Broadband video, what is that?
It’s a confusing world at the moment if you’re trying to keep track of what’s happening with digital entertainment with much talk about IPTV and other variations that often aren’t used clearly or defined properly for market observers. Here is an attempt to simplify it and a push to use the generic description, Broadband Delivered Video.
Broadband-delivered video can be defined as; video delivered from a remote server to a user’s computer. Its delivery requires a high speed or broadband Internet protocol (IP)-based connection, as opposed to a dial up connection.
As an early-stage technology or business model the definitions and language used can be confusing. Such services are sometimes referred to as; “Internet TV”, broadband TV”, “web video” or “online video”.
IPTV can be defined separately; as video which is delivered over a closed IP network to an IP-based set top box (STB) connected to the user’s television. This type of application leverages some of the underlying technology of broadband video, but the business model is closely related to existing multi-channel TV services.
This differs from broadband-delivered video; where the user experience is likely to be closer to (and will evolve from) today’s Internet-based consumer experience. The business models will be closer to those seen on today’s Internet, and we should ensure we adopt the lessons learned by successful e-commerce services.
This definition may evolve further depending on whether the video is actually viewed on the computer or on other devices, and other factors such as what underlying technologies might be used.
