IPTV & Broadcasting Glossary
Comprehensive terminology guide for broadcast and streaming professionals
A
ABR (Adaptive Bitrate Streaming)
ABR is a streaming technique that dynamically adjusts video quality based on the viewer's network conditions and device capabilities.
AV1 (AOMedia Video 1)
AV1 is an open, royalty-free video codec developed by the Alliance for Open Media, offering approximately 30% better compression than H.265/HEVC.
C
CAS (Conditional Access System)
CAS is a technology that controls access to pay-TV content by encrypting broadcasts and providing authorized subscribers with decryption capabilities.
CDN (Content Delivery Network)
A CDN is a geographically distributed network of servers that delivers content to users from the nearest server location, reducing latency and improving performance.
CMAF (Common Media Application Format)
CMAF is a standard that unifies HLS and MPEG-DASH segment formats, allowing a single set of encoded segments to serve both protocols.
Codec (Coder-Decoder)
A codec is a software or hardware component that compresses (encodes) and decompresses (decodes) digital video and audio data.
D
DRM (Digital Rights Management)
DRM is a set of technologies that control access to copyrighted digital content, preventing unauthorized copying and distribution.
DVB-S2 (Digital Video Broadcasting - Satellite - Second Generation)
DVB-S2 is the broadcast standard for satellite television transmission, offering improved modulation and error correction over the original DVB-S standard.
DVB-T2 (Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial 2)
DVB-T2 is the second-generation standard for terrestrial digital television broadcasting, offering improved capacity and robustness.
F
FEC (Forward Error Correction)
FEC is a technique that adds redundant data to transmitted signals, allowing receivers to detect and correct errors without retransmission.
FTA (Free-to-Air)
FTA refers to television and radio broadcasts that are transmitted unencrypted, allowing anyone with appropriate receiving equipment to watch without a subscription.
H
H.264 / AVC (Advanced Video Coding)
H.264 is a widely adopted video compression standard that provides good video quality at relatively low bitrates.
H.265 / HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding)
H.265 is a video compression standard that achieves approximately 50% better compression than H.264 at equivalent quality.
Headend
A headend is the central facility in a television distribution system where signals are received, processed, and prepared for delivery to subscribers.
HLS (HTTP Live Streaming)
HLS is Apple's adaptive streaming protocol that delivers video content as small HTTP-downloadable files organized by playlists.
I
IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol)
IGMP is a network protocol used to manage multicast group memberships on IPv4 networks.
IPTV (Internet Protocol Television)
IPTV is a system for delivering television content over Internet Protocol networks, as opposed to traditional terrestrial, satellite, or cable formats.
L
Latency
Latency is the time delay between when a video frame is captured at the source and when it is displayed on the viewer's screen.
LNB (Low-Noise Block Downconverter)
An LNB is a device mounted at the focal point of a satellite dish that receives, amplifies, and downconverts satellite signals for processing.
M
Middleware (IPTV Middleware)
IPTV middleware is the software platform that manages the subscriber experience, including channel navigation, EPG, VOD, and interactive features.
MPEG-DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP)
MPEG-DASH is an international standard for adaptive streaming over HTTP, using XML manifests to describe available stream qualities.
MPEG-TS (MPEG Transport Stream)
MPEG-TS is a container format for transmitting audio, video, and data, designed for environments where errors and data loss may occur.
Multicast (IP Multicast)
Multicast is a network communication method where data is sent simultaneously to a group of interested receivers, rather than individually to each.
Muxing (Multiplexing)
Muxing is the process of combining multiple audio, video, and data streams into a single transport stream for efficient transmission.
Q
QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation)
QAM is a modulation technique that combines amplitude and phase modulation to transmit data over cable and wireless systems.
QoE (Quality of Experience)
QoE is the overall measure of a user's satisfaction with a service, encompassing video quality, buffering, latency, and interface responsiveness.
QoS (Quality of Service)
QoS refers to network-level mechanisms that prioritize and guarantee bandwidth, latency, and packet delivery for specific traffic types.
R
RTMP (Real-Time Messaging Protocol)
RTMP is a protocol originally developed by Macromedia for streaming audio, video, and data between a server and Flash player.
RTSP (Real-Time Streaming Protocol)
RTSP is a network protocol designed for controlling streaming media servers, allowing pause, play, and seek operations.
S
T
Transcoding
Transcoding is the process of converting a video file or stream from one codec, resolution, or bitrate to another.
Transmuxing (Transcapsulation)
Transmuxing is the process of changing the container format of a stream without re-encoding the actual audio/video content.
Transport Stream (TS)
A Transport Stream is a standard container format (MPEG-TS) designed for broadcasting that supports multiplexing of audio, video, and data.
U
UDP (User Datagram Protocol)
UDP is a connectionless transport protocol that sends data without establishing a connection, offering lower latency than TCP at the cost of reliability.
Unicast
Unicast is a one-to-one communication method where data is sent from one sender to one specific receiver.
Uplink
An uplink is the transmission of signals from a ground station to a satellite for broadcasting.