Internet telly is ace
Not so long ago, I was a committed sceptic. Delivering video via unicast IP felt as efficient as trying to water a garden with a teaspoon. The technical challenges were formidable: TCP's delivery guarantees, the bandwidth requirements for high-definition content, and the huge infrastructure needed to handle mass viewership of live events seemed insurmountable.
But here's where I was wrong: the internet isn't solving broadcast. It is reinventing content distribution.
Consider the numbers. Traditional broadcast requires a monolithic and centralised infrastructure—massive transmitters, mass programming and such. My recent personal viewing habits tell a different story. I've been syndicating shows from platforms like Revision3, downloading content that seamlessly migrates from laptop to iPhone to hotel room television. One moment, I'm watching Diggnation on a flight; the next, I'm plugging my phone into a hotel TV, transforming a generic screen into a personal content hub.
The technical magic lies not in perfect replication of broadcast, but in radical flexibility. Where traditional TV saw constraints, internet video has possibilities.
Take bandwidth—the perennial bugbear of IP video. A high-definition stream requires approximately 5-7 Mbps for consistent quality. Traditional broadcast laughs at such limitations, but internet infrastructure is learning, adapting. Content delivery networks (CDNs) now use sophisticated caching, edge computing, and adaptive bitrate streaming to transform what was once a technical impossibility into a seamless experience.
The real innovation? Protocols like HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) and Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH) that can dynamically adjust video quality based on available bandwidth. Your connection drops from fibre to 4G? The stream adjusts without interruption, a technological trick that was like witchcraft a decade ago.
But bandwidth is just one piece of the puzzle. The true disruption is in distribution economics. Previously, global content distribution required negotiating with dozens of regional broadcasters, navigating a labyrinth of licensing agreements. Now? A creator with a camera and an internet connection can reach a worldwide audience.
My prediction for the near future is a hybrid model. Niche content will be downloaded on-demand, while mainstream programming will be cached via more traditional broadcast mechanisms. We're already seeing devices that blur these lines—smart TVs that can switch between broadcast and internet streams as effortlessly as changing channels.
This isn't just a technological shift. It's a cultural revolution.
Bring on the bandwidth.