Reference
IPTV glossary: plain English.
Every term you have seen in an IPTV forum, player settings screen, or provider documentation, defined without padding.
A - E
- ABR
- Adaptive Bitrate. A streaming technique that switches video quality up or down in real-time based on available bandwidth. HLS uses ABR so that a bad connection lowers quality instead of stopping the stream.
- AVC
- Advanced Video Coding. Also called H.264. The dominant video codec for HD streaming. Supported by essentially all IPTV players and hardware decoders.(see also: H.264)
- Buffer
- A small amount of video pre-downloaded ahead of playback to absorb short network interruptions. When the buffer empties before the network refills it, you see freezing.
- Catch-up
- A feature that lets you watch content from the past 24-72 hours on supported channels. Requires the provider to have time-shift rights for each channel. Not all channels support it.
- CDN
- Content Delivery Network. A network of servers that cache and distribute content from locations close to viewers. Providers use CDNs to reduce latency and handle large viewer volumes.
- Codec
- A compression format for video or audio. H.264 (AVC) and H.265 (HEVC) are the most common video codecs in IPTV. The codec determines file size, quality, and whether hardware decoding is available.
- EPG
- Electronic Program Guide. The TV schedule data that populates the guide grid in an IPTV player. Usually delivered as an XMLTV file.
F - M
- H.264
- The most common IPTV video codec. Hardware-decoded on virtually all devices. Good quality at moderate bitrates. Standard for HD channels.(see also: AVC)
- H.265
- Also called HEVC. Roughly half the bitrate of H.264 at the same quality. Required for 4K streams. Hardware decoding is less universal than H.264; check device specs.(see also: HEVC)
- HDR10
- An open High Dynamic Range standard with static metadata. Supported by all 4K HDR devices. Used for 4K IPTV streams when HDR is available.
- HEVC
- High Efficiency Video Coding. Same as H.265. Used for 4K and sometimes HD channels where bandwidth is limited.(see also: H.265)
- HLS
- HTTP Live Streaming. An Apple-developed streaming protocol that chops video into small HTTP-downloadable segments. Widely used for IPTV and VOD. Supports adaptive bitrate.
- M3U
- A plain-text playlist file format for IPTV. Each line is a channel URL with metadata tags. Your player downloads and parses it to build the channel list.
- M3U8
- The UTF-8 encoding variant of M3U. Functionally the same for IPTV. The .m3u8 extension is also used for individual HLS stream manifests.
- MPEG-TS
- MPEG Transport Stream. A continuous binary video stream format used in satellite, cable, and some IPTV systems. Lower latency than HLS but more sensitive to packet loss.(see also: Transport Stream)
- Multicast
- A network delivery method where one stream is shared by multiple viewers on the same network. Used in telco IPTV on managed networks. Different from unicast delivery used by internet IPTV.
N - S
- Panel
- Informal term for an IPTV reseller service, often grey-market. A panel typically re-aggregates streams from other sources and sells monthly access. Not all panels have content rights.
- Playlist
- In IPTV, an M3U file or Xtream-generated list of channel URLs. Your player loads the playlist to know which streams to offer.
- PVR
- Personal Video Recorder. In IPTV, refers to a player that supports scheduled recording of live channels to local storage. TiviMate Premium supports PVR recording to USB.
- Re-buffering
- A buffering event that occurs during playback, as opposed to the initial load buffer. Usually caused by a network speed drop below the stream bitrate.
- RSN
- Regional Sports Network. A cable channel carrying sports rights for a specific local area. Many RSNs (formerly Fox Sports Regionals, now Bally Sports) are absent from vMVPDs.
- SD
- Standard Definition. Video at 480p (NTSC) or 576p (PAL). Older channels and some international feeds broadcast in SD. Displays at low quality on modern TVs without upscaling.
T - Z
- Transport Stream
- See MPEG-TS.(see also: MPEG-TS)
- tvg-id
- A metadata tag in an M3U playlist that assigns an ID to a channel for EPG matching. The player matches tvg-id values in the playlist to channel IDs in the XMLTV EPG file.
- tvg-logo
- An M3U metadata tag pointing to the channel logo image URL. Players use this to display channel logos in the guide.
- UHD
- Ultra High Definition. 3840 × 2160 pixels, commonly called 4K. Requires H.265 encoding, 25+ Mbps bandwidth, HDMI 2.0+, and a 4K-capable display.
- vMVPD
- Virtual Multichannel Video Programming Distributor. A live TV streaming service that licenses and delivers cable channels over the internet. YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and Sling are vMVPDs.
- VOD
- Video on Demand. Pre-recorded content available to watch at any time, as opposed to a live broadcast stream. Most IPTV services include a VOD library alongside live channels.
- XMLTV
- An open XML format for TV schedule data used by IPTV players as EPG. A provider's EPG URL points to an XMLTV file. The file contains program start/stop times, titles, descriptions, and channel IDs.
- Xtream Codes
- An IPTV API standard for authenticated access to channel lists and streams. A player logs in with a server URL, username, and password and receives a dynamically generated playlist. Supported by TiviMate, IPTV Smarters, and most modern IPTV players.
FAQ
What does M3U stand for?
M3U originally stood for MP3 URL. It is a plain text file format for playlists. In IPTV, an M3U file lists stream URLs with metadata tags for channel names, logos, and EPG IDs. M3U8 is the same format using UTF-8 encoding.
What is Xtream Codes?
An IPTV API standard. Instead of a static M3U file, you give the player a server URL, username, and password. The server generates the channel list on demand. Most modern IPTV players support it.
What is the difference between VOD and live TV?
Live TV is a real-time broadcast stream. VOD (Video on Demand) is a pre-recorded file you watch at any time. Most IPTV services include both in the same player interface.
What does buffering actually mean technically?
Buffering is when the player runs out of pre-downloaded video to display and has to wait for more data to arrive. The player downloads video slightly ahead of playback to absorb network variation. When that buffer runs dry, you see the spinning wheel.
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