Anyone who has a modern TV capture card in their computer will probably be aware – (depending on software) – that whatever your card is capturing, can be streamed onto the network.
Some do it well, some not so well.
In the midst of the project I’m working on at the moment, here is the “gold version” of how to stream TV over an IP network:
There’s a range of different encoder cards in this chassis. There are cards to turn terrestrial free-to-air channels into IPTV streams, cards to turn Foxtel channels into IPTV streams, and cards to turn analogue inputs into IPTV streams.
In the end, each stream can be access as required, such as shown below, clockwise in order – FOX8, Sky News Australia, Discovery World HD, and Fox Sports 3.
Tiny little set-top boxes are configured to access the streams, and be attached to televisions anywhere on the network via HDMI connectors.
Seriously cool, but not cheap.
But I still want one.