As UK digital switch-over proceeds and the last days of analogue TV hasten to a close
many people are wondering which way to turn when it comes to replacing the analogue TV and video distribution systems in their buildings.
It very soon becomes apparent that simply plugging Freeview receivers into each point where Television is wanted doesn't provide a very satisfactory solution. In many cases the TV distribution system is simply not good enough to deliver Freeview DVB signals throughout the building. And besides, there is the added complication of distributing other signals, such as satellite channels and camera feeds across the same infrastructure.
Perhaps the answer lies with Internet TV? There are those rumours of countless free channels out there on the Web, just waiting to be pulled in. The truth of this is rather less rosy though. TV over the Internet has possible strengths, but real weaknesses. The potential immediacy of live news and unlimited content direct from the Internet is very attractive. But in reality, Internet TV is dogged by the irritation of sluggish connection speeds and small, poor quality images.
The good news is that there is a new and much better alternative to all of this: IPTV Streaming on your local area network. Business IPTV systems take Freeview DVB and Satellite channel content received at broadcast quality and IP wrap it to provide live IPTV channel streams on a local area network (LAN).
This approach can be extended if required, to offer video on demand (VOD) channels from client owned servers and Point-to-Point links allowing live video feeds to be streamed across inexpensive IP links.