- Provider reviewsWhich provider is best for you? Get independent advice and read customer feedback.
- AAA
Digital TV channels
- Adult TV channels
- Arsenal TV
- Aston Villa TV
- Movie TV packages
- BT Vision and Sky Sports
- Cable TV channels
- Chelsea TV
- TV channels
- Discovery Channel
- Eurosport
- Freesat channels
- Freeview channels
- Indian TV channels
- Kids TV channels
- Liverpool FC TV
- Man Utd TV
- MTV
- Music channels
- News channels
- Pay TV packages
- Satellite TV channels
- Sky1
- Sky Atlantic
- Sky Living
- Sky Movies
- Sky Sports
- Sports TV channels
- Virgin Media TV channels
- Virgin Media TV channels
- TV channels
- Sky TV channels
- Virgin Media TV channels
- BT Vision channels
- Freeview channels
- Freesat channels
- Satellite TV channels
- Cable TV channels
- Sports TV channels
- News channels
- Adult TV channels
- Music channels
- Kids TV channels
- Indian TV channels
- 3D TV channels
Switching to digital TV
- What happens during the switchover?
- Digital TV switchover dates
- What is digital TV?
- Beginners' guide to digital TV
- How do I get digital TV?
- Digital TV tips when moving house
- Freeview coverage
- Digital TV switchover dates
- What happens during the switchover?
- Digital switchover help scheme
- 3 reasons to choose Sky
3D TV
- BT Vision and Sky Sports
- Sky Anytime+
- Sky Go
- Sky HD channels
- Sky HD coverage
- Sky HD
- Sky Player guide
- Sky+HD box
- Sky TV, broadband and calls
- Sky TV channels
- 3D TVs
- 3D TV box
- 3D TV packages
- 3D TV packages
- 3D TV channels
- 3D TV box
- 3D TVs
- Sky 3D TV
- 3D TV sports channels and packages
- Virgin 3D TV
- 3D TV sports channels and packages
- What is Sky World HD?
Digital TV Guides
Internet video-on-demand
Updated: Tuesday 3 March, 2009
By becca.talbot@consumerchoices.co.uk
As the digital revolution gets under way, people are abandoning their TV schedules in favour of video-on-demand - a television service that allows you to watch what you want, when you want.
Letting users take control of their TV viewing, video-on-demand programmes can be downloaded and stored to watch at a later date, or watched online in “real time”, whilst they are being aired on TV. This guide to video-on-demand will tell you everything you need to know about watching TV online:
- What is internet video-on-demand?
- Watching internet video-on-demand
- Does video-on-demand affect my broadband connection?
- Are there other ways of getting video-on-demand?
|
|
What is internet video-on-demand?
Video-on-demand (VoD) is an interactive TV technology that allows viewers to watch what they want at a time when it suits them.
It has been around for a few years now, with both cable and satellite customers being able to pay extra to watch films, sporting events or having access to free “catch-ups” of recently aired shows, when they want to watch them, and includes functions such as pause, fast forward, fast rewind, slow forward, slow rewind, jump to next scene.
But now, with faster broadband connection speeds, VoD is also available over the internet to non-subscribers. As well as the free mini-videos on sites Joost and YouTube, many digital tv channels are now offering VoD services on the web. You can watch them by either downloading or streaming.
Music and movie downloads can also be rented as well as downloaded legally from some sites, such as Amazon.
Watching internet video-on-demand
Video-on-demand can be delivered over the internet to computers, laptops, mobile phones and other digital media devices such as mp3 players.
There are currently five official video-on-demand services available in the UK. The table below gives more details on their programming and costs:
| Channel | Online VoD service | Programmes | Cost | Other Information |
| BBC channels | BBC iPlayer | Lets users watch programmes from the past seven days online through Click to Play (streaming). Or you can download TV programmes and store them on your computer for up to 30 days if your computer supports the BBC iPlayer Download Manager. | Free | Click to Play is available on Windows, Macs, Linux, Nintendo Wii and iPhone. |
| ITV channels | ITV Player | Lets viewers watch most TV shows from ITV1, ITV2, ITV3 and ITV4 online at the same time as they air on TV, or catch up on TV shows online they’ve missed from the previous 30 days. | Free | Online TV shows cannot be downloaded and stored on a computer, but they can be “detached” from the web page and viewed using Windows Media Player. |
| Channel 4 | 4oD | Gives users access to both paid for movies and programmes, as well as free catch-ups from the previous seven days of Channel 4 programming. | 1,000s of new and old programmes available free, other programmes to rent from 99p and films from £1.99. | To use 4oD you must live in the UK or Ireland, have Windows XP or Windows Vista, Internet Explorer 5.5 or over, and Windows Media Player 10 or over. |
| Channel 5 | Demand 5 | Demand 5 includes a mixture of free programmes, and programmes you must pay for. | Most programmes on Demand 5 are available for free. Some programmes are paid for and these are priced at £0.99 if they have been already broadcast on one of 5's TV channels or £1.99 if they are available on Demand 5 before broadcast on TV. | Once you’ve paid to rent a show you need to download it within 14 days or you’ll lose it. When it’s downloaded onto your player you’ve got 48 hours to watch it as many times as you like. |
| Sky | Sky Anytime/Anytime+ | Watch up to 200 hours of TV from Sky on demand at a time that suits you each month. Sky Anytime+ gives customers with Sky Broadband Unlimited a bigger selection to choose from because it is delivered via broadband. The channels you can choose from will depend on what package you have with Sky. | Sky Anytime costs nothing for Sky TV customers with a Sky+HD box. Anytime+ is the same, but you must also be a Sky Broadband Unlimited subscriber. If you’re tempted to sign-up, you can choose between two channel packages - the Sky Entertainment, a selection of entertainment, style and culture channels which costs £20 a month, while the Sky Extra - containing everything from entertainment, children’s channels and knowledge to style and culture, music, and news - costs £25 a month. | Sky Anytime shows up to 40 hours of programming a week, but it is only available to watch for a certain amount of time. Sky Anytime+ allows users to downloads as many programmes from the Sky Anytime+ library as they like. |
Does video-on-demand affect my broadband connection?
There are three major constraints of using video-on-demand over the internet:
- Connection speeds
- Bandwidth
- Download limits
Many broadband users in the UK who want to make use of the new digital TV developments on the internet, such as video streaming and legal movie downloads, are finding that either their connection speeds are too slow or their bandwidth is being throttled for heavy downloads.
“Unlimited” broadband packages are good for people who regularly watch VoD, however these are usually still subject to a fair usage policy. Using a Broadband Download Monitor will help you keep tabs on how much of your monthly allowance you are using.
While only a small minority actually exceed their limits, as our broadband habits change and legal downloads and video streaming become the norm, unfortunately our download allowances will become increasingly strained.
Are there other ways of getting video-on-demand?
You can also access video on demand programmes via your digital TV provider, so check out the menu on your TV to see if it’s available to you. Some digital TV VoD is free to watch, but you can also download movies, and the cost will simply be added to your next bill.
|
|
Copyright © 2006-2012 Digitalchoices.co.uk. All rights reserved. (v5.72)