The technology used for Internet TV
The Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV) consortium of industry companies (such as SES Astra, Humax, Philips, and ANT Software) is currently promoting and establishing an open European standard for internet TV. This standard is called HbbTV and is meant for hybrid set-top boxes for the reception of broadcast and broadband digital television and multimedia applications with a single-user interface. Current providers of internet television use various technologies to provide a service. These providers can choose from technologies such as peer-to-peer (P2P), VoD systems and live streaming technology. The BBC iPlayer makes use of the Adobe Flash Player to provide streaming-video clips and other software provided by Adobe for its download service. CNBC, Bloomberg Television and Showtime use live-streaming services from BitGravity to stream live television to paid subscribers using a standard http protocol. DRM (digital rights management) software is also incorporated into many internet-television services. Sky Player uses technology that is provided by Microsoft to prevent content being copied. Internet television is also cross platform, the Sky Player service has been expanded to the Xbox 360 and to Windows Media Center and later to Windows 7 PCs. The BBC iPlayer is also available through Virgin Media's on-demand service and other platforms such as FetchTV and games consoles. Other Internet-television platforms include mobile platforms such as the iPhone, the iPod Touch, and many other mobile devices.
Website or Application
The main problem with on-demand video services that are using the technology of an application on a desktop computers is getting the users to download the software and register. It is far easier for a user to simply log onto a webpage without registering than to have to spend time registering and downloading often large programs. However, applications are more powerful in that they can manage the downloading of content far better and these programs can usually be watched offline for thirty days after downloading.
