Video on-demand

Video on-demand (VoD) refers to both the technology and the service that enables viewers to select video content for viewing on a television or computer screen at the time they wish.

This puts the viewer in control of the programming; very different from traditional television channels where viewers can only watch what the television channel chooses to broadcast. Using video-on-demand, every viewer can select from a menu of hundreds of programs and view them at the time of their choosing.

Think of it as like having a video store in your lounge room. Rather than travelling to the nearest video store to rent a movie, when using a video on-demand service you can rent programs instantly via your television or computer and watch them immediately.

One of the unique features of video on-demand systems is how they allow each viewer to control the pace of the programs they watch. Functioning just like a DVD player, each viewer can pause, fast-forwarding, rewinding and jump back and forth between scenes.

There are a number of services with similar names that do not provide the same features. These include near video on-demand and quasi-video on-demand services.

Neither of these services allows viewer to control the pace of programs or start programs at the time they make their selection.