IPTV Meaning

Internet Protocol Television or IPTV meaning is basically the video version of your telephone VoIP (voice over IP) service.

Traditional cable and satellite TV providers send out signals that are received by their hardware (cable box or satellite receiver), which then decodes the signal, for their subscribers to watch. Unless you are recording your shows using a service or device with a PVR or DVR option, your only option is to watch their programming live.

What is IPTV

IPTV is much more convenient in many ways. Instead of sending signals through fiber-optic cables or radio waves from a satellite, IPTV sends TV shows and movies directly through your high speed internet connection.

Most IPTV providers offer video on demand (VOD) or time-shifted media, and live or delayed live video to their subscribers. Popular IPTV providers fall into distinct 2 categories:

Legal providers with broadcasting rights to specific titles but not all TV Shows and Movies including popular services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max, Crackle, CBS All Access, Disney Plus, YouTube, Apple TV Plus, and Roku. Netflix pioneered the low monthly cost model but consumers are often forced to subscribe to multiple providers to watch "exclusive" content.
Illegal IPTV providers that re-stream live TV channels from local, regional, national, and often international channels from most countries overseas and some even include VOD, Time-Shifting, and EPG (electronic programming guide). These services are also extremely popular due to their low average price point of $15/month versus $90/month or more for cable and satellite subscriptions.

The growing popularity of both legal and illegal IPTV providers follows the consumer trend of "cord cutting". IPTV brings the convenience of watching what you want, when you want, on any device you want, from virtually anywhere that has a stable high speed internet connection. This trend has seen the shift of millions of subscribers worldwide

If you’ve used a legal streaming service like Netflix or Hulu, you'll notice that your selection is limited and the cost of multiple services eventually ends up costing as much as cable.

What started out as a hobby for enthusiasts uploading and sharing their live and pre-recorded content online has evolved into a marketplace of hundreds of illegal IPTV providers. With the ease of access to software and hardware, many different individuals and groups are now able to offer the service that meets the needs of almost every consumer globally - a low cost alternative that offers all content to be consumed anytime, anywhere, and from any device.

Do I Need Any Hardware for IPTV?

Most newer Smart TVs run on Android or comparable operating systems with access to app stores or a web browser to download and install IPTV apks or apps. The drawback is that even the latest Smart TVs are equipped with very limited specs to run the better IPTV services on the market today. With access to very little storage and memory, Smart TV apps are often unable to give the subscriber a good streaming experience.

So whether you have a Smart TV or non-Smart TV, we highly recommend that you use a dedicated device to run any IPTV service. With many popular choices on the market like MAG, Dreamlink, BuzzTV, Formuler, and Android based boxes and sticks from Xiaomi, TiVo, Nvidia, and Amazon, there are great choices for any budget.

After testing every device on the market, we use and highly recommend the Amazon Fire Stick 4K. It is budget friendly, low cost, fast, and portable, runs all legal IPTV services like Amazon Prime Video, Youtube, and Netflix in 4K and compatible with all other 3rd party IPTV apps

Chances are that you already have an iPhone or Android Smartphone, tablet, iPad, laptop, Windows PC or Apple Mac. Some IPTV providers will give you the option of accessing your subscription from one or more, or even all those devices.

Even in the worse case scenario, you can even mirror your screen to your TV over WiFi or use an HDMI cable to watch your shows on your TV.

Features of IPTV Services

There are three common features IPTV services.

Video on Demand (VOD)

Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video are popular examples of legal IPTV provider offering VOD only services.

If you've ever ordered a movie in a hotel room or PPV event, VOD streaming is exactly the same concept. Although there are many apps that offer VOD TV Shows and Movies, VOD from IPTV providers play instantly and as convenient as Netflix.

Most copyright laws are based on making copies of content and have caused many IPTV providers to be the target of legal action and eventually the abrupt closure of their services.

Time-shifted media

If you’ve used a PVR or DVR service and watched a previously shown show or “catch-up TV,” you’ve likely used this IPTV feature.

The main difference between time-shifted media and VOD is that the content is only available for a limited time for time-shift versus an almost indefinite time with VOD content. Time-shift is a less popular feature and often not offered because of the heavy server resources they consume and the growing convenience of VOD.

Live IPTV

FOX Sports Go, CBS Sports HQ, Hulu Live TV, and Sling TV are examples of legal live IPTV providers.

Like a typical live TV broadcast, illegal IPTV is most popular for streaming TV Shows, Movies, News, Sports, and even PPV events. Although IPTV services technically record and immediately re-transmit the same live stream across the world, live IPTV is consumed the same way despite both legal and illegal IPTV providers having similar minor time delays.

Despite being illegal IPTV providers, there are over an estimated 50 million subscribers worldwide that use IPTV services. Legally, subscribers are almost always ignored but the actual providers are constantly targeted for closure. The sheer volume of demand from consumers worldwide looking for alternatives has sprouted new IPTV providers daily and the complexity of legal jurisdiction over providers operating services on the web has fueled its continual growth.

IPTV Providers

We started using IPTV providers over 10 years ago for sports as they provided access to every game well before any legal IPTV providers like Dazn were available on the market.

Sports and PPV events are 2 of the more popular reasons that many subscribe to IPTV. The comprehensive coverage, little to no regional blocks, and easy access have made IPTV the fastest growing choice for sports fans worldwide.

Today's best IPTV providers are all run by very experienced and completely independent groups of admins that offer content from most countries and major languages, with all the latest News and Sports access bundled into one easy to access, low cost subscription.

Check out the top IPTV providers and get a free 24 hr trial HERE.