Video on demand
Encyclopedia
Video on Demand or Audio and Video On Demand (AVOD) are systems which allow users to select and watch/listen to video
or audio
content on demand. IPTV
technology is often used to bring video on demand to television
s and personal computers.
Television VOD systems either stream
content through a set-top box
, a computer or other device, allowing viewing in real time, or download it to a device such as a computer, digital video recorder
(also called a personal video recorder) or portable media player
for viewing at any time. The majority of cable
- and telco
-based television providers offer both VOD streaming, including pay-per-view
and free content, whereby a user buys or selects a movie or television program
and it begins to play on the television set almost instantaneously, or downloading to a DVR
rented from the provider, or downloaded onto a pc, for viewing in the future. Internet television
, using the Internet
, is an increasingly popular form of video on demand.
Some airlines offer AVOD as in-flight entertainment
to passengers through individually-controlled video screens embedded in seatbacks or armrests or offered via portable media players. Airline AVOD systems offer passengers the opportunity to select specific stored video or audio content and play it on demand including pause, fast forward, and rewind.
Cable providers offered VOD as part of digital subscription packages, which by 2005, primarily allowed cable subscribers to only access an on-demand version of content that was already provided in linear distribution. Included in these packages were "extras" and "bonus footage" rather than full episodes of television shows.
, fast rewind, slow forward, slow rewind, jump to previous/future frame etc. These functions are called trick modes. For disk-based streaming systems which store and stream programs from hard disk
drive, trick modes require additional processing and storage on the part of the server, because separate files for fast forward and rewind must be stored. Memory-based VOD streaming systems have the advantage of being able to perform trick modes directly from RAM
, which requires no additional storage or CPU cycles on the part of the processor.
It is possible to put video servers on LANs
, in which case they can provide very rapid response to users. Streaming video servers can also serve a wider community via a WAN
, in which case the responsiveness may be reduced. Download VOD services are practical to homes equipped with cable modems or DSL connections. Servers for traditional cable and telco VOD services are usually placed at the cable head-end serving a particular market as well as cable hubs in larger markets. In the telco world, they are placed in either the central office, or a newly created location called a Video Head-End Office (VHO).
network (later part of NTL, now Virgin Media
). The MPEG-1 encoded video was streamed over an ATM network from an ICL media server to set top boxes
designed by Acorn
Online Media. The trial commenced at a speed of 2 Mbit/s to the home, subsequently increased to 25 Mbit/s. The content was provided by the BBC
and Anglia Television
. Although a technical success, difficulty in sourcing content was a major issue, and the project closed in 1996.
In 1998, Kingston Communications
became the first UK company to launch a fully commercial VOD service and the first to integrate broadcast TV and Internet access through a single set-top box using IP delivery over ADSL. By 2001, Kingston Interactive TV had attracted 15,000 subscribers. After a number of trials, HomeChoice followed in 1999, but were restricted to London
. After attracting 40,000 customers, they were bought by Tiscali
in 2006 who were in turn bought by Talk Talk in 2009. Cable TV providers Telewest
and NTL (now Virgin Media
) launched their VOD services in the United Kingdom
in 2005, competing with the leading traditional pay TV distributor BSkyB. BSkyB responded by launching Sky by broadband, later renamed Sky Anytime
on PC. The service went live on 2 January 2006. Sky Anytime on PC uses a legal peer-to-peer
approach, based on Kontiki
technology, to provide very high capacity multi-point downloads of the video content. Instead of the video content all being downloaded from Sky's servers, the content comes from multiple users of the system who have already downloaded the same content. Other UK TV broadcasters have implemented their own versions of the same technology, such as the BBC
's iPlayer, which launched on 25 December 2007, and Channel 4
's 4oD
(4 On Demand) which launched in late 2006. Another example of online video publishers using legal peer-to-peer
technology is based on Giraffic technology which was launched in early 2011 with large Online Video-on-Demand publisehrs such as US based VEOH and UK based Craze's OnlineMoviesBox movie rental service. The BBC
, ITV
and Channel 4
planned to launch a joint platform provisionally called Kangaroo
in 2008. This was abandoned in 2009 following complaints investigated by the Competition Commission
. The assets of the defunct Kangaroo project were bought by Arqiva
who launched the SeeSaw
service in February 2010.
