Virgin Media to rollout new IPTV platform - Page 3

Hiroki · 11-09-2009, 22:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirius

That has not been confirmed to be honest. BTW is that site down at the moment ?

Hey well that's some good news right?

And the site seems to be still down at the moment.

musicbravo · 11-09-2009, 23:27

People talk of new STBs, surely all current boxes are capable (following software/firmware updates) of IPTV if a little slow at the process. Is it no coincidence that the new Samsung V+ boxes are capable of the more streamlined MPEG4 format?

Turkey Machine · 12-09-2009, 18:45

All the STBs have a network port, but surely all of them would need a firmware update. There are different brands, different models and all connected to the same network.

BenMcr · 12-09-2009, 18:50

But they all have to conform to the DVB-C standard

Turkey Machine · 12-09-2009, 18:59

Exactly. Basically, Virgin's deployment hinges on them either adhering to that standard or sending out several million IPTV boxes to their subscribers.

What I reckon they could do, initially for a period of say 6-12 months, is trial it as a cable TV "replacement" in a certain area, then trial it alongside their current TV subscriber base, then roll out the changes if there's enough interest and it's viable, both on a bandwidth and initial cost basis, to do so.

BenMcr · 12-09-2009, 19:09

I'm not sure where you are getting this IPTV box thing from. Nothing in the press releases mentions IPTV boxes.

What has been mentioned is an IPTV delivery platform to the headends. That's it. From there to the STBs can still be the current technology

Even if it's not cable VoD is already IP based (as far as I am aware) so I would expect the current STBs can already do full IPTV if required

---------- Post added at 19:09 ---------- Previous post was at 19:07 ----------

However what it could mean is that the headends could also deliver IP based TV over the cable modems

**Maggy** · 12-09-2009, 19:14

Would this mean that the red button would finally work on the 24 hour BBC News channel?

Ignitionnet · 12-09-2009, 19:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenMcr

What has been mentioned is an IPTV delivery platform to the headends. That's it. From there to the STBs can still be the current technology

No it can't and no it isn't just a platform for delivery to headends. That is not and has never been where the capacity issues lie.

Quote:

Even if it's not cable VoD is already IP based (as far as I am aware)

No the current cable VoD isn't IP based at all.

Turkey Machine · 12-09-2009, 19:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenMcr

I'm not sure where you are getting this IPTV box thing from. Nothing in the press releases mentions IPTV boxes.

Every IPTV deployment in this country so far has required a specialised STB to access the service either via the internet or some other means.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenMcr

What has been mentioned is an IPTV delivery platform to the headends. That's it. From there to the STBs can still be the current technology

Delivery to the headends is, by comparison, very easy. Delivering from headends to customers is an entirely new salmon stream to swim up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenMcr

Even if it's not cable VoD is already IP based (as far as I am aware) so I would expect the current STBs can already do full IPTV if required

Are you talking about the VoD like catchup TV, movies, music videos, etc? If so, it's still a big comparitive step to full IPTV.

But now I think about it, when I compare what the current solution for VoD is, adding IPTV to it doesn't seem so bad. It just means that if you want to watch a particular channel without watching a particular programme that the software would need to automatically load the next programme segment on the channel, be it trailers or the next TV show.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenMcr

---------- Post added at 19:09 ---------- Previous post was at 19:07 ----------

However what it could mean is that the headends could also deliver IP based TV over the cable modems

This is what I first thought it could be, as it draws comparisons with BT Vision and Tiscali TV. But Virgin's cable network is strained enough with the amount of cable modems taxing the headends. Plus, how would customers react when they find out that they've hit the STM limit just for watching a couple of TV shows?

Mick Fisher · 12-09-2009, 19:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maggy J

Would this mean that the red button would finally work on the 24 hour BBC News channel?

metoyou · 13-09-2009, 11:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sirius

Here's hoping that its on the Cable network and that its sodding encryption is better and a lot stronger than the 2 bit system they use now. Look at Ireland and what Nagra 3 has done to the thieving scummy types and the good news is they have not cracked it

Also lets have this asap so we can watch the thieving scummy types over here crying over there dead boxes

Additional reading

http://www.iptv-forum.com/

http://www.iptv-news.com/

Nagra3 is close to being hacked:

There will be NO disscussion of HOW to hack ANY system or any indication on how to do so.

Ignitionnet · 13-09-2009, 19:46

Won't be much use for an IPTV solution anyway.

IKS is hardly 'hacking' and for a nice responsive operator IKS is a minor irritation and brought down quickly.

kesterwww · 05-03-2010, 18:36

Having had VM cable services before moving to an area which doesn't have it in the area, this post seems interesting to me. I know it was wrote back in September, has any progress been made since then?
Also, just to be clear, does this mean that all the channels available on VM could soon be available to people in homes nowhere near a cable network?
I currently have BT Vision, and am really impressed with the on demand selection which comes with it. The only annoying thing is that any HD films or shows have to be downloaded over a period of a few hours. I recall VM were able to stream HD shows on demand.

tvtimes · 05-03-2010, 18:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by kesterwww

Having had VM cable services before moving to an area which doesn't have it in the area, this post seems interesting to me. I know it was wrote back in September, has any progress been made since then?
Also, just to be clear, does this mean that all the channels available on VM could soon be available to people in homes nowhere near a cable network?
I currently have BT Vision, and am really impressed with the on demand selection which comes with it. The only annoying thing is that any HD films or shows have to be downloaded over a period of a few hours. I recall VM were able to stream HD shows on demand.

Unfortunately i don't think non cabled areas will be getting it any time soon. This IPTV roll out is for cabled areas and cabled customers will basically be able to browse ondemand content from the internet like Youtube etc. It will be with Tivo software. As far as i know VM were doing a freeview box in non cabled areas but that was all their plans were.

Ignitionnet · 05-03-2010, 23:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by tvtimes

This IPTV roll out is for cabled areas and cabled customers will basically be able to browse ondemand content from the internet like Youtube etc.

IPTV is nothing to do with content hosted on the Internet, it refers to the way in which content is taken from the existing digital hubsites and the Seachange VoD kit that lives in them to the STBs.

VM are doing trials of IPTV over VDSL2 in an offnet area.