How To Replace Cable Television With Internet TV For Free: A Real Test

Internet TV is a very hot and current matter, but the question is: is it reliable and easy enough to replace traditional cable, satellite or digital television? Or it is just a sort of amusement for geeks and pc addicted?In order to understand if internet streaming or web Tv can already replace cable Tv the only thing you can do is doing your own experience!

Therefore, I personally made my own experience.

The first thing to say is that I am not speaking about commercial services. For web Tv I mean:

• Having a boundless net use;
• Freedom in choice of any software (such as Mediaportal,  Streamerone, PPLive, or Miro/Democracy and so on), without being forced to choose any others;
• No subscriptions, apart from web line that I use for my streaming connection.

For this kind of freedom I have only one solution: connecting my pc to my cable Tv.

My tools

1. An LCD 32” Tv with VGA entry;
2. A docking system I connected my notebook to;
3. A medium level quality notebook;
4. A Bluetooth keyboard and mouse (up to 15 meters capacity);
5. An internet line supposed to be 1280 Kbps, but on contrary supporting  670 Kbps (I tested it).

So, there’s nothing particularly expensive or of hard technology.

How to create your own Home Web self branded system

Here you have all the connections I made:

1. First of all I connected my notebook and docking, and then I set the driver too. A docking system allows your laptop pc to interface to other peripheral devices as, for instance, another monitor, Tv, keyboard, etc.;
2. Then I connected the docking VGA port to Tv VGA, in order to send my pc video signal to my home Tv;
3. I connected the docking exit audio jack (usually the headphones one) to the Tv audio jack (you can either use a couple of amplified speakers suitable to your pc);
4. At last I set on my notebook the Bluetooth keyboard in order to control all the system in a really comfortable way.

At this very moment I met the first real problem: notebook display and Tv screen syncronization. Either one and the other have a series of limited resolutions: you should find the same one for both and set it either on the notebook (interfaced to the docking) and on the Tv in order to see all images and controlling your PC from Tv using a wireless keyboard.

You need to pay attention then to the notebook video mode setting: it must be set in “clone” or “mirror” mode as the image sent to the Tv must be the same one we see on our pc screen.

When I succeeded in solving this problem:

1. I started my notebook and tuned my Tv in the VGA entry port;
2. I sat down on my sofa with my wireless keyboard and mouse;
3. I started Coolstreaming mediaplayer test (but you can either use any internet Tv program).

Streaming quality: the most important test

Here we are at the core of the problem: can an ordinary user with a simple 640 Kbps ADSL succeed in watching web Tv in a real proper way, with no interruptions and good image and audio quality? I started the visualization of streamings from lower speed ones, such as 150/200 Kbps, to gradually rising speed ones.

Leaving all tricky streaming, I discovered I could have an excellent web TV quality also with 800 Kbps streaming transmissions.

I was particularly stroke by Desync quality, that during my tests was transmitting very good films, with a very surprising quality: I imagined thet if in that particular moment I had had some friends at home, I think that none would have understood he was watching a web Tv. I suggest you to do your own experience!

These are all results I had by a 700 Kbps line.

So, now, I can say that web Tv can really substitute the traditional cable one!

I can choose among thousands of online channels and then choosing which programs I can use to watch streaming Tv. You now have only an embarrassment of riches! Of course everything depends on your line speed and quality, but even with a very simple one you can substitute your traditional Tv with web one.

Here you have a short list of useful links:

Peer-to-peer Tv or web Tv softwares

• Mediacenter di Coolstreaming
• PPLive
• TVKoo
• TVAnts
• SeeTV
• Miro
• MediaPortal

An important statement

If anyone of you may think I did all this just for seeing football matches for free is doing a big mistake: as much as about this I created my personal slogan with a sort of stadium banner: SKY I won’t clone you, as I won’t subscribe to you. (Italian: “SKY, non ti clono. E non mi abbono”).

I just wanted to give my tribute to fight all that bad quality promotion carried out by web companies, trying to convince all consumers that best quality web internet products are just theirs.

Web Tv means:

• Watching all your favourite programs;
• The way you prefer;
• Whenever you want;
• No contracts;
• No subscriptions ( a part from the connection one);
• No need of any particular technological support.

All the rest is not web Tv, but we are dealing with private services for sale. Internet Tv is not for sale: that’s already yours.