IPTV is the delivery of television programming over an IP network rather than by satellite, cable or terrestrial broadcast. That single difference explains most of what makes IPTV different from other ways of watching television: it reuses networks and protocols built for data, it is bound by what those protocols actually do, and a surprising number of problems people attribute to their television set or their subscription are really properties of the network underneath.
This section builds the vocabulary first and the mechanics second. It assumes no technical background, and it does not assume you intend to build anything: understanding how a stream travels is useful even if you only ever want to watch one.
What this section covers
What IPTV actually isA technical definition, and how internet television delivery differs from broadcast, cable and on-demand streaming.In preparation
How IPTV works end to endFrom acquisition and rights through encoding, packaging, distribution and playback at the set-top box.In preparation
TerminologyThe words used across this site and across the documentation, defined once and used consistently afterwards.In preparation
Playlist files: M3U and M3U8What these formats are, how they are structured line by line, and what actually changed between them.In preparation
Electronic programme guidesHow guide data is structured, where it comes from, and why channel names sometimes do not match.In preparation
Players, devices and networksThe three things involved in playback, and which one is usually at fault when something fails.
Player softwareWhat a player does, what it does not do, and how to choose one without installing something unsafe.
Legal considerationsLicensing, copyright, how to recognise a legitimate service, and the risks in unofficial software.
Every guide in this section is written against published specifications and vendor documentation, and none of them contains a playlist or a credential. Where a detail cannot be verified from an authoritative source, the guide says so rather than estimating.