VOD services are now available in all parts of the United States
. In 2010, 80% of American Internet users had watched video online. Streaming VOD systems are available from cable providers (in tandem with cable modem
technology) who use the large downstream bandwidth present on cable systems to deliver movies and television shows to end users, who can typically pause, fast-forward, and rewind VOD movies due to the low latency and random-access nature of cable technology. The large distribution of a single signal makes streaming VOD impractical for most satellite TV systems. Both EchoStar/Dish Network
and DirecTV
offer video on demand programming to PVR
-owning subscribers of their satellite TV service. Once the programs have been downloaded onto a user's PVR, he or she can watch, play, pause, and seek at their convenience. VOD is also quite common in more expensive hotels. VOD systems that store and provide a user interface for content downloaded directly from the Internet
are widely available.
According to the European Audiovisual Observatory
, 142 paying VOD services were operational in Europe at the end of 2006. The number increased to 650 by 2009.
networking and the development of file sharing
software such as BitTorrent. These innovations proved that it was technically possible to offer the consumer potentially every film ever made, in a way that does not burden the original provider with the entire cost of uploading that information for every customer who wishes to receive it.
consumer video technique used by multi-channel broadcasters using high-bandwidth distribution mechanisms such as satellite
and cable television
. Multiple copies of a program are broadcast at short time intervals (typically 10–20 minutes) providing convenience for viewers, who can watch the program without needing to tune in at a scheduled point in time. This form is bandwidth
intensive and is generally provided only by large operators with a great deal of redundant capacity and has been reduced in popularity as video on demand is implemented. Pay-per-view provider In Demand
provided up to 40 channels in 2002, with several films receiving up to four channels on the staggered schedule to provide the NVOD experience; however the service now provides only six channels of content, with In Demand
sports PPV using the other channels.
(PVR) to store a selection of content, often transmitted in spare capacity overnight or all day long at low bandwidth. Users can watch the downloaded content at the time they desire, immediately and without any buffering issue. As content occupies space on the PVR hard drive, downloaded content is usually deleted after a week to make way for newer programs. The limited space on a PVR hard drive means that the selection of programs is usually restricted to most popular content. A new generation of Push VOD solution recently appeared on the market which, by using efficient error correction mechanisms, can free significant amount of bandwidth and that can deliver more than video e.g. magazines, interactive applications.
1. Play/Resume - Start a program/movie from the beginning or resume after temporarily stopping the show.
2. Stop - Temporarily or permanently stop the presentation of the show.
3. Pause - Freeze the picture.
4. Jump forward - Jump to a particular time in the presentation (movie) in a forward direction.
5. Jump backward - Jump to a particular time in the presentation (movie) in a backward direction.
6. Fast Forward (FF) - Browse through the movie in the forward direction with picture and sound on.
7. Slow Down - Going forward at a lower rate than normal but with picture and sound.
8. Reverse - Playing the movie in the reversed direction with picture and sound.
9. Fast Reverse - Browse the presentation in the backward direction with picture and sound at a faster speed than standard reverse.
10. Slow Reverse: Go backward at a slower speed, with picture and sound.
11. Other interactive features include the ability to avoid or select advertisements, to investigate additional details about news events and to browse, select, and purchase goods.
2. EVOD (Exclusive Video on Demand) is when a particular TV-based VOD content provider offers a function, service and/or program that no other content provider has, it might be called Exclusive Video on Demand.
