IPTV

=**IPTV** (**I**nternet **P**rotocol **T**ele**v**ision)= toc

Internet Protocol Television (herein known as IPTV) simply refers to the delivery of digital television content over a network. At first glance, the name implies that the content of the 'digital television' being transported across the internet originated at a television station such as CTV, ABC, NBC, etc. The new burgeoning field is sorted into two major parts: free and fee-based.

**Internet**
The internet, public in form, allows for the delivery of content to any person in the world with a computer and a connection to the internet. While any connection can theoretically work with the notion of IPTV, the use of a broadband connection that can deliver high throughput is most commonly used. The high quality of the video being streamed or downloaded can tax an internet connection, and thus requires the high throughput that a broadband connection can deliver.

A corporate Local Area Network is used primarily in business applications. Such applications can consist of streaming production video from a factory in China to Head Office personnel located in another country, or even to an office a few hundred feet from the factory. The process can also be applied to video conferences between staff teams located feet or thousands of miles away from each other. This closed network is not open to the public, and travels across a private connection.
 * Corporate LAN**

**__History__**
The [|ABC] network was the first broadcast over the internet, using the [|CU-SeeMe] video conferencing program to broadcast "World News Now." (Wikipedia). The year was 1994, at a time where Internet use was not widespread, and the tech bubble that arose in the late nineties had not yet begun. In 2004, with the advent of Podcasting, the notion of broadcasting content across the internet and into the computers across the world started to take off. The burgeoning adaptation of fast, broadband internet connections in industrialized countries fuelled the spread of specialized internet-only television shows.

__Benefits__
While the notion of downloading content to watch it on the computer is not a new one, with the rise of [|Timeshifting] and personal video recorders such as the [|TiVo] have brought credence to the idea that one should be able to watch their content whenever they want. What IPTV has brought to the table is not only the ability to watch content whenever they want, but also //wherever// they want. The technology market has produced video players such as the video iPod and other handheld devices that allow users to take their video content with them and enjoy it wherever they want.

Another benefit of the IPTV revolution coming into the 21st century is the ability to produce content that would not otherwise be produced in a major network. A major television network produces content that the masses will enjoy, because that is who their audience is. A group of pepole on the internet that strive to produce content for a specific niche, such as people trying to laren about Adobe Photoshop, can produce content that applies to those who are getting into the world of Photoshop. This niche market and demographic lets content producers have much more freedom in creating content that is not readily available in the major market.

The interactivity present in such shows is another benificial factor over televisions show on traditional mediums. For exmaple, an internet television show can have supplementary information to websites, instructions, etc on the show's website after the show that people could refer back to at any time, or when they don't have the original video in their posession.

__**Examples of Content**__
Companies such as [|Revision 3] and [|DL.tv] are prime examples of companies that are producers of internet-only television catering to a number of markets. Such examples of shows on Revision 3 include 'CTRL-ALT-Chicken', where two self-professed computer nerds try their hand at cooking in the kitchen, and 'Diggnation,' where two guys talk about the latest and biggest stories on the social bookmarking website [|Digg.com]. Shows on DL.tv include discussion panels, shows talking about electronics and other tech-related programming. All these shows represent a fairly niche market that would not otherwise be so closely focused on in a traditional big box media environment.

Resources
Wikipedia contributors, "IPTV," //Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,// [|http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IPTV] [|Revision 3] 'About Us' [|DL.Tv] Meet the Hosts