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Information about Video On Demand

Video on demand (VOD) systems allow users to select and watch video and clip content over a network as part of an interactive television system. VOD systems either "stream" content, allowing viewing in real time, or "download" it in which the program is brought in its entirety to a set-top box before viewing starts. The latter is more appropriately termed "store and forward". The majority of cable and telco based VOD systems use the streaming approach, whereby a user buys or selects a movie or television program and it begins to play on the television set almost instantaneously.

Often, nowadays, the term encompasses a broader spectrum of delivery devices, referring not only to set-top-boxes but also computers, mobile phones and indeed any system that can receive on-demand audio-visual content over a network.

Functionality

Download and streaming video on demand systems provide the user with a large subset of VCR functionality including pause, fast forward, fast rewind, slow forward, slow rewind, jump to previous/future frame etc. These functions are usually referred to as "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 VHO or "Video Head-End Office".

History

The first commercial VOD service was launched in Hong Kong around 1990. The technology was not mature, Video CDs were much cheaper, and pay TV was not common in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Telecom lost a large amount of money and the service was acquired by Pacific Century Cyberworks in 2000, who subsequently discontinued it.

VOD services were first offered in Hawaii by Oceanic Cable, January 2000, but are now available in all parts of the United States. 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; however, EchoStar recently announced a plan to offer video on demand programming to PVR-owning subscribers of its DISH Network satellite TV service. After the programs are automatically recorded on 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.

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. Cable TV providers Telewest and NTL (now Virgin Media) launched their VOD services in the United Kingdom in 2005 in attempt to snatch subscribers from the country's leading pay TV distributor BSkyB whose satellite-based network is unable to offer such a service. BSkyB responded by launching Sky by broadband, which was later renamed Sky Anytime on PC. The service went live on 2 January 2006. The 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 has been in the trial stage since 2005, and Channel 4's 4OD (4 On Demand) which launched in late 2006.

According to the European Audiovisual Observatory, 142 paying VoD services were operational in Europe at the end of 2006.

Usage

VOD services are available in many other parts of the world as well. The ANYTIME service provides VOD to cable providers in Taiwan and to TransACT Communications in Australia. TransACT also operates its own VOD services including sports and adult content. Two different VOD companies on opposite sides of the globe use the same name, ReelTime. In the U.S.A. ReelTime.com operates a streaming VOD service, using P2P technology, available worldwide. The Reeltime.tv service in Australia provides both VOD (Download to Rent) and Download to Own (burn to own DVD, PC and Portable device) services nationally throughout Australia, and offers full feature length Hollywood and independent movies and TV episodes.

It is possible to implement VOD using methods such as bandwidth skimming, which can deliver O(log n) scaling as the number of users increase.

Recently, VOD has been utilized in advertising, as Comcast Spotlight has begun offering on-demand commercials. These are up to 10 minute features on a particular business or event, available to consumers whenever they are looking for more information instead of the business or event trying to generalize information for the entire viewing public[1].

Five major vendors supply server systems for cable and telco VOD, including Motorola On-Demand Solutions (formerly Broadbus Technologies, Inc.), TANDBERG Television (Part of the Ericsson Group), SeaChange International, Concurrent Computer Corporation and C-COR. Collectively, these vendors represent more than 80% of the world-wide cable and telco server deplyoments.

Near video on demand

Near video on demand (NVOD) is a pay-per-view 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.

Push video on demand

Push video on demand is a technique used by a number of broadcaster on systems that lack the interactivity to provide true video on demand, to simulate a true video on demand system. A push video-on-demand system features a Personal Video Recorder that automatically records a selection of programming, often transmitted in spare capacity over-night, for the user. The user can then watch the downloaded programming at a time of their choosing. As content occupies space on the PVR hard-drive, downloaded content is usually deleted after a week to make way for new programmes. The limited space on a typical PVR hard-drive means that the flexibility and selection of programmes available on such systems is much more restricted than true video on demand systems.

Examples of push Video on demand services include the UK based Top Up TV Anytime and the forthcoming Sky Anytime TV service for BSkyB's digital satellite service Sky Digital. Foxtel have successfully launched a Push video on demand service, however it is only available on its iQ PDR.

List of notable video on demand providers

See also

Further reading

Notes

1. ^ "Interactive - VOD" Comcast Spotlight website, retrieved October 05, 2006
Video (Latin for "I see", first person singular present, indicative of videre, "to see") is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.
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Video clips are short clips of video, usually part of a longer piece.