3. IVOD (Impulse video on demand) is now typically referred to as "Video on Demand" but in the past, this term often referred to the ability to order TV-based Video on Demand programming, without having to first phone in your order to the network operator.
4. QVOD (Quasai Video on Demand) is the same as Near Video on Demand except that the programming only will be presented if a minimum number of subscribers sign up for it.
5. TVOD (Transactional Video on Demand) is the opposite of Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD). With Transactional VOD the customer pays for each individual video on demand program. With it's opposite, SVOD, typically the subscriber pays a set amount, (often monthly) for a set amount of video on demand. Now-a-days most refer to Transactional VOD simply as "VOD".
6. FVOD (Free Video on Demand) is Video on Demand programming that a network operator makes available as part of a content package.(FVOD) can make it possible for subscribers to have unlimited access to movies/programming offered during a specific time period. The opposite would be Subscriber Video on Demand (SVOD) where a subscriber pays a standard fee for programming that may have no, or limited advertisements.
's five major networks all offer such a services:
Video
Video is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.- History :...
or audio
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
content on demand. IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
technology is often used to bring video on demand to television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
s and personal computers.
Television VOD systems either stream
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
content through a set-top box
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
, a computer or other device, allowing viewing in real time, or download it to a device such as a computer, digital video recorder
Digital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
(also called a personal video recorder) or portable media player
Portable media player
A portable media player or digital audio player, is a consumer electronics device that is capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, video, documents, etc. the data is typically stored on a hard drive, microdrive, or flash memory. In contrast, analog portable audio...
for viewing at any time. The majority of cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
- and telco
Telephone company
A telephone company is a service provider of telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many were at one time nationalized or state-regulated monopolies...
-based television providers offer both VOD streaming, including pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
and free content, whereby a user buys or selects a movie or television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
and it begins to play on the television set almost instantaneously, or downloading to a DVR
Digital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
rented from the provider, or downloaded onto a pc, for viewing in the future. Internet television
Internet television
Internet television is the digital distribution of television content via the Internet...
, using the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, is an increasingly popular form of video on demand.
Some airlines offer AVOD as in-flight entertainment
In-flight Entertainment
In-flight entertainment refers to the entertainment available to aircraft passengers during a flight. In 1936, the airship Hindenburg offered passengers a piano, lounge, dining room, smoking room, and bar during the 2½ day flight between Europe and America...
to passengers through individually-controlled video screens embedded in seatbacks or armrests or offered via portable media players. Airline AVOD systems offer passengers the opportunity to select specific stored video or audio content and play it on demand including pause, fast forward, and rewind.
Early development
In order for VOD to be developed, it required extensive negotiations between content creators and cable providers. These negotiations were ordered to identify a financial model that would serve both entities and still provide content desirable for viewers.Cable providers offered VOD as part of digital subscription packages, which by 2005, primarily allowed cable subscribers to only access an on-demand version of content that was already provided in linear distribution. Included in these packages were "extras" and "bonus footage" rather than full episodes of television shows.
Functionality
Download and streaming video on demand systems provide the user with a large subset of VCR functionality including pause, fast forwardFast forward
To fast-forward means to move forward through a recording at a speed faster than that at which it would usually be played. The recordings are usually audio, video, or computer data...
, fast rewind, slow forward, slow rewind, jump to previous/future frame etc. These functions are called trick modes. For disk-based streaming systems which store and stream programs from hard disk
Hard disk
A hard disk drive is a non-volatile, random access digital magnetic data storage device. It features rotating rigid platters on a motor-driven spindle within a protective enclosure. Data is magnetically read from and written to the platter by read/write heads that float on a film of air above the...
drive, trick modes require additional processing and storage on the part of the server, because separate files for fast forward and rewind must be stored. Memory-based VOD streaming systems have the advantage of being able to perform trick modes directly from RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
, which requires no additional storage or CPU cycles on the part of the processor.
