1   What is IP, and Why Use it for Video?

Nothing is really real unless it happens on television.

—Daniel J. Boorstin (American social historian and educator)

Before we try to answer this question, it's appropriate to consider what may be obvious – that video transport over Internet Protocol (IP) networks is not only here today, but is poised to become a dominant form of video service delivery for the next 20 years. As it unfolds, new media communications services that only the imagination can anticipate will arise along with it. We are at the dawn of an era that some hail as possibly the most fascinating phase in broadcasting history.

We will discuss the reasons more in this chapter, and the spread of IP will form a subtext throughout the rest ...

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