Video clips in digital format are often found on the internet where the massive influx of new video clips during 2006 was hailed as a new phenomenon having a profound impact on both the internet and other
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Interactive television describes a number of techniques which allow viewers to interact with television content as they view it. It is sometime called interactive TV, iTV, idTV or ITV (not to be confused with the British Independent Television network).
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This article relies largely or entirely upon a .
Please help [ improve this article] by introducing appropriate of additional sources. ()
This article has been tagged since October 2007.
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Uploading and downloading are related terms used to describe the transfer of electronic data between two computers or similar systems. More colloquially, they are sometimes applied to transfers to/from removable media such as CDs.
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A set-top box (STB) or set-top unit (STU) is a device that connects to a television and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen.
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Store and forward is a telecommunications technique in which information is sent to an intermediate station where it is kept and sent at a later time to the final destination or to another intermediate station.
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cable television into the house.]]

Cable television is a system of providing cocoy television to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through fixed optical fibers or coaxial cables as opposed to the over-the-air method used in traditional
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A telephone company (or telco) provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications. Most of the largest telcos are or were at one time nationalized or state-regulated monopolies. These monopolies are often referred to, primarily in Europe, as PTTs.
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Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects.
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worldwide view.


A television program (US), television programme (UK) or simply television show is a segment of programming in television broadcasting.
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videocassette recorder (or VCR, more commonly known in the UK and Ireland as the video recorder), is a type of video tape recorder that uses removable videotape cassettes containing magnetic tape to record audio and video from a television broadcast so it can be
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Pause may refer to a rest, hesitation, or temporary stop.

Pause may also refer to:
  • Rest (music) or fermata; also specifically the whole rest in French usage
  • The temporary stopping of playback of recorded media
  • The break key on computer keyboards

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To fast-forward means to move forward through an audio or video recording at a speed faster than that at which it would usually flow.

To reach a certain portion of a song, a person may fast-forward through a cassette tape by pressing a button (often labeled "Fast Forward"
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Rewind may refer to:
  • Rewind, or reverse the direction of a roll of magnetic tape or various kinds of film
In music:
  • Rewind (1971–1984), a 1984 compilation album by the Rolling Stones

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Hard disk drive

An IBM hard disk drive with the metal cover removed. The platters are highly reflective.
Date Invented: September 13 1956
Invented By: An IBM team led by Reynold Johnson
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Ram, ram, or RAM as a non-acronymic word

As a non-acronymic word Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:

Animals

  • Sheep, an uncastrated male of which is called a ram
  • Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela

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central processing unit (CPU), or sometimes simply processor, is the component in a digital computer capable of executing a program.(Knott 1974) It interprets computer program instructions and processes data.
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local area network (LAN) is a computer network covering a small geographic area, like a home, office, or group of buildings. The defining characteristics of LANs, in contrast to Wide Area Networks (WANs), include their much higher data transfer rates, smaller geographic range, and
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Wide Area Network (WAN) is a computer network that covers a broad area (i.e., any network whose communications links cross metropolitan, regional, or national boundaries [1]).
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cable modem is a type of modem that provides access to a data signal sent over the cable television infrastructure. Cable modems are primarily used to deliver broadband Internet access, taking advantage of unused bandwidth on a cable television network.
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DSL or xDSL, is a family of technologies that provide digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop, although in recent years, many have adopted digital subscriber line
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Anthem
March of the Volunteers[1]



Capital None[2]
Largest district (population) Sha Tin District
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20th century - 21st century
1960s  1970s  1980s  - 1990s -  2000s  2010s  2020s
1987 1988 1989 - 1990 - 1991 1992 1993

Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar).
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Compact Disc Digital Video (VCD)

A standard pressed compact disc
Media type: optical disc
Encoding: MPEG-1 video + audio
Capacity: up to 800 MiB
Read mechanism: 780 nm wavelength semiconductor laser
Developed by: Sony & Philips
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PCCW Ltd.

Public (Pink Sheets: PCCWY , HKSE: 0008 )
Founded 1994
Headquarters Hong Kong

Key people Richard Li, Chairman
Industry Telecommunications
Products Cable, Internet, Telephony, Mobile Telephony
Employees 14,108 (2006)
Website www.
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PCCW Ltd.

Public (Pink Sheets: PCCWY , HKSE: 0008 )
Founded 1994
Headquarters Hong Kong

Key people Richard Li, Chairman
Industry Telecommunications
Products Cable, Internet, Telephony, Mobile Telephony
Employees 14,108 (2006)
Website www.
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20th century - 21st century
1970s  1980s  1990s  - 2000s -  2010s  2020s  2030s
1997 1998 1999 - 2000 - 2001 2002 2003

2000 by topic:
News by month
Jan - Feb - Mar - Apr - May - Jun
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State of Hawaii
Mokuʻāina o Hawaiʻi

Flag of Hawaii Seal of Hawaii
Nickname(s): The Aloha State

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Motto
"In God We Trust"   (since 1956)
"E Pluribus Unum"   ("From Many, One"; Latin, traditional)
Anthem
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