What is IPTV and How Does it Work ?

What is an IPTV Box?

An IPTV Box is a type of set-top box that can convert internet protocol signals into a format that can be read and interpreted by your TV. It is important because your TV does not have any built-in system to interpret the signals received via the Internet. Thus, these IPTV Boxes play a crucial role in this process, as they act as a bridge between your TV and the internet.       

They connect to your TV through HDMI or AV Cables. In recent years, some IPTV boxes have got the capability to connect over the wifi. So, if you have a smart or connected TV that can connect through wifi, you won’t need anything else to connect to your IPTV box. 

Now, what if you don’t want to buy an IPTV box? You can still use your PC to stream IPTV content. Because PCs are already built to detect and interpret internet signals, you can use them to watch IPTV content, and if you want, you can screencast the content running on your PC to your TV.                        

Types of IPTV Formats & Services

Apart from transmitting classic TV channels, IPTV has many other formats too, and hence it offers different types of IPTV services. The following interactive services are also provided by IPTV, which are tabulated below. 

Best IPTV Service Providers

With time, many good IPTV services have come up, offering some great content. Recently, our in-house team of streaming experts conducted a review of some of the most popular IPTV services. According to them, the best IPTV service provides in 2023 are:

1. Tribe IPTV

2. XTremeHD IPTV

3. Falcon TV IPTV

4. ICEFLASH OTT

5. IPTV Trends

6. KEMO IPTV

7. NIKON IPTV

8. IPTV GANG

You can read about the pros, cons, and pricing of each one of them, in our blog on The Best IPTV Service Providers in 2024.                                        

Devices That Work With IPTV Services

The specific name or type of devices that will work might vary depending on which IPTV service you are using. But, in general, IPTV services are usually compatible with a large number of devices, like:

• Android Phones and TVs
• MAC PCs, iOS devices, and phones
• Samsung Tizen TV
• LG WebOS (LG TV and other devices)
• Devices and TVs powered by Amazon Fire OS

So, if you use any of these, you can rest assured that 99 out of 100 IPTV services will work with them.   Installation Tutorial – Aktv store             

Best IPTV Devices 

So, now you must be wondering, which will be the best IPTV Box (or IPTV device) for you, right? In today’s scenario, many companies have come up with quality IPTV boxes and devices, so it is really difficult to choose.    

We have studied the specs of all the prominent IPTV devices out there in the market, and have come up with the top 5 best IPTV devices, which are tabulated below.

What Are The Pros and Cons of IPTV?

Every system has its pros and cons, and IPTV is not an exception. It has a lot of benefits for the users, let’s take a look at some of them first. 

Pros of IPTV:

• IPTV viewers can experience much more flexible TV viewing, as they can pause, rewind, and fast-forward the content at their own will. 
• As most of the IPTV boxes support HD and 4K streaming, you will get much-improved picture quality, as compared to the traditional TV. 
• Some of the IPTV boxes offer channels and apps specific to different niches. Hence, you can stream different types of content, and enjoy more content options. 

Cons of IPTV:

• It requires a high-speed internet connection, so people in remote areas who don’t have access to high-speed wifi cannot use it properly. 
• IPTV can be lagging at times, and can even show outages, due to network issues, device incompatibility, and many other reasons. 

In short, IPTV works best in those areas which have good internet connectivity. So, if you have a stable internet and HDMI-enabled TV that can connect to Wifi (if needed), then you should definitely go for it.   

Market Size and Future of IPTV  

IPTV has been on a continuous growth path in the last few years. The global IPTV market, which stood at US$ 50.9 billion in 2021, is expected to reach US$ 115.2 billion in 2026. Hence, the market size of IPTV will grow at a CAGR of 17.8% during this time. 

North America is going to be the largest market for IPTV in the coming years. Asia is also not far behind, with China and India showing tremendous growth in this region. 

