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Contact usWhat is „Internet TV“ and why people like it?
So, you already heard of a hype called Internet TV and you decided to check what it really is? You might think that Internet TV is just TV which is beeing streamed over Internet, and guess what, you are absolutely wright about it. Internet TV is not more than variety of Internet delivered video streaming on demand, including subscription services which offers movies, series, cartoons, sports etc… Oldest examples of Internet TV includes Netflix, iTunes and Hulu services.
But there is something new about it. Most people think that Internet TV can only be accessed through computers with fast Internet connection and this is also partialy correct. You endeed need fast Internet link to experience Internet TV with everything it has to offer, but computers are really no longer neccessary. Instead, those services are now opened to access with huge number of devices, including TVs, consoles, smartphones and special devices who allow streaming of content from network shares, media servers or online services, like Western Digital TV live.
Not sure if you want or need it?
Internet TV and video on demand – nothing new, you might say. „I already have this from my cable provider.“ And it is perfectly ok if you are happy with it because biggest difference is with number of available channels. So if you think that you already have enough of them, you really shouldn`t bother to change that.
And if you really would like to try it, there are some requirements to be aware of.
First, there are bandwidth requirements. As Internet TV and video streaming is most bandwidth intense online content, for anything less than smooth video you need at least 5 Mbps Internet link. Some might say 2 Mbps is enough but if you try it you will notice that it is not even near to be enough.
Second, there is image quality. Image quality of Internet TV is reliant on two biggest factors – bandwidth and good source quality. Opposite to what you might expect, on most Internet TV services HD and Wide screen are not always default. And even when it is, the encoding of video varies. I have seen some High Definition Internet TV that meets or even exceeds cable or satellite TV channels. And sometimes what you will see may look a bit better than a grainy YouTube video expanded to full screen.
Main point of it is if you are a videophile who may see difference in DVD and Bluray videos, you really won`t like the quality of Internet TV.
Third – audio related problems. It is not unusual on Internet TV for audio to be out of sync, sometimes with the delay up to a second. You can solve this problem most of the time by stoping and resuming the video, so it will resync automatically. This is something that really can make you angry.
What about special hardware?
If you are really interested in Internet TV and you are ready to give it a shot there is big chance
that you don`t need to buy new equipment. Many existing devices, like Xbox360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii are already compatible with Internet TV services. It is same thing with Bluray players, where most of them support several Internet TV services. Almost on all stated above those services are available – Netflix, Youtube, Amazon, Vudu, Hulu and Google TV.
Give me some Internet TV links, please!
Sure, most Internet TV fans have problems with finding free Internet TV streams. As list of good programs is big I will post it in another post called „Internet TV links“.
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