The Coming Television Revolution
The revolution is just getting started and will begin to make its mark this year. By 2010, it will begin to take off. By 2025, it will be the standard for all TV viewing. It's called Internet Protocol Television, or IPTV for short. IPTV works with a set-top box connected to any broadband interface and to a TV.
It will allow users to choose among thousands (and eventually hundreds of thousands) of hours of programming, including movies, sports, classic TV, etc., and download their selections from the internet to the hard drive of the set-top box. Initially, set-top box hard drives will be able to store up to 300 hours of programming at a time, but capacity will expand as the technology becomes more refined. Also, download times will become shorter and shorter as broadband connection speeds become faster and faster. Eventually, a two-hour movie will be fully downloadable in a couple of minutes. Once the programs are downloaded to the hard drive, they can be viewed on the connected TV at any time via a DVR-type interface provided by the set-top box.Besides the convenience of an all video-on-demand (VOD) environment, IPTV will provide a much wider range of programming than broadcast, cable, and satellite TV, or even major video chains, could ever provide.
Because the programming is available from the internet, it will be almost completely unlimited and unconstrained. Programming from all over the world will be available along with every imaginable genre of niche programming. Also, previously unreleased independent films that have been sitting on shelves for years due to the lack of a distribution source will suddenly become available to the masses via IPTV. Films that previously could not be made at all will become a reality and be available on the IPTV services. Long forgotten films and TV shows will have new life breathed into them by IPTV.
To top it all off, much of this programming will be eventually be available in high definition (HDTV)! Most IPTV platforms will be divided into "channels", but not the same kind of channels that we have grown accustomed to with traditional TV services. In this case, a "channel" is defined as a division of an IPTV service by individual content provider. Each content provider carried by a given IPTV platform will have its own guidelines for delivering programming on its channel. Some will provide their content for free to everyone who owns a given IPTV product. Some will be subscription based, i.e., everything on their channels will be available for a monthly or annual subscription.
Others will be all pay-per-view. Still others will provide a combination of all of the above. Several entrants into this market have either already debuted or plan to debut sometime this year. Among those are Akimbo (www.akimbo.com), DAVETV (www.dave.tv), TimeShifTV (www.timeshiftv.com), and VCinema (www.vcinema.com). Please see their respective websites for more details, as each one will offer a slightly different variation of IPTV technology.
In addition, a joint venture between TiVo (www.tivo.com) and NetFlix (www.netflix.com) will be starting up later this year. TiVo plans to eventually make the entire Netflix DVD library available to its customers on an on-demand basis via a broadband connection to a TiVo box and a TV. Other potential IPTV contenders will be announcing their intentions over the next year or two. One of these nascent IPTV services headquartered near my home has already started placing "help wanted" ads in my local newspaper. Within the next 20 years, all the fuss over broadcast TV indecency will become irrelevant, as there will be very little other than news and live sporting events on broadcast TV.
The major networks will shift most of their entertainment programs to IPTV to avoid all the broadcast content restrictions currently being enforced by the FCC. Eventually, broadcast TV will cease to exist. Cable and satellite services as we know them will also become extinct. Yes, there will still be cable and satellite platforms, but they, along with DSL and wireless internet services, will exist merely as conduits for bringing broadband internet into homes and offices. There won't be any more cable and satellite TV, per se.
The now 60-year-old paradigm of television schedules in which programs air at specific times on specific days of the week will pretty much be a thing of the past. Everything, except what's left of broadcast TV, will be exclusively available on demand via an IPTV platform. These developments in no way mean that all TV programming will become more risqu?. While there will be plenty of risqu? programming available to those who want it, there will an almost unlimited supply of family and religious programs available. With a veritable smorgasbord of entertainment options at your fingertips, there will be something available for all tastes.
IPTV may not turn out to be a TV utopia, but it's at least going to come close that ideal..
Terry Mitchell is a software engineer, freelance writer, and trivia buff from Hopewell, VA. He also serves as a political columnist for American Daily and operates his own website - http://www.commenterry.com - on which he posts commentaries on various subjects such as politics, technology, religion, health and well-being, personal finance, and sports. His commentaries offer a unique point of view that is not often found in mainstream media.terrymitchell@verizon.netE-Control Systems to Present Raptor Web Software Enterprise Monitoring Solution, NAFEM Data Protocol Compliant, at the NAFEM Show
Chatsworth, CA (ContentDesk) September 19, 2005 -- E-Control Systems, Inc., a trusted leader of hardware and software products for the foodservice industry's Online Kitchen and HACCP control, presents its RWS ? Enterprise-wide software solutions for the foodservice industry and the commercial kitchen, specifically targeted for Schools, Hospitals, Restaurants, Supermarkets, Convenience Stores and Hotels.E-Control Systems will be showing these new solutions at the NAFEM Show in Anaheim, CA 23-25 of September 2005 (Booth #2908 in the Technology Pavilion).Over the past few years E-Control Systems has helped integrate and install NAFEM Data Protocol
Compliant equipment with major industry partners and has now close to a thousand installations, all Nafem Data protocol Compliant.RWS? has become the de-facto NAFEM Data protocol compliant software used by major foodservice manufacturers, integrators and dealers.E-Control Systems is providing OEMs with
its MicroGate? and PicoGate?...