It is possible to put video servers on LANs
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
, in which case they can provide very rapid response to users. Streaming video servers can also serve a wider community via a WAN
Wide area network
A wide area network is a telecommunication network that covers a broad area . Business and government entities utilize WANs to relay data among employees, clients, buyers, and suppliers from various geographical locations...
, in which case the responsiveness may be reduced. Download VOD services are practical to homes equipped with cable modems or DSL connections. Servers for traditional cable and telco VOD services are usually placed at the cable head-end serving a particular market as well as cable hubs in larger markets. In the telco world, they are placed in either the central office, or a newly created location called a Video Head-End Office (VHO).
History
From September 1994, a VOD service formed a major part of the Cambridge Digital Interactive Television Trial in England. This provided video and data to 250 homes and a number of schools connected to the Cambridge CableCambridge Cable
Cambridge Cable Ltd. was a limited company engaged in the provision of early video on demand. It provided cable infrastructure in the UK as part of the Cambridge Digital Interactive Television Trial .- History :...
network (later part of NTL, now Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
). The MPEG-1 encoded video was streamed over an ATM network from an ICL media server to set top boxes
Acorn Online Media Set Top Box
The Acorn Online Media Set Top Box was produced by the Online Media division of Acorn Computers Ltd for the Cambridge Cable and Online Media Video on Demand trial and launched early 1996.-Specification:*Memory: 2 MiB 12 MHz RAM...
designed by Acorn
Acorn Computers
Acorn Computers Ltd. was a British computer company established in Cambridge, England, in 1978. The company produced a number of computers which were especially popular in the UK. These included the Acorn Electron, the BBC Micro, and the Acorn Archimedes...
Online Media. The trial commenced at a speed of 2 Mbit/s to the home, subsequently increased to 25 Mbit/s. The content was provided by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and Anglia Television
Anglia Television
Anglia Television is the ITV franchise holder for the East Anglia franchise region. Although Anglia Television takes its name from East Anglia, its transmission coverage extends beyond the generally accepted boundaries of that region. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional...
. Although a technical success, difficulty in sourcing content was a major issue, and the project closed in 1996.
In 1998, Kingston Communications
Kingston Communications
KCOM Group , formerly known as Kingston Communications, is a UK communications and IT services provider. Its headquarters is in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, where subsidiary business unit KC serves local residents and businesses with Internet and telephony services...
became the first UK company to launch a fully commercial VOD service and the first to integrate broadcast TV and Internet access through a single set-top box using IP delivery over ADSL. By 2001, Kingston Interactive TV had attracted 15,000 subscribers. After a number of trials, HomeChoice followed in 1999, but were restricted to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. After attracting 40,000 customers, they were bought by Tiscali
Tiscali
Tiscali may refer to:*Tiscali, an archaeological village of Nuragici people, in Sardinia, Italy, notable because it was completely inside a huge cavern*Tiscali SpA, a telecom company based in Italy*Tiscali TV , multiple uses...
in 2006 who were in turn bought by Talk Talk in 2009. Cable TV providers Telewest
Telewest
Telewest, formerly Telewest Broadband and Telewest Communications was a cable Internet, broadband internet, telephone supplier and cable television provider in the United Kingdom...
and NTL (now Virgin Media
Virgin Media
Virgin Media Inc. is a company which provides fixed and mobile telephone, television and broadband internet services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom...
) launched their VOD services in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 2005, competing with the leading traditional pay TV distributor BSkyB. BSkyB responded by launching Sky by broadband, later renamed Sky Anytime
Sky Anytime
Sky Anytime is the brand-name of a range of services from BSkyB designed to compete with video on demand services currently offered by rival companies such as Virgin Media or Tiscali TV as well as Internet Television services such as ITV Player and Sky Go....
on PC. The service went live on 2 January 2006. Sky Anytime on PC uses a legal peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
approach, based on Kontiki
Kontiki
Kontiki is a peer-assisted content delivery technology company, founded in November 2000. It was acquired by VeriSign in March 2006. VeriSign, as part of a major divestiture, sold Kontiki to MK Capital in May 2008....
