What is the difference between IPTV and internet TV?

“IPTV is commonly referred to those services operated and controlled by the same company that operates and controls the "Last Mile" to the consumers' premises. An IPTV service is usually delivered over a complex and investment heavy walled garden network, which is carefully engineered to ensure bandwidth efficient delivery of vast amounts of multicast video traffic. The higher network quality also enables easy delivery of high quality SD or HD TV content to subscribers’ homes. This makes IPTV by default the preferred delivery platform for premium content. Internet TV, by definition, is created, managed and distributed via the open Internet. It rides on existing infrastructure and normally refers to those services sourced over the Internet by service providers that cannot control the final delivery. Again, transport streams in IP packets are used with one or more services per transport stream. Other TV-like services are available on the Internet but these send the video and the audio in separate streams over the IP network and do not use transport streams. Whilst the differences may seem irrelevant to the consumer, the underlying technology employed is quite different and directly affect the range and quality of service that can be achieved. IPTV users are limited to a relatively small range of programs but at high quality, whereas an Internet TV user may have access to many thousands of channels from literally all over the world but without any guarantee of being able to watch them. Streaming services such as YouTube generally offer User Generated Content UGC as individual short clips rather than professionally produced programs or films grouped as a channel.” [1]

“A telco IPTV service is usually delivered over a complex and investment heavy walled garden network, which is carefully engineered to ensure bandwidth efficient delivery of vast amounts of multicast video traffic. The higher network quality also enables easy delivery of high quality SD or HD TV content to subscribers’ homes. This makes IPTV by default the preferred delivery platform for premium content. However the investment for a telco to build an end-to-end IPTV service can be substantial. By contrast "Internet TV" generally refers to transport streams sent over IP networks (normally the Internet) from outside the network that connects to the users premises. An Internet TV provider has no control over the final delivery and so broadcasts on a "best effort" basis. Elementary streams over IP networks and proprietary variants as used by websites such as YouTube are now rarely considered to be IPTV services. Compared to telco IPTV, Internet TV is a quick-to-market and relatively low investment service. Internet TV rides on existing infrastructure including broadband, ADSL, Wi-Fi, cable and satellite which makes it a valuable tool for a wide variety of service providers and content owners looking for new revenue streams. However, due to the fact that IPTV is always delivered over low cost IP [STB]s, which have limited computing power, the capability for IPTV operators to provide diverse multimedia services is limited. This is where Internet TV has an advantage as it is delivered to a subscriber's (generally) powerful PC. The relative ease of establishing an Internet TV service seems at first a threat to telco IPTV operators’ multimillion dollar investment, but both services do not necessarily compete for the same customers and there are some synergies between the two such as a common technology platform in the form of web-based technologies for content storage and delivery. From a business perspective, Internet TV can supplement a telco TV’s traditional channel line up with niche content and diverse multimedia content. Broadcast IPTV has two major architecture forms: free and fee based. As of June 2006, there are over 1,300 free IPTV channels available.[8] This sector is growing rapidly and major television broadcasters worldwide are transmitting their broadcast signal over the Internet. These free IPTV channels require only an Internet connection and an Internet enabled device such as a personal computer, HDTV connected to a computer or even a 3G cell/mobile phone to watch the IPTV broadcasts. Local IPTV, as used by businesses for Audio Visual AV distribution on their company networks is typically based on a mixture of: a) Conventional TV reception equipment and IPTV encoders b) IPTV Gateways that take broadcast MPEG channels and IP wrap them to create multicast streams. IPTV uses a two-way digital broadcast signal sent through a switched telephone or cable network by way of a broadband connection and a set-top box programmed with software (much like a cable or DSS box) that can handle viewer requests to access to many available media sources.” [2]

Sources:
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_television
[2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPTV
[3]: http://www.masternewmedia.org/2005/06/04/iptv_vs_internet_television_key.htm

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