Dvr > E-Control Systems to Present Raptor Web Software Enterprise Monitoring Solution, NAFEM Data Protocol Compliant, at the NAFEM Show
DISH Network Satellite Equipment - What's Free and What's Not?
In order to compete with DIRECTV and the cable companies, DISH Network is giving away satellite TV systems to people who subscribe to their service. But what equipment do you get for free, and what equipment do you have to pay for?
Free DISH Network Satellite Equipment
Here's the equipment you get for free when you subscribe to DISH Network:
Satellite TV Dish
A satellite TV dish captures the signal from a satellite orbiting above the earth. The signal is sent to an LNB (low noise block) converter which amplifies the signal and sends it to a receiver.
Satellite TV Receiver
A satellite TV receiver processes the satellite TV signal and sends it to a television. DISH Network will give you free satellite TV receivers that will allow you to watch four different shows on four different televisions. These receivers feature an electronic program guide, parental locks, and DISH Home Interactive...
Dvr > DISH Network Satellite Equipment - What's Free and What's Not?
Free Satellite TV -- Is It Really Free?
You've seen the online and offline ads -- "Free satellite TV!" "Get a 4-room Satellite TV System Free!" and "Satellite TV Dish and Receivers Absolutely Free!"But is satellite TV really free?The answer to that question is yes ... and no.Yes, the equipment you get -- the satellite TV dish and satellite TV receiver -- is free. But no, the programming service will cost you money.Let's examine the facts.Due to the demise of Pegasus and Voom, there are only two major satellite TV providers in the USA -- Dish Network and DirecTV. Dish Network Satellite TV ServiceWhen you order a free satellite TV system from Dish Network, you will be asked to pay a $49.99 activation fee. This fee will be credited to your programming bill, so in essence, your satellite TV system is free.
Installation of your satellite TV system is also free.With Dish Network you have the option to upgrade to a DVR (digital video recording) receiver, or an HDTV (high definition TV) receiver at no charge.Dish Network programming...
Free Satellite TV -- Is It Really Free?
Dvr > Free Satellite TV -- Is It Really Free?
ID House Announces A New And Improved Security Equipment Web Site
KAYSVILLE, Utah (ContentDesk) May 21, 2006 - Keeping a business secure has always been important. New and innovative security equipment makes it easier to keep a business safe and protected. The newly redesigned ID House (www.idhouse.com) Web site provides businesses both small and large with the convenience of quickly ordering security equipment and accessories online. This new look is designed to save business purchasing agents time and money by providing a one-stop location for all their security needs.As the name indicates, ID House provides businesses with services such as creating custom photo IDs (http://www.idhouse.com/custom_id_card.htm) or helps them find their own ID card creation equipment and software for in-house needs. Using ID cards in a business helps differentiate authorized employees from possible security risks.
ID House Announces A New And Improved Security Equipment Web Site
Dvr > ID House Announces A New And Improved Security Equipment Web Site
Digital Video Recorders
Digital video recorders (DVR) are recording equipment that can record and store digital video on a computer. These can record audio as well as video data from multiple sources.
A DVR is basically a hard drive that can be connected to the computer and to other video sources such as a VCR. It has a tuner which captures the signal using a cable, antenna, or a satellite. The analog signals are compressed and converted into digital signals, which are then stored on the hard drive. A built-in MPEG-2 decoder converts the digital signal back into analog signal when it has to reach the television for viewing.
Each DVR has an operating system within the hard drive.
There are several advantages to digital video recorders. They do not require a recording medium like tapes, as the data is stored on the DVR itself. Another main advantage is that the recording and playback can be done at the same time. Using this, even a live program on the TV can be paused, in the...
Dvr > Digital Video Recorders
Digital Video Recorders for Security and Information
Digital video recorders (DVRs) are more than toys in our crime infested world. They are a necessary tool for security. In conjunction with CCTV cameras you can record everything that happens in your business 24 hours a day. The days of wondering what is going on in your
other facility are gone.
Using the internet, your business is under your control, 24/7/365. Using your DVR, now you simply open internet explorer, type in your IP address, input the proper username and password and you are remotely viewing a live video feed from your business.
The benefits of digital video recorders are obvious.
Remote viewing is being used more and more in the security industry as people become busier, traffic becomes heavier and the hours that business remains open is lengthening. You can be on vacation in the Bahamas or Mexico and still look in on your business whenever you want.
DVRs are much more sophisticated now than they were even 2 years...
Dvr > Digital Video Recorders for Security and Information