The IPTV/VOD Landscape

Amazon Video On Demand
Amazon VOD (formerly Amazon Unbox) enables streaming to the browser on a Mac or PC and progressive download for playback on a TV through a variety of devices including TiVo Series 2, Series 3, and HD DVRs (DIRECTV excluded); Sony BRAVIA TVs equipped with the Internet Video Link add-on ($300); Windows Media Center PCs; and the Xbox 360. Amazon offers 40,000 titles, all in SD so far. TV and movies are available for purchase, but only movies are available for rental.

Figure 9. Amazon VOD gives users 40,000 titles, all in SD, to choose from. TV and movies can be purchased, but only movies can be rented.

Watch Now content streamed through the browser is encoded in Flash at 450Kbps to 1.2Mbps, with the highest bitrates displayed at 480p. Alternatively, videos can be downloaded on a Windows PC through the Unbox Video Player. Downloaded videos contain smaller portable files that can be transferred for playback on a portable video device. Content downloaded to TiVo and other non-PC devices for playback to the TV are encoded at higher bitrates, in the 2Mbps–3Mbps range. The Amazon VOD website offers clear instructions on how to use the service with the various compatible devices.

Further On Up the Road
The road to ubiquitous IPTV/VOD is littered with products and services that misread or were ahead of the times (see MovieBeam, Akimbo, etc.). But 2009 is the year of digital television’s ascendance, and new startups continue to enter the space with innovative business models in hopes of capturing a slice of the still-baking, multibillion dollar IPTV/VOD pie.

The worldwide broadband buildup continues apace, bit-by-bit, flattening the last technical barriers to HD-quality IPTV/VOD. Given the new options that are just now becoming available, it will be interesting to see how consumers prefer to receive video content and how much they are willing to pay for it.