IPTV glossary
The terms behind the technology, explained.
What Is 2160p?
2160p means: Ultra HD video with a 3840 by 2160 pixel frame, commonly marketed as 4K.
What Is 4K Ultra HD?
4K Ultra HD means: A consumer display and video category generally based on 3840 by 2160 pixels.
What Is 8K Ultra HD?
8K Ultra HD means: A high-resolution display format generally based on 7680 by 4320 pixels, requiring suitable source material and hardware.
What Is AAC Audio?
AAC Audio means: A widely used lossy audio codec supported by most streaming devices.
What Is AC-3 Dolby Digital?
AC-3 Dolby Digital means: A multichannel audio codec commonly used in television and home cinema systems.
What Is Adaptive Bitrate Streaming?
Adaptive Bitrate Streaming means: A delivery method that changes video quality as available bandwidth rises or falls to keep playback running.
What Is AirPlay?
AirPlay means: Apple's local-network technology for sending audio or video from an iPhone, iPad or Mac to a compatible display.
What Is Android TV?
Android TV means: Google's television operating system designed for remote-controlled apps and large-screen playback.
What Is Aspect Ratio?
Aspect Ratio means: The proportional relationship between picture width and height, commonly 16:9 for modern television.
What Is Audio Description?
Audio Description means: An accessibility track that describes important visual action between dialogue.
What Is Audio Passthrough?
Audio Passthrough means: Sending encoded audio to a television, receiver or soundbar for decoding.
What Is AV1 Video?
AV1 Video means: A modern royalty-free video codec designed for efficient internet delivery on supported hardware.
What Is Bitrate?
Bitrate means: The amount of data used by a stream each second, usually measured in megabits per second for video.
What Is Buffering?
Buffering means: A playback pause that occurs when the player cannot obtain or decode media quickly enough.
What Is Catch-Up TV?
Catch-Up TV means: A provider-side archive that allows eligible live programs to be played after their original broadcast time.
What Is Channel Bouquet?
Channel Bouquet means: An organized group of channels, often arranged by country, language, topic or subscription tier.
What Is Channel ID?
Channel ID means: A unique value used to match a playlist channel with schedule data or a provider record.
What Is Chromecast?
Chromecast means: Google's casting technology for sending or controlling media on a compatible television or streaming device.
What Is Codec?
Codec means: Software or hardware that compresses and decompresses video or audio, such as H.264, H.265 or AAC.
What Is Connection Limit?
Connection Limit means: The number of streams or devices a service permits to play at the same time.
What Is Consumer Electronics Control?
Consumer Electronics Control means: The control portion of HDMI that allows compatible devices to exchange remote-control commands.
What Is Container Format?
Container Format means: A file or stream wrapper such as MPEG-TS or MP4 that carries video, audio and metadata.
What Is Content Delivery Network?
Content Delivery Network means: A distributed group of servers used to deliver media from locations closer to viewers.
What Is Deinterlacing?
Deinterlacing means: The process of converting interlaced television fields into progressive frames for modern displays.
What Is Digital Rights Management?
Digital Rights Management means: Technology used by rights holders and services to control access to protected media.
What Is Digital Video Recorder?
Digital Video Recorder means: A feature or device that saves live programming for later playback when rights and service support allow it.
What Is Domain Name System?
Domain Name System means: The system that translates human-readable server names into network addresses.
What Is Dynamic Range?
Dynamic Range means: The span between the darkest and brightest parts of an image or the quietest and loudest parts of audio.
What Is Electronic Program Guide?
Electronic Program Guide means: A schedule interface showing current and upcoming programs for mapped channels.