Our end user Video and IPTV Spokes are supplied by Telchemy.

IPTV provides an exciting new opportunity for service providers to deliver video content over VDSL- and PON-based access networks, or more generally over IP networks. This presents significant challenges, as IP-based video services are even more sensitive to network impairments than Voice over IP.

IPTV is still in its infancy, and service providers must strive to provide the highest quality of service possible in order to compete with cable and satellite providers and prevent new customer "churn." At the same time, they need to control costs, which means keeping the number of truck rolls and support calls to a minimum. To satisfy both needs, providers need an effective, scalable, and convenient way to monitor the performance of video services on the customer premises and to perform remote testing and diagnosis of problems when they occur.

IPTV offers exciting new opportunities for service providers to introduce integrated voice, video, and data services over broadband. A number of video service types can be delivered over IP: 

• Video on Demand (VOD) is a service that provides access to movies or other video content on demand. This could be part of an IPTV service or could be a service offered independently over the Internet.

• "IPTV" is generally used to refer to a closed Video over IP service with a broad range of content delivered by a service provider. Some definitions of IPTV would suggest that the broadband connection to the home would also be part of this service; however, within the context of this Application Note we regard the two as independent.

• "Internet TV" is generally a more open, Web-like service in which "stations" can broadcast on the Internet. This potentially allows anyone to generate video content and make it publicly available.

In some cases, IPTV services are not seen as directly competing with existing cable or satellite service but may provide some specialization; for example, a VOD service or a service with content in some particular language.

Virtus IT's embedded performance analysis technology and turnkey software applications provide IPTV and Triple/Quad Play service providers with a comprehensive solution for performance monitoring, testing, and troubleshooting of subscribers.

Our VQmon/HD performance analysis technology is designed for integration into IP set-top boxes, ONUs, and residential gateways, non-intrusively monitoring video stream quality and providing QoE /QoS feedback to service providers. VQmon/HD measures service quality in terms of both Video Transmission Quality (VSTQ) and VQS/MOS scores.

Video service quality reports are automatically sent back to a central collection and mediator server (SQmediator) using either RTCP XR or SIP, giving service providers real-time feedback on service quality and detailed troubleshooting information for individual video sessions.