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Nordic TV in Spain: a practical guide
Watching Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish TV from Spain: time zones, fibre and holiday-flat Wi-Fi, catch-up for the evening news, and what to bring.
What is IPTV, and how does it work?
Television over the internet instead of an aerial, cable or dish. The idea is simple; the details decide whether it works well in your home.
Short answer
IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) sends TV channels to your screen as data over an internet connection. You need at least 8 Mbit/s for Full HD, a device that can run a player app, and a login. It works anywhere that connection exists, which is its main advantage over aerial and satellite.
What the letters mean
IPTV stands for Internet Protocol Television. Internet Protocol is the addressing system that carries web pages and video calls; here it carries live channels. The picture is cut into small packets, sent to your device and put back together by a player app.
Nordic telecom operators already use the technology for the TV they sell with broadband, delivered to their own set-top box over their own network. A service like Nordkanal delivers over the open internet instead, so one login works on a Smart TV, a streaming stick or a phone, in any country.
How a channel gets from the studio to your sofa
- The channel is received at the source, as broadcast.
- It is compressed into a stream, usually H.264 or the more efficient H.265 (HEVC).
- Servers send the stream to viewers. Ours stand in Stockholm, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.
- Your player app requests the stream, holds a few seconds in a buffer and decodes it into a picture.
- The programme guide arrives separately, as a data file the app reads to show what is on.
Each step adds a little delay, which is why IPTV runs a few seconds to around half a minute behind the aerial broadcast. For news and series it does not matter. For a match, it means the neighbours may cheer first.
IPTV compared with aerial, cable and satellite
| Delivery | What you need | Works abroad | Weak point |
|---|---|---|---|
| IPTV | An internet connection and an app | Yes, with a stable connection | Depends on your home network |
| Aerial | An antenna and a tuner | No | Fewer channels, coverage gaps |
| Cable TV | A cable connection in the building | No | Tied to one address |
| Satellite | A dish, a receiver and a clear view south | Within the satellite footprint | Installation and weather |
The right choice depends less on picture quality than on where you live and how you watch. If you move, travel or live abroad, IPTV is the only one of the four that follows you without new hardware.
Live TV, catch-up and on demand
- Live TV: channels as they are broadcast, with a programme guide.
- Catch-up: programmes that have already aired, played from the guide. On Nordkanal, 7 days on the three- and six-month plans and 14 days on twelve months; none on the test or one month.
- Video on demand: a library of films and series, 65,847 titles in our case, available at any time.
What you need at home
| Quality | Minimum | Recommended | Typical setup |
|---|---|---|---|
| SD 480p | 3 Mbit/s | 5 Mbit/s | Phone on 4G |
| HD 720p | 5 Mbit/s | 8 Mbit/s | Phone on 5G |
| Full HD 1080p | 8 Mbit/s | 15 Mbit/s | Smart TV |
| 4K UHD | 20 Mbit/s | 30+ Mbit/s | Fibre and a 4K TV |
Then a device that can run a player: most Smart TVs from recent years, a Fire TV Stick, an Android TV box, Apple TV, a phone or a computer. The device guide covers the ones that struggle.
How to find out if it suits you
The cheapest way to know whether IPTV works in your home is to test it on your own TV, on your own connection, at the busiest time of the week. Our 48-hour test costs €3 and includes every channel.
Questions and answers
Is IPTV the same as streaming?
IPTV is a form of streaming. The difference from services like Netflix is that IPTV carries live channels on a schedule, with a programme guide, as well as on-demand content.
Do I need a special box for IPTV?
Usually not. Most recent Smart TVs can run a player app directly. A streaming stick or an Android TV box helps when the TV is old or its app store lacks a suitable player.
How much internet speed does IPTV need?
At least 8 Mbit/s per screen for Full HD and 20 Mbit/s for 4K. Four screens at once need around 50 Mbit/s.
Is IPTV legal?
The technology is legal and used by every major operator. Whether a particular service is legal depends on whether it holds the rights to its channels. The FAQ page covers this, and it is not legal advice.
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Spend 3 € before you spend 80 €.
The test runs for 48 hours on one screen and stops by itself. Put it over a weekend with a match on, so you test the service at its busiest.