Earlier TV signals were only distributed by cable, satellite or terrestrial systems.Now with an increasing number of people online, Internet TV is set to become the future of entertainment.With increasing internet connection speeds and decrease in connection costs TV content is increasingly accessible over the internet. The models for Internet TV are streaming Internet TV or selectable video on an internet location, usually a website.It allows you to watch TV programs on your TV, PC or even your mobile phone. Sources can be free or subscription based or supported by advertisements.
Presently several broadcasters allow you to download content for a small fee.But this requires that that the file must be downloaded before it can be viewed and this may take time. Streaming on the other hand means a continuous flow of data which can be viewed before the whole file has been received.It will therefore open in a couple of seconds.But it is unlikely to remain saved on your computer.
So far the barriers to wider use of Internet TV included poor streaming technology.There is nothing more annoying than watching a favorite program and losing the stream midway.Added to this is the problem of poor video quality due to bandwidth limitations.The BBC launched the Dirac project to address this problem but it is still under development.The reason for this is that internet infrastructure was not originally designed to support video.But this problem is set to be overcome by mixing new P2P technology with the latest cache technology which will work together and combine the bandwidth of the two.
Given its future potential Internet TV is now attracting the attention of heavyweight corporations including Microsoft. On 28th September Microsoft launched the beta version of its Windows Media Center Internet TV feature.According to Microsoft US based users of Vista Home Premium and Vista Ultimate will soon be able to download an update which will allow them to enjoy TV and video content on their PC's and TV sets.The PC will not require a TV tuner for this.The streaming content will be cost supported by an advertising platform provided by YuMe.So it seems that it will be free, at least to start with.The hit programs that are available are TV shows such as 'Arrested Development' music by artists such as Chris Cornell,Pussycat Dolls and others, news from MSNBC, sports from FOX sports and a host of other programs.It will be compatible with Microsoft and third party 'media extender' devices for Windows Media Center.These devices wirelessly connect a TV with a PC, delivering TV, music and online services to any TV set in a home.These devices, according to Microsoft, are designed to deliver the ultimate entertainment experience to every TV set in your home. Microsoft is thus set to take on You Tube, Joost and Apples' iTunes in the Internet video segment.
With problems of resolution and reliability likely to be solved Internet TV is set to take off in a big way.
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