Internet television

With Internet TV (english internet television, in short: Internet TV or Web TV called ) the transmission of television programs over the Internet is called. Demand services (Video on Demand ) are not among them, though they are often available on the same platforms.

Technical definition

With Internet TV streams are sent over the Internet globally accessible. Internet TV is different from Internet Protocol Television (IPTV ), in particular by the lack of support of a technical QoS (Quality of Service ), which is guaranteed in the TV or IPTV range from the manufacturer. As Internet TV uses the Internet as a transport route and is available on the World Wide Web, the provider can not guarantee transmission quality according to the " best effort " principle.

Due to the different bandwidths of the users, the transmission quality is aware beyond the control of the provider. The responsibility for the choice of suitable ( compatible ) devices and the choice of a suitable Internet access thus lies with the user. The responsibility for the availability of the infrastructure lies with the internet service provider who has to manage within its terms of reference the data as " over-the -top content" ( without content control). The provider of Internet television thus bears no responsibility for the entire transmission outside of its server infrastructure.

For the transmission of Internet television, a network connection from the sender via the Internet streaming server is established to the receiver of the viewer ( unicast). This whole TV programs or specific video posts (often encrypted with DRM method ) will be transmitted using Internet protocols ( see Streaming media ).

Examples

  • Web TV services such as ARD - ZDF media library, Swiss Radio and Television, sevenload, ARTE 7, a growing number of local or regional television station ( center.tv, os1.tv, etc.) that would otherwise be in the cable to see would be ( live stream and / or library ), as well as dctp.tv
  • Web TV overview pages as sendungverpasst.de or ganzefolgen.de
  • P2PTV - Peer-to -Peer TV offerings are: Livestation, Zattoo, SopCast.de, WiZiWiG.tv, mangaplustv.com
  • Full-featured Internet TV Stream on server: Teleboy.tv, Wilmaa, EWE / swb / Osnatel TV online, zattoo
  • Shipments that are produced specifically for the Internet: Rocketboom, Rocketboom, GIGA, cultural Port.de and the majority of the posts on YouTube
  • Radio programs that are broadcast with an alternative image on the Internet: The Young Turks
  • No internet television, but IPTV offerings are: Telekom Entertain, Arcor IPTV, Alice / HanseNet TV or AonTV Telekom Austria

License Restrictions

The offer a selection of library is primarily dependent ( in addition to the costs for the technical infrastructure ) of foreign licenses that are purchased only for a limited coverage area, and therefore can not be shown worldwide. For example, a movie may not be broadcast from a transmitter only in licensed distribution area, which excludes the worldwide dissemination on the Internet. The other hand, is unproblematic self-produced material.

Some stations (mainly interest channels such as television Servus TV or ERF ) to license foreign material world, therefore, in order to realize a complete Live Stream. Transmitters such as Phoenix spread its own live stream depending on license intermittently. Information and regional channels have an advantage here, as the self-created posts of rights of third parties are free and fed delivered material consists mainly of advertising or agency fees, which may be spread throughout the world, usually without significant additional costs. The situation is different for music television such as Yavido, as the rights to the video clips are settled here, similar to the radio or a lump sum on the number of concurrent requests. Some transmitters such as n-tv make the start of the live stream above an advertisement to refinance the additional cost of the infrastructure ( at least partially ).

Streaming services such as Zattoo bypass the license issue by geolocation, ie there are only Internet connections ( IP addresses) operated within a limited geographical target area for which the licenses are present irrespective of the technical distribution channel. For example, the self-produced information program SF info, however, the transmitter of the Swiss television can be accessed only in Switzerland, also in Germany, with the exception of some programs, for example, remain limited by sports rights to Switzerland.

Transmission method

The transmission of Internet television is realized via video stream, offer a basis for the technologies based on streaming media. For the transmission of Internet television, a network connection from the sender via the Internet streaming server is established to the receiving apparatus of the viewer. This whole TV programs or specific video posts (often encrypted with DRM) transferred using the Internet Protocol (video streaming).

Internet TV can also be transmitted by means of a Peer-to -Peer Connection. The data do not come from a central server, but they are passed through a peer -to -peer network directly from user to user.

Receivers

The great advantage of IPTV is that this can be received with many devices, which has an internet connection and a video - audio output device. In this case, the terminal receives the data streams, divides it into sub-streams on (audio, video, data, etc. ), decodes it, and passes them to the video - audio output unit on.

The following devices have:

  • PC: As a rule, only one software installation required (eg LinuxMCE ). The output is possible via HDMI cable or Wi-Fi and a TV.
  • Smartphones and tablets are Internet - TV - compatible, but occasionally only over WiFi and not cellular networks ( 3G/LTE )
  • Set- Top Box: For this, the Internet TV set-top box is generally connected on one side to the internet ( router) and on the other side to SCART connector or the HDMI input of the TV.
  • Game Consoles: About the Internet (WLAN / LAN) the signals from the game console to be decoded.
  • Digital signals and other advertising and information display systems. ( The return channel is rarely used. )
  • Kiosk systems are displayed in the video data.

Obligation to pay fees

In early October 2012, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled in a landmark judgment that even Internet-enabled computer to the tuition fees subject. The introduction of the household dependent ARD ZDF Germany Radio Post service, these fees are charged, however, independent of the presence of terminals in a household anyway.

Ads and suppliers

The choice and the number of suppliers in the Web TV market are steadily increasing. According to Web TV Monitor 2010 ( a study by Gold Media on behalf of the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for Commercial Broadcasting ), there were in Germany in September 2010, around 1,300 Web TV channels. Half of all offers ( 47 percent ) comes from the classical media. About one third of all offers (34%) are Web TV channels that were produced exclusively for the Internet - so-called Internet -only channels. For Web -TV market also include corporate TV, video shopping portals, non-commercial web TV stations, media centers and video center, video - sharing platforms, and communication portals.

In the predominantly free portals ( 96%) were in 2010, according to Web TV Monitor 2010 daily accessed around 150 million videos, most of video sharing sites such as YouTube.

In 2012, the number of Web TV stations has risen to 1424. Of these, 45 Public- Legal provider ( 3%). 86% of the calls made ​​from Germany, 14 % from abroad. 23% of the entire web TV schedules were made via mobile (18 %) or connected to the TV terminals ( 5%).

Internet TV and IPTV relevant market figures: see → Main article: IPTV, IPTV relevant section Some market figures

Over-the-top content GIGA Television Arcor (telecommunications) Specialty media Geotargeting Set-Top-Box
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