IPTV is taking revolutionizing the way television is brought to us, what it has to offer, and how much do we have to pay for it. The era of cable and satellite is coming to an end for various reasons and IPTV is the future. Many of us lead fast-paced lifestyles and are no longer available to sit down and watch TV whenever we want to, so there have been some changes that can make up for that. Today we’re going to talk about IPTV, the newest and most complete form of television to date, and what are the benefits or drawbacks of it, if you decide to switch to it anytime soon. Without further ado, let’s get into it.
Pros
First up, we’re going to talk about the positives. Because, to be frank, there are many more benefits to this format than there are drawbacks. Also, it’s always better to hear the good news first, to set the mood.
1. Easy set-up
Most of the time, when we purchase something, especially if it’s some kind of tech, there needs to be a guidebook or a manual, to help us set it up or get familiar with the product to use it properly. Well, earlier when you wanted to have a lot of channels, you had to switch from an antenna which was either on your TV or up on the roof, to a satellite dish, which you couldn’t just place anywhere you wanted, you had to have a crew come up to your place and mount it to the side of your house or someplace similar. You couldn’t possibly to that yourself. Well, that’s not the case with IPTV. Because IPTV relies on an internet connection, sometimes all you need to do is visit a website, purchase a monthly or an annual plan and you’re good to go. Honestly, it’s just a couple of clicks and some typing, that’s it, you have access to hundreds or even thousands of channels. If you’re having an older TV, you’ll need an additional piece of hardware called a set-top box, which will allow for the program to be broadcast on your TV. Setting up a set-top box is equally as easy. All you need to do is to connect it with the internet via LAN cable, plug it into a power source and TV, and voila, you’re all set.
2. It is inexpensive
Well, this is always a bonus. What makes this cost-efficient is that it sometimes takes a couple of different bills and rolls it up into one. Some companies offer a whole experience under a single payment plan. An internet provider with partner-up with IPTV company and offer you an internet plan, TV plan, and even a mobile plan into a single service and charge you significantly less than if you would to pay for all of those things separately. There are deals to be found everywhere when looking for an IPTV service. Take VooIPTV for example, they’re available worldwide. You can use their services for the same price, with the same quality and convenience all over the world. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the USA or Central Europe. What’s best about it is that it’s less than $100 for a whole year of service.
3. You can watch it anytime and anywhere
Considering that IPTV is reliable only on the internet connection, you can watch it wherever you want. It’s available on different platforms and devices. You could just as easily watch from your phone or a tablet while on the train traveling to work, as you could from a sofa in your living room. Another great thing is since there’s WiFi basically anywhere, you don’t even need to use your own data when out of the house, you could just use public internet.
4. You can re-watch, rewind and record program
Like we’ve mentioned, all of our work a lot and we can’t always arrive on time for our favorite show or game and that’s where IPTV comes to the rescue. Let’s say your favorite show airs at 10 pm, but you couldn’t possibly make it until 10:30. You’re not going to watch half the episode and wonder what happened previously or wait for tomorrow’s re-run and risk someone spoiling it for you. No, you’ll just sit, rewind to a start and watch it from the beginning. This is possible because IPTV does not stream directly to the user. The entire program is previously stored in a server and then sent to an individual user. That allows you to access it after it’s been broadcasted and watch it again. And if you really liked something and you want it saved, you could do that, too.
5. It offers video on demand
This has been very popular lately with a lot of streaming services emerging in the last few years. Some people nowadays just want to watch a couple of shows and movies from time to time and they don’t care for the rest of the TV program. Well, IPTV combines that with regular television. Many of them offer a long list of titles, from movies and TV shows to documentaries, that you can access at any given time and just watch. Depending on what you like to do, the other comes as an added bonus.
6. It offers better quality video
In this day and age, everything is shot in Full HD or higher and many providers just cannot deliver that image quality. What’s the point of having a 4K TV if your provider caps out at 720p? You won’t encounter that problem with IPTV. If the channel is broadcasting a program in FullHD or you’re streaming a TV show in 4K, you will receive it the way it is.
Cons
Well, to be fair, there is only one actual ‘problem’ you might encounter with IPTV. Since it’s dependent on it, you will need a high-speed, stable connection to experience it properly. If your connection is slow, you will not be able to watch HD videos since they require a faster connection, because you’re accessing a bigger file than you would with an SD video, and unless you want buffering and constant interruptions, you’ll need some speed. And of course, if you end up without the internet, you’ll end up with no TV as well.
Other than that, the only thing you need to worry about is how much popcorn do you need while binge-watching your favorite sit-com on your new IPTV subscription.
That would be all as far as pros and cons go. It’s a clear cut win for the pros section, but that’s just because this is an amazing product with no actual drawback other than its dependency on the internet, but that’s like saying your TV is dependent on electricity, there’s just no way around it for now.