IPTV glossary

Subscriptions and logins

IPTV

Internet Protocol Television: television delivered over an internet connection. What is IPTV?

Provider

The service that sells access to channels, films and series. Aina is not a provider; it plays what a provider sends.

Player

The app that plays a provider’s streams, with the guide, on your device. Aina is a player.

Xtream Codes

Panel software many providers use to run their lines. You sign in with a server URL, a username and a password. How to sign in.

Panel

The provider’s server software, which holds the lines, the channel lists and the guide.

Server URL

The address of a provider’s panel, with its port, such as http://example.com:8080. Also called the portal, host or DNS.

Line

One subscription: a login, with its expiry date and the number of connections it allows.

Connections

How many streams a line can play at once. On a one-connection line, starting a channel on a second device stops the first.

MAC portal (Stalker)

An older way of signing in, by a device’s MAC address and a portal address, made for set-top boxes. Aina does not support it: ask your provider for an Xtream Codes login or an M3U link instead.

Playlists and formats

M3U

A plain text playlist: a list of entries, each with a name, some attributes and a stream address. How to add one.

M3U8

An M3U playlist whose text is UTF-8. The same extension also names the index of an HLS stream.

m3u_plus

A version of the playlist many panels offer, carrying each channel’s logo and group as well as its address.

Playlist URL

The link to a playlist, often a get.php address with your username and password in it. Keep it private.

tvg-id

The attribute that tells a player which channel in the guide an entry is. When it is missing, Aina matches by name.

tvg-logo

The attribute that gives a channel’s logo.

group-title

The attribute that puts an entry in a group, which Aina shows as a category.

url-tvg / x-tvg-url

Where a playlist names its own guide, in its first line. Aina loads it by itself.

Streams

Stream

A continuous flow of video and sound sent over the internet, which plays as it arrives.

HLS

HTTP Live Streaming: a stream cut into short pieces, listed in an .m3u8 index. The format Apple’s own player prefers.

MPEG-TS (TS)

Transport stream: one continuous stream, the format most IPTV channels are sent in. Aina plays it on every platform with libVLC.

MKV and MP4

Containers for films and episodes. MKV is common on IPTV and refused by many devices’ own players; Aina plays both.

Buffering

The player stopping to wait for more of the stream. How to fix it.

The guide

EPG

Electronic programme guide: the schedule of what is on each channel and when. Aina’s guide.

XMLTV

The file format of almost every IPTV guide: channels, and programmes with their times, titles and descriptions.

.xml.gz

A compressed XMLTV guide, much smaller to download. Aina reads both kinds.

Now and next

What is on a channel now, and what follows it, shown beside the channel.

Watching

Live TV

Channels as they are broadcast.

VOD

Video on demand: films and series you start whenever you like.

Catch-up

Programmes that have already aired, kept by the provider in an archive for a number of days. Also called timeshift or archive.

Picture in Picture

A stream carrying on in a small window over other apps. On iPhone, iPad and Android phones and tablets in Aina.

Google Cast

Sending what plays to a Chromecast or a television with Chromecast built in, which then fetches the stream itself.