technology, to provide very high capacity multi-point downloads of the video content. Instead of the video content all being downloaded from Sky's servers, the content comes from multiple users of the system who have already downloaded the same content. Other UK TV broadcasters have implemented their own versions of the same technology, such as the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's iPlayer, which launched on 25 December 2007, and Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's 4oD
4oD
4oD is a video on demand service from Channel 4. Launched in November 2006, 4oD stands for "4 on Demand". The service offers a variety of programmes recently shown on Channel 4, E4, More4 or from their archives...
(4 On Demand) which launched in late 2006. Another example of online video publishers using legal peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
technology is based on Giraffic technology which was launched in early 2011 with large Online Video-on-Demand publisehrs such as US based VEOH and UK based Craze's OnlineMoviesBox movie rental service. The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
and Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
planned to launch a joint platform provisionally called Kangaroo
Kangaroo (video on demand)
Kangaroo was the working title for a proposed video on demand platform offering content from BBC Worldwide , ITV.com and Channel 4's 4oD , initially expected to launch in 2008, but blocked by the Competition Commission in 2009. Following the Commission's rejection of the bid, the technology...
in 2008. This was abandoned in 2009 following complaints investigated by the Competition Commission
Competition Commission
The Competition Commission is a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom...
. The assets of the defunct Kangaroo project were bought by Arqiva
Arqiva
Arqiva is a telecommunications company which provides infrastructure and broadcast transmission facilities in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The present company, with headquarters located at Crawley Court in the village of Crawley, Hampshire, was formed by National Grid Wireless...
who launched the SeeSaw
SeeSaw (Internet television)
SeeSaw was an Internet television service, born out of the BBC-led Project Kangaroo and launched in the UK on 17 February 2010. It was acquired by the Criterion Media Group in July 2011 but the agreed investment never materialised. The service was shut down on 28 October 2011...
service in February 2010.
VOD services are now available in all parts of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In 2010, 80% of American Internet users had watched video online. Streaming VOD systems are available from cable providers (in tandem with cable modem
Cable modem
A cable modem is a type of network bridge and modem that provides bi-directional data communication via radio frequency channels on a HFC and RFoG infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access in the form of cable Internet, taking advantage of the high...
technology) who use the large downstream bandwidth present on cable systems to deliver movies and television shows to end users, who can typically pause, fast-forward, and rewind VOD movies due to the low latency and random-access nature of cable technology. The large distribution of a single signal makes streaming VOD impractical for most satellite TV systems. Both EchoStar/Dish Network
Dish Network
Dish Network Corporation is the second largest pay TV provider in the United States, providing direct broadcast satellite service—including satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services—to 14.337 million commercial and residential customers in the United States. Dish...
and DirecTV
DirecTV
DirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
offer video on demand programming to PVR
Digital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
-owning subscribers of their satellite TV service. Once the programs have been downloaded onto a user's PVR, he or she can watch, play, pause, and seek at their convenience. VOD is also quite common in more expensive hotels. VOD systems that store and provide a user interface for content downloaded directly from the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
are widely available.
According to the European Audiovisual Observatory
European Audiovisual Observatory
The European Audiovisual Observatory was set up by the Council of Europe as a Partial Agreement. Its legal basis is Resolution 70 of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, 15 December 1992...
, 142 paying VOD services were operational in Europe at the end of 2006. The number increased to 650 by 2009.
Role of P2P
Although video on demand generally refers to legitimate delivery mechanisms operating in accord with applicable laws, some of the motivation for the development of true video on demand (TVOD) services can be traced back to peer-to-peerPeer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
networking and the development of file sharing
File sharing
File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia , documents, or electronic books. It may be implemented through a variety of ways...
software such as BitTorrent. These innovations proved that it was technically possible to offer the consumer potentially every film ever made, in a way that does not burden the original provider with the entire cost of uploading that information for every customer who wishes to receive it.
