Glossary

Download

Its primary usage is as a verb: to download is to receive data from a remote system, such as a webserver, FTP server, or other similar systems. A download is any file that is offered for downloading or that has been downloaded.

Increasingly, websites that offer streaming media or media displayed in-browser, such as YouTube, and which place restrictions on the ability of users to save these materials to their computers after they have been received, say that downloading is not permitted. That is, "download" is used to mean "receive and save" instead of simply "receive".

Piracy

Piracy refers to the illegal copying, distribution and, sometimes, selling of multimedia content.

Streaming media

Refers to multimedia that is continuously received by, and normally displayed to, the end-user while it is being delivered by the provider. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather than to the medium itself.

Video on Demand (VOD)

Video on demand systems allow users to select and watch video and clip content over a network as part of an interactive television system (set top box). Often, nowadays, the term encompasses a broader spectrum of delivery devices, referring not only to set-top-boxes but also computers, mobile phones and indeed any system that can receive audio-visual content over a network.

Peer-to-peer TV (P2PTV)

The term P2PTV refers to peer-to-peer software applications designed to redistribute video streams or files on a p2p network, typically TV stations across the world. On a P2P network, if a computer requests a file, instead of slowly copying it from a single server to a computer, it copies pieces of it from a thousand computers which speeds up the process exponentially. The more users on the network the faster a video file downloads.

Internet Protocol Television (IPTV)

IPTV is a system where a digital television service is delivered by using Internet Protocol over a network infrastructure, which may include delivery by a broadband connection. A general definition of IPTV is television content that, instead of being delivered through traditional broadcast and cable formats, is received by the viewer through the technologies used for computer networks.

For residential users, IPTV is often provided in conjunction with Video on Demand and may be bundled with Internet services such as Web access and VoIP. The commercial bundling of IPTV, VoIP and Internet access is referred to as "Triple Play" service (adding mobile voice service is called "Quadruple Play"). IPTV is typically supplied by a service provider using a closed network infrastructure. This closed network approach is in competition with the delivery of TV content over the public Internet, called Internet Television. In businesses, IPTV may be used to deliver television content over corporate LANs.

Internet Protocol Revenues

There are four basic business models for internet distribution of video content. These four ways to receive revenues are:

Download to own

Download to rent

Subscriptions

Advertising-based

Acronyms

API        application programming interface

ASP        application service provider

CDN        content delivery network

CPA        cost per action: for assessing revenue from online advertising

CPC        cost per click: for assessing revenue from online advertising

CPM        cost per thousand: for assessing revenue from online advertising

CRM(S)    customer relations management (system)

CRT        cathode ray tube: old style monitor/TV

DEBSdigital events for big screens

DRM        digital rights management

DTO        download to own: same as EST

DTR        download to rent

EPK        electronic press kit

EST        electronic sell through: same as DTO

FPS        frames per second: speed at which a camera films (e.g. 24/25/30 fps)

FTP        file transfer protocol

HTML        hypertext markup language

HTTPhypertext transfer protocol

ISP        internet service provider

JPEGjoint photographic experts groupGraphic file compression type

LCD        liquid crystal display

MPEG      motion picture experts group: Video file compression type

MPS        media publishing system: term invented by The Platform

SDK        software development kit

T1        trunk line - broadband connection1.5 mbps

T2        trunk line - broadband connection6.3 kbps

T3        trunk line - broadband connection44.7 kbps

T4        trunk line - broadband connection274.7 kpbs

VOD        video on demand

XML        extensible markup language