The growth of IPTV was propelled by many factors like the growth in internet penetration and internet speed across the globe. In certain regions, like China, they were boosted to a large extent. As a result, China itself had around 179.7 IPTV subscribers by the end of 2022. India too had around 68.1 million subscribers by the end of 2022. 

IPTV gains in market share will be largely at the expense of cable, with satellite holding up quite well. Indeed satellite platforms actually gain from IPTV growth as they feed channels to the headends for distribution across the terrestrial fixed broadband infrastructure.

IPTV networks are available in countries including the USA, Russia, Great Britain, Canada, France, Belgium, India, Germany, China, Sweden, and even the Dominican Republic, according to this list of global IPTV providers obtained from Reddit.

Although there are global players providing IPTV service fuelling its growth, we observe a shift in IPTV usage and believe that viewing habits will transition more towards OTT and SVOD as services like Netflix and Hulu as a part of an ongoing trend.

Is IPTV Subscription Legal in the US?    

IPTV Subscription, and IPTV service in general, is legal as long as the IPTV service provider has the license to stream the content that it intends to show. We know that every content has a copyright license. And if the IPTV service provider streams the shows without due permission from the copyright owners, then it will be definitely illegal. 

However, if you are using an IPTV service, use video streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video and then stream your content through these platforms, then it is completely legal. Because these streaming platforms are the copyright owners of their content. Also, many IPTV service providers do have a license to stream certain content, which is legal too!

Wrapping Up

We hope we have helped you to understand What is IPTV and how it works? And if you are intending to start your own streaming service, then we have got the perfect solution for you! 

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• IT Infrastructure, 
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• CMS, 
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• Payment Gateway integration to front-end interfaces like Websites and Apps for Mobile and TV. 

The entire solution is deployable out-of-the-box in one click, and you won’t need any IT teams or coding to launch your streaming service! Click here to get started with your own Multi-Screen OTT Service today!

FAQs

Q. What is IPTV and how does it work?

Ans. An IPTV, or Internet Protocol TV lets you access video and audio content from the internet. It is powered by an IPTV Box, which is a special Set-Top Box that can access the internet. So, the IPTV box decodes the data received from the internet and plays it on your TV screen. 

Q. What’s the difference between IPTV and linear TV?

Ans. A linear TV cannot access content from the internet. But, an IPTV can access content from the internet.

Q. How does IPTV differ from traditional television?

Ans. In traditional television, which basically means satellite television, lets you watch content being broadcasted over satellite TV channels. But an IPTV lets you access content from the internet and stream them on your TV screens. 

Q. What are the different types of IPTV services?

Ans. The different types of IPTV services are:

• Video on Demand
• Near Video on Demand
• Time-shifted TV
• TV on Demand (TVoD)
• Live Television

Q. Is IPTV the Future of TV?

Ans. With the massive growth of IPTV services like Roku Channel, Tubi, and Pluto TV, it is evident that they are going to capture the market of linear TV in the near future. More than 35% of people are already using TVs for streaming online content. 

Q. Are IPTV services available in all countries?

Ans. Yes, IPTV services are available in most countries nowadays.

Q. What is the best IPTV?

Ans. Based on our review, the following are the best IPTV service providers:

• Tribe IPTV
• XTremeHD IPTV
• Falcon TVIPTV
• ICEFLASH OTT
• IPTV Trends

Q. What is an IPTV box?

Ans. An IPTV box is a set-top box that can interpret the internet protocol signals and convert them into a format that is readable by your TV.

Q. Do we need VPN for IPTV?

Ans. Not really. You can connect with an IPTV without any VPN too! However, we do recommend you use a VPN so that you can stream all the local content more securely.

Q. What is an example of IPTV?

Ans. Roku is one of the most popular examples of IPTV providers, especially in the North American region.

Q. What is IPTV GitHub?

Ans. IPTV GitHub is a collection of 8000+ Free Live and publicly available IPTV channels from all across the globe.