When
we talk about Internet television and IPTV we tend to treat them as synonymous
terms because Internet elevision
represents a stream of IP
datagrams that delivers MPEG frames generated by a television station.
Although the two terms can be treated as synonyms, in reality they should
be
used to describe two different technologies. Thus, let’s focus on
the true meaning of each technology to obtain an appreciation for how
they actually differ from one another.
Internet television refers to the broadcast of news, weather, and TV shows
from television stations that add an Internet interface to their over-the-air
broadcasts. The Internet interface either takes selected station videotapes and converts them into a sequence of IP datagrams transporting, most commonly,
MPEG-2 frames, or provides a “dawn-to-dusk” broadcast via the
Internet of the station’s over-the-air transmission. Viewing of station
broadcasts on the Internet is accomplished via a media player. Typically,
an Internet television station, which in effect represents a conventional
television station that also broadcasts video via an Internet connection,
limits its support to one type of media player, such as Microsoft’s
Windows Media Player, Apple’s QuickTime Media Player, or Real Networks’ R
RealPlayer.
The media player supported provides the interface required to view the stream
of IP datagrams on a desktop or laptop computer. Because media players support
buffering of IP datagrams, a broadband connection to the Internet, although
desirable, is not mandatory for viewing video. Now that we have a general
appreciation for Internet television.
Webcasting
At approximately the same time Internet Broadcasting was placing television
stations on the Web, other organizations began to realize the potential
of broadcasting
movies and television shows. As other companies developed Web sites to
broadcast video, the term “Webcasting” evolved. This term was
initially used to reference the broadcasting of television programs, such as soap operas, news, and comedy shows, over
the Internet. Later, the term was expanded to reference the electronic
transmission of audio and video data over the Internet in realtime in the
form of streaming
audio and video. Thus, this newly expanded definition included music videos,
movies, and other forms of audio-visual entertainment.
Legal Issues
Although the transmission of television Webcasting may appear to be simple, some legal issues must be considered. Those legal issues are associated with copyrighted material. Currently, most programming has licensing and distribution agreements that may be applicable to a geographic area or a country. When a television station offers such programming to Internet users, a key question is whether the station is now violating its licensing and distribution agreement. Another question that warrants consideration occurs when a foreign television station obtains foreign rights to programming produced in the United States and allows Internet users in the United States to view such programming.
Internet Television Portals
One of the more recent developments in the wonderful world of Internet television is the establishment of portals that provide users with access to hundreds of Internet television stations located around the globe. That number identifies the Internet connection (in kilobits per second) required to view streaming video from the station. To the right of the station entry you will see the word “Real,” “Q time,” or “Media,” which identifies the type of media player required for viewing the station’s streaming media. Here, “Real” identifies Real Networks’ Real- Player, “Q time” identifies Apple Computer’s QuickTime Media Player, and“ Media” identifies Microsoft’s Windows Media Player.