic use of IPTV in a closed broadband network for the regional supply of end customers, this solution is suitable for a number of special areas of application. These areas of application include areas that place increased demands on the transmission medium in terms of interference immunity or want to use convenient functions that cannot be implemented using conventional signal distribution.

IPTV provider

Germany

Austria

Switzerland

Luxembourg

See also

literature

  • Jörg Broszeit: IPTV and interactive television. VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, Saarbrücken 2007, ISBN 978-3-8364-0837-0 .
  • Eric Karstens: Digital TV. An introduction. VS-Verlag, Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 978-3-531-14864-9 .
  • Markus Vorhauer: Integration of an Electronic Program Guide (EPG) in IPTV: Structure and evaluation of DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) and EPG, and integration in IPTV . VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2008, ISBN 978-3-639-03239-0 .
  • Martin Kloke: IPTV as Corporate TV: Possibilities and potentials in corporate communication . VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2008, ISBN 978-3-639-10494-3 .
  • Ernst-Stephan Kuper: Internet Protocol Television - IPTV: Legal framework and special features in broadcast and media law, telecommunications law, copyright law and competition and antitrust law . Publishing house Dr. Kovac, Hamburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-8300-4562-5 .
  • Thomas Hoeren, Sebastian Neurauter, Christoph Golla: IPTV - The most important legal questions from the perspective of the provider . LIT Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-643-10646-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Definition of IPTV . ( MS Word ) ITU, 16. – 20. October 2006.
  2. ↑ Definitions of the German IPTV Association ( Memento of the original from December 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.diptv.org
  3. ↑ From the work of the TV platform. So called IPTV. »IPTV« working group founded ( memento of the original from October 20, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF), In: TVZukunft, current information from the German TV platform, p. 3, 4/07, October 2007.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tv-plattform.de
  4. ↑ OTT TV and cable retransmission . In: Computer & Recht , 10/2013
  5. ↑ Internet TV passes cable in France ( Memento of the original dated December 8, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Variety , July 10, 2008 (English)  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.variety.com
  6. ↑ Voice-data networking enables new forms of communication Computerwoche, July 9, 2008
  7. ^ France: IPTV overtakes cable at Pay-TV Digitalfernsehen.de, July 11, 2008
  8. ↑ Christoph Enaux: IPTV - legal framework (PDF; 230 kB) Bitkom , June 2008.
  9. ↑ ITU IPTV definition ( Memento of the original dated December 31, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( MS Word ; 211 kB).  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.itu.int
  10. ↑ heise.de IPTV offer from Telekom now also via ADSL2 +
  11. ↑ Telekom problems with VDSL
  12. ↑ Multicast addresses in the DSL network ( memento of the original from January 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. - List at ARD Digital  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ard-digital.de
  13. ↑ Xbox 360 will be able to receive IPTV in the future, for example T-Home
  14. ↑ quarks.de: Example for the use of the term VideoPodcast
  15. ↑ BMWi : New Telemedia Act improves the legal framework for new services and protection against spam mail ( memento of the original from June 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , June 14, 2006 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bmwi.de
  16. ↑ Regulation of IPTV: "It is a mistake that you don't need a license in the network". ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: lfm-nrw.de. State Agency for Media North Rhine-Westphalia , July 5, 2007.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lfm-nrw.de
  17. ↑ EU television directive before adoption. Heise.de, November 29, 2007
  18. ↑ For example, Voluntary Self-Monitoring of Multimedia Service Providers
  19. ↑ Higher Regional Court confirms the ban on recording online TV recorders. Heise.de.
  20. ↑ IPTV study 2012
  21. ^ T-Online, Sony BMG and Euro Lab for Electronic Commerce & Internet Economics: The study Germany Online 2 - Market Development
  22. ↑ VATM yearbook 2007/2008
  23. ↑ Marcel Bertsch: Every second Internet user watches WebTV. Bitkom e. V., June 22, 2010, accessed on September 21, 2010 .
  24. ↑ IPTV 2010 study. Market potential for IP-based television in Germany, Goldmedia
  25. ↑ Number of users of IPTV from Telekom is now five digits . Heise.de, August 29, 2007
  26. ↑ Telekom is growing with DSL and mobile communications . Heise.de, January 29, 2008
  27. ↑ Telekom annual report 2014 . telekom.com, February 26, 2015
  28. ^ IPTV versus Internet TV spiegel.de
  29. ↑ The Long Tail - niche products
  30. ↑ Examples of aggregators: YouTube , MyVideo , Clipfish , sevenload
  31. ↑ Examples are mediathek.zdf.de (Internetfernsehen), maxdome.de (prosieben), myvideo.de (prosieben), rtlnow.de (rtl), clipfish.de (rtl)
  32. ↑ IPTV: Shrinking giants, growing dwarfs . Heise.de
  33. ↑ Internet television in five years or sooner, Heise.de Internet television in five years or sooner
  34. ↑ In search of the lost youth, Spiegel.de In search of the lost youth
  35. ↑ golem.de “ARD and ZDF want to bring news online (...). Broadcasters run away from the news viewers: (...) The ZDF news program 'heute', which is broadcast at 7 p.m., has lost a quarter of its viewers between the ages of 14 and 29 since 2002, reports the Focus. The 'Tagesschau' in Das Erste then turned their backs on 17 percent of this age group in the same period. "
  36. ↑ Studies: Enormous growth in IPTV worldwide
  37. ↑ Television was yesterday, spiegel.de
  38. ↑ Television over the Internet threatens cable network operators
  39. ↑ IPTV becomes competition for satellite and cable (PDF; 72 kB)
  40. ↑ Blucom
  41. ↑ Deutsche Telekom broadcasts DFL . heise.de, March 1, 2006
  42. ↑ a b T-DSL
  43. ↑ vatm.de
  44. ↑ studie-deutschland-online.de
  45. ↑ dslweb.de
  46. ↑ teltarif.de
  47. ↑ a b c d e f g h i gartner.com
  48. ↑ digitalfernsehen.de
  49. ↑ a b futurezone.orf.at
  50. ↑ a b c d e f gartner.com
  51. ↑ a b c golem.de
  52. ↑ Sven-Olaf Suhl: Study: Breakthrough for UMTS only in 2010. In: heise online . January 19, 2006. Retrieved November 19, 2016 (forecast from Forrester Research ).
  53. ↑ a b See corresponding lists on the web, for example de.wwitv.com. Often only individual programs are offered.
  54. ↑ a b See lists on global-itv.com
  55. ↑ Quiet death for IPTV offer Alice TV - Marketing discontinued
  56. ↑ Marie-Anne Winter: Alice TV will be completely discontinued at the end of the year. Teltarif.de, October 19, 2013, accessed on October 19, 2013 .