P2PTV Basics
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Peer-to-peer TV or P2PTV for short, is very similar to file sharing networks such as BitTorrent and Kazaa. But instead of sharing documents and mp3 audio files, video streams are shared amongst clients (peers) in the network. The same basic concept is still at work with P2PTV networks as on other P2P networks.
Centralized servers store the files to be shared and software within the network directs peers to other nearby peers that already have the same file they want to download on their computer somewhere. Either on the hard drive, or in the case of P2PTV, already streaming through their broadband Internet connection.
The difference between a P2P like say BitTorrent is the a P2PTV is file sharing in real time.
So while a peer is downloading a video stream, which is called a “channel”, it is also uploading the same stream to other peers in the network subscribed to the same channel. It may seem counter intuitive, but the more users in the network viewing the same channel, the higher the bandwidth and in turn the video quality.
The multiple peers in the P2PTV network all viewing the same channel you then have what’s know as an “overlay” network on top of the larger network of the Internet as a whole.
For the most part the video content stored on the servers in P2PTV networks is of the “free to broadcast” variety so there are no copyright infringements to contend with. However, sometimes copyrighted material does make its way onto these servers and that’s when problems arise. Some P2PTV networks have been sued by the larger television and entertainment networks with some being forced to shut down.
It’s interesting to note the most of the popular P2PTV applications have been developed in China. As a result many of the programming is from Asia, though more and more programming is being added from outside of China. This programming includes a lot of sports programming and content from the major broadcast networks such as CBS, Fox News, and Spike TV.
The most popular P2PTV applications are Sopcast, TVUPlayer, PPLive, QQLive, and PPStream. Others are appearing all the time so this list is continually expanding. All these services require that you install software on your computer in order to view their TV content. As a result you should be very careful about installing any of these applications on your computer. You should always be aware of potential virus infections in any software you install from unknown third parties as well as any malicious activity from such applications as may be present in spyware.
The other thing to be conscious of is that many ISPs are blocking are severely limiting data transfer from any source that appears to be a file sharing network. So even though you got everything downloaded and installed on your computer successfully, you may discover that you are unable to connect to any of the servers in the P2PTV network.