Subscription Video on demand
Subscription Video on demand (SVOD) is a service offered by cable systems, which charges their subscribers a monthly fee for accessing unlimited programs.Near video on demand
Near video on demand (NVOD) is a pay-per-viewPay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
consumer video technique used by multi-channel broadcasters using high-bandwidth distribution mechanisms such as satellite
Satellite
In the context of spaceflight, a satellite is an object which has been placed into orbit by human endeavour. Such objects are sometimes called artificial satellites to distinguish them from natural satellites such as the Moon....
and cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
. Multiple copies of a program are broadcast at short time intervals (typically 10–20 minutes) providing convenience for viewers, who can watch the program without needing to tune in at a scheduled point in time. This form is bandwidth
Bandwidth (computing)
In computer networking and computer science, bandwidth, network bandwidth, data bandwidth, or digital bandwidth is a measure of available or consumed data communication resources expressed in bits/second or multiples of it .Note that in textbooks on wireless communications, modem data transmission,...
intensive and is generally provided only by large operators with a great deal of redundant capacity and has been reduced in popularity as video on demand is implemented. Pay-per-view provider In Demand
IN DEMAND
In Demand is a provider of pay-per-view and subscription video-on-demand services, jointly owned by Comcast, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks...
provided up to 40 channels in 2002, with several films receiving up to four channels on the staggered schedule to provide the NVOD experience; however the service now provides only six channels of content, with In Demand
IN DEMAND
In Demand is a provider of pay-per-view and subscription video-on-demand services, jointly owned by Comcast, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Networks...
sports PPV using the other channels.
Push video on demand
Push video on demand is a technique used by a number of broadcasters on systems that lack connectivity to provide true video on demand or by broadcasters who wants to optimize their video streaming infrastructure by pre-loading the most popular contents to the consumer device. A push VOD system uses a personal video recorderDigital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
(PVR) to store a selection of content, often transmitted in spare capacity overnight or all day long at low bandwidth. Users can watch the downloaded content at the time they desire, immediately and without any buffering issue. As content occupies space on the PVR hard drive, downloaded content is usually deleted after a week to make way for newer programs. The limited space on a PVR hard drive means that the selection of programs is usually restricted to most popular content. A new generation of Push VOD solution recently appeared on the market which, by using efficient error correction mechanisms, can free significant amount of bandwidth and that can deliver more than video e.g. magazines, interactive applications.
Additional Categories of Video on Demand
1. IVOD (Interactive Video on Demand) is the standard version of video on demand were people have the following features at their disposal:1. Play/Resume - Start a program/movie from the beginning or resume after temporarily stopping the show.
2. Stop - Temporarily or permanently stop the presentation of the show.
3. Pause - Freeze the picture.
4. Jump forward - Jump to a particular time in the presentation (movie) in a forward direction.
5. Jump backward - Jump to a particular time in the presentation (movie) in a backward direction.
6. Fast Forward (FF) - Browse through the movie in the forward direction with picture and sound on.
7. Slow Down - Going forward at a lower rate than normal but with picture and sound.
8. Reverse - Playing the movie in the reversed direction with picture and sound.
9. Fast Reverse - Browse the presentation in the backward direction with picture and sound at a faster speed than standard reverse.
10. Slow Reverse: Go backward at a slower speed, with picture and sound.
11. Other interactive features include the ability to avoid or select advertisements, to investigate additional details about news events and to browse, select, and purchase goods.
2. EVOD (Exclusive Video on Demand) is when a particular TV-based VOD content provider offers a function, service and/or program that no other content provider has, it might be called Exclusive Video on Demand.
3. IVOD (Impulse video on demand) is now typically referred to as "Video on Demand" but in the past, this term often referred to the ability to order TV-based Video on Demand programming, without having to first phone in your order to the network operator.
