Can/is IPTV considered as cable TV?

R

RichardCoulter

Member
My Satellite Setup
TV with built in Freeview/ Virgin Media TiVo V6 box
My Location
UK
Something said in another thread got me wondering, can, or is, IPTV considered as cable TV?

I know OTT providers aren't commonly regarded as cable TV in the traditional sense, but can they be considered so bearing in mind that the principal is the same?
 
It comes down to semantics, I suppose.

Of course, IPTV has a sinister side, too, same as Satellite and (At least formerly) Cable, so there's another common feature!
 
Not really, IP TV is non-linear, whereas Cable TV normally is very much linear, aside from catchup, which is of course IP.
 
PS, we've got an established IPTV sub-Forum started two or three years ago, in order to keep up with the changing way content is delivered.
 
rolfw said:
Not really, IP TV is non-linear, whereas Cable TV normally is very much linear, aside from catchup, which is of course IP.
Click to expand...

Linear IPTV does exist! Usually as multicast streams.

BT and TalkTalk provide it here as part of their YouView services with some extra pay channels as multicast streams.

It's much more developed in continental Europe though. For example in France where most ISPs have their own TV platform usually with ~100 channels provided as multicast IPTV!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
rolfw said:
Not really, IP TV is non-linear, whereas Cable TV normally is very much linear, aside from catchup, which is of course IP.
Click to expand...
Adam792 said:
Linear IPTV does exist! Usually as multicast streams.
Click to expand...
IPTV is merely TV where the transport mechanism is IP rather than MPEG2 modulated over QAM or similar (as in DTH DVB or DTT DVB ).
Whether it is linear ("flow") tv, or on-demand streams (eg. iPlayer) doesn't matter, it's about whether the transport is IP or something esle (ATSC, DVB etc).

Within IPTV, the distinction is normally between Unicast (direct-to-you) straming, or Multicast (distribution to many).
Unicast is used for what-is-normalluy-known-as streaming (e.g. NetFlix, iPlayer etc), multicast is essentially subscription based broadcast (live-tv).
For carrier-grade signal delivery, this is normally done on so-called "on-network" delivery paths, where Quality-of-Service (QoS) can be applied.
For everything else, there's OTT (Over-The-Top), which is "best-effort" provision of streaming media, typically over off-net broadband.

We run both DVB and IPTV platforms, based on either Coax or DSL access networks (no satellites, I'm afraid).
We have a complimentary OTT delivery platform, intended for off-net or tablet/smartphone devices, which are not on the primary delivery network.
Our latest service offering is a hybrid STB with live-tv provided via DVB, and all on-demand service over OTT (catch-up tv, VoD store etc).
(Sky runs the same model, only they don't employ cable-tv, but DTH tv for the linear channels).

So, technically, IPTV is comparable to cable tv, but not to off-net OTT.
 
Really the only new thing about iptv is that the signal no longer depends - too much - on a coaxial cable with decent terminations.

Though I see the modern CAT 7 looks remarkably similar.

Sell_cat7_SSTP_LAN_CABLE.jpg
Still iffy above 700MHz though and a pig to stick an f-plug on. Cat8 is not far off though


Wireworld to Preview Starlight Cat 8 Ethernet Cable at CES
 
Interesting, Virgin Media are to increasingly use IPTV for minority channels.

Worldbox is an example of this and it is due to be expanded.

Russian, French & Polish tiers for Worldbox have appeared off the EPG, as well as Amazon.

It must be more bandwidth efficient to do it this way as they are only on when someone wants to watch them as opposed to all the time whether someone is watch or not.

I'll take a look at the IPTV sub forum, hadn't seen that.
 
Adam792 said:
Linear IPTV does exist! Usually as multicast streams.

BT and TalkTalk provide it here as part of their YouView services with some extra pay channels as multicast streams.

It's much more developed in continental Europe though. For example in France where most ISPs have their own TV platform usually with ~100 channels provided as multicast IPTV!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Ah yes, always forget about Youview and must have tuned hundreds of Youview boxes.:)
 
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