What Is An IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) And How Does It Operate?

An internet protocol TV, as the name suggest, is a TV service which makes use of the internet to deliver television content and other video content using the TCP/IP protocol as against the broadcasting which is done using satellite or cable service.

It is to be understood that the content delivery in case of traditional TV is done through analogue signals using cable wires, whereas in case of the IPTV it sent through managed private internet protocol network. Another key difference between the traditional and the internet based TV service is that the former is possible in real time only, whereas the latter allows for storing the content and also providing the content on-demand. So, for the users, the internet protocol TV gives flexibility of watching the content as per their own will.

A set top box is required to translate the internet signals to a format which can be read by television for showing the content. It can make use of cables or wireless connection to TV for delivering the translated content.