Breaking the Continuum

摘要

Lights! Camera! Action! Action? Where's the action? There has been a lot of talk about deploying Internet protocol (IP)-based video services to consumers, but so far there has not been much action. Many in the industry have been afflicted unawares by "channelthink"—the perceived need to reproduce in the television over IP (TVoIP) realm the legacy concept of television channels. Channelthink has held back the deployment of alternatives to terrestrial hybrid fiber/coax (HFC) or direct broadcast satellite (DBS) distribution systems. Service providers clearly need to meet and exceed existing cable TV and DBS offerings, but trying to emulate the traditional channel-based model by distributing real-time network feeds captured from air may not be the best way to do this. Often, service providers try to differentiate themselves with service models that require tens or even hundreds of megabits per second (Mbps) of downstream bandwidth to deliver legacy television channel programming with premium video quality as well as a wide variety of high-definition—and high-bandwidth—content. Downstream digital subscriber line (DSL) bandwidth of 24 Mbps can easily support two high-definition TV (HDTV) streams (each at roughly 8 Mbps) for blockbuster service offerings, plus concurrent voice over IP (VoIP) and Internet access. However, service providers may be missing out on the opportunity to differentiate themselves by offering alternate, quicker-to-market, billing-based service models for low-definition content.