IPTV'S INTERFACE CHALLENGE

Among the most important aspects of presenting IPTV is keeping the interface relatively simple.

In early testing of converged service over the TV, users have tended to respond better to information being presented in pictorial form that is easy to understand, according to Eyal Bartfeld, CEO of Integra5, the vendor behind many of the first Caller ID on TV services.

“Another observation was that the information should be presented in a way that is not overwhelming,” he said. “We first let you see who is calling. If you want more information, you click. We sort of have an unfair advantage here because the telephony and messaging applications, by nature, are of immediate interest to the consumer.”

With video applications, there isn't always that immediacy. In addition, carriers are facing the challenge of balancing the needs of a small segment who wants ultimate control over every aspect of their viewing experience against the desire of the masses to simply be entertained.

Keith Wymbs, director of product marketing for headend vendor Tut Systems, said there is a danger in giving users too much information and allowing for too much flexibility. Instead, the vendor believes most users will be willing to accept some customization responsibility when they first get the service — but not on an ongoing basis.

“I think given the amount of choice the end user is going to have, there needs to be a lot more focus on the upfront user provisioning to hide a lot of this complexity,” Wymbs said. “You have access to the world of information, but you decide upfront how you want to get into that world.”

It's that control, though, that gives IPTV an inherent advantage over traditional cable and satellite offerings. With its multicast architecture, IPTV, in theory, can offer a limitless supply of content and give users total control over what, when and where they watch.

“The things we see over the next couple of years are going to be the basics where you choose from a set of different templates and not really true customization,” Wiener said. “Ultimately, I imagine this is going to be a user-controlled interface.”