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Internet TV: IPTV and net TV

Posted on 9 Mar 2007 at 11:59

ISPs are also aware that users won't tolerate a poor-quality service. "People don't suffer poor image or sound quality for long before they switch off for good," said Mark Lang of Eclipse. "Ensuring a good viewing experience for the IPTV user will require end-to-end performance and quality from the content provider, through the ISP's network and ultimately to the customer's home network and wiring".

Perhaps the biggest question, however, is whether viewers are ready for it. The BBC's trial of iPlayer (or iMP at the time) was moderately successful: the average triallist watched the equivalent of an hour a week, or around 6% of a typical household's BBC viewing. What's more, niche programmes did disproportionately well, leading the BBC to believe iPlayer could extend the "tail" of programmes in its archive.

However, nobody really knows whether viewers will happily swap the 10ft TV experience for the 2ft PC one. Community features might help, but the success of such initiatives depends, as Lehmann made clear, "on the implementation and how smooth that is". However, even Lehmann feels that the PC might have "an opportunity to feature in the digital home as an interface device and a PVR device - as a place to store and control the content, with the content being streamed to a television screen."

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Author: Stuart Andrews