4. QVOD (Quasai Video on Demand) is the same as Near Video on Demand except that the programming only will be presented if a minimum number of subscribers sign up for it.
5. TVOD (Transactional Video on Demand) is the opposite of Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD). With Transactional VOD the customer pays for each individual video on demand program. With it's opposite, SVOD, typically the subscriber pays a set amount, (often monthly) for a set amount of video on demand. Now-a-days most refer to Transactional VOD simply as "VOD".
6. FVOD (Free Video on Demand) is Video on Demand programming that a network operator makes available as part of a content package.(FVOD) can make it possible for subscribers to have unlimited access to movies/programming offered during a specific time period. The opposite would be Subscriber Video on Demand (SVOD) where a subscriber pays a standard fee for programming that may have no, or limited advertisements.
Catch up TV
Catch up TV (or Replay TV) is a term used to describe VOD in which TV shows are available for a period of days after the original broadcast.Australia
AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's five major networks all offer such a services:
- ABCAustralian Broadcasting CorporationThe Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
via its iView service. - SBSSpecial Broadcasting ServiceThe Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
via its website player. - Seven NetworkSeven NetworkThe Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
via its Plus7 service. - Nine NetworkNine NetworkThe Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...
via its FixPlay service. - Network TenNetwork TenNetwork Ten , is one of Australia's three major commercial television networks. Owned-and-operated stations can be found in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, while affiliates extend the network to cover most of the country...
via its website.
United Kingdom
- BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
via its iPlayer - ITVITVITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
via its ITV Net Player - Channel 4Channel 4Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
via its 4 on Demand (4od4oD4oD is a video on demand service from Channel 4. Launched in November 2006, 4oD stands for "4 on Demand". The service offers a variety of programmes recently shown on Channel 4, E4, More4 or from their archives...
) - Channel 5Channel 5-In the Americas:*Channel 5 – Rosario, Argentine television station, founded in 1964, which broadcasts from the city of Rosario*Great Belize Television, Belize television station, known as "Channel 5", founded in 1991 and broadcasting from Belize City...
via its Demand 5
United States and Canada
The networks FOX, CBS, NBC and ABC all have similar sites, as do the Canadian networks Global, CTV, and CBC.See also
- Comparison of video servicesComparison of video servicesThe following tables compare general and technical information for a number of notable video hosting services. Please see the individual products' articles for further information...
- IPTVIPTVInternet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
- Music on demand
- nPVR
- Triple playTriple play (telecommunications)In telecommunications, triple play service is a marketing term for the provisioning of two bandwidth-intensive services, high-speed Internet access and television, and a less bandwidth-demanding service, telephone, over a single broadband connection. Triple play focuses on a combined business...
- Vodcast
- HuluHuluHulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
- Clicker.comClicker.comClicker is an Internet video directory and search company based in Los Angeles, California. Their website aims to be the TV Guide for all full episodes of programs available to watch on the Web. It is owned by CBS Interactive....
- SeeSawSeeSaw (Internet television)SeeSaw was an Internet television service, born out of the BBC-led Project Kangaroo and launched in the UK on 17 February 2010. It was acquired by the Criterion Media Group in July 2011 but the agreed investment never materialised. The service was shut down on 28 October 2011...
(defunct) - BlinkBoxBlinkboxBlinkbox is a UK-based video-on-demand website that allows users to legally preview, buy and rent over 6,000 full length premium movies and TV shows online...
- YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- Sky Anytime+Sky Anytime+Sky Anytime+ is the brand-name of a ‘pull’ video on demand extension to the Sky Anytime service on BSkyB's Sky satellite television platform.-History:...
- NetflixNetflixNetflix, Inc., is an American provider of on-demand internet streaming media in the United States, Canada, and Latin America and flat rate DVD-by-mail in the United States. The company was established in 1997 and is headquartered in Los Gatos, California...