We have noticed that people still are not aware about what exactly IPTV is? Moreover they confuse IPTV technology with the Internet TV. Being first and oldest provider of IPTV in India we feel the responsibility of educating people about IPTV. So we have written a blog to educate people about the technicalities of IPTV.

IPTV is basically the system which is used to deliver digital quality service to the registered subscribers in a closed network. The delivery of digital Television here is made possible using Internet Protocol (IP) over broadband. This service can be provided along with services like Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and Internet Access, In case all these services are provided to the subscribers it is known as Triple Play service.

Let us understand the architecture of IPTV with the help of the above figure. This figure can be divided into four components corresponding to the four steps involved in the transmission of video signals from broadcasters end to the homes in IPTV scenario.

1. Dish which is installed at the IPTV service provider's headend, receives the video content from the broadcasters and other sources like ZEE, STAR, SONY etc. Known as Content Sources.

   
    

2. Video Encoders, Video-on-Demand server, Billing system which can be known as IPTV Network Operation Centre (NOC) when taken together as a component.

The content sources receives the content in different formats video encoders present in NOC encodes it into IP streams. The main source of Interactivity, video-on-demand server is there in NOC centre, the encoded IP Streams and VOD content is then sent to the customer premise using distribution network.

3. The third component; Distribution Network consist of MPLS core, T1 T2 layers, DSLAM network. These components together help in the timely distribution of IPTV streams to the customer end.

   
    

4. ADSL Modem, Set Top Box and TV are present in the Customer premises. Modem receives the IPTV streams from distribution network sends it to Set Top Box and this Set Top Box again decodes the data according to the TV requirement. This way you watch your TV through IPTV technique.