EZTV has introduced BitTorrent Video Streaming! Instead of having to wait for an entire TV Show to download fully before you can watch it, it is now possible to use BitTorrent to watch a TV Show as it downloads! :)

The Swarmplayer EZTV is experimenting with uses slightly modified torrent files (.tstream), which make it possible to stream video files using the BitTorrent protocol. This new technology allows publishers to offer video steams without having to pay for expensive bandwidth. Theoretically, you can watch all torrent files with the player but it’s recommended to use newer releases, as they often offer a higher swarm speed. Streaming the typical TV show will run to around 100kb/sec, a speed unattainable with their older television torrents due in part to the low peer numbers, as much as the larger piece size used in the pre-stream torrents.


EZTV Introduces BitTorrent Video Streaming
July 26, 2008
Thomas Mennecke
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If you've been keeping up with the latest developments in BitTorrent technology, a fascinating element has recently appeared - live streaming. The concept of live streaming has become a closely followed item since the formation of P2P Next, a consortium aiming to create a bandwidth efficient, video streaming BitTorrent client, by utilizing Tribler file-sharing technology. The P2P Next organization consists of 21 broadcasting, technology, and academic parters, and was granted $21 million in funding from the European Union earlier this year. The P2P Next organization contributed nearly $8 million to further develop the technology.

The work of the P2P Next consortium culminated in a public beta testing of the technology late last week. The public testing saw the release of the SwarmPlayer, which is an open source, cross platform BitTorrent application adapted to the live streaming technology. The initial round of beta testing appears to have gone well, as the promise of a low cost, bandwidth efficient, BitTorrent-based, live video streaming client was proven realistic.

The success and promise of P2P Next's technology has not only been enticing to broadcasters such as the BBC, it also seems to have left an impression on the BitTorrent community as well. In an announcement made today, EZTV.it, a TV show oriented BitTorrent indexer, has incorporated P2P Next's technology into their indexer.

"EZTV has introduced BitTorrent Video Streaming!," a news statement reads. "Instead of having to wait for an entire TV Show to download fully before you can watch it, it is now possible to use BitTorrent to watch a TV Show as it downloads!"

"This has been made possible with the use of new breakthrough technology in the form of a modification to the client-side BitTorrent protocol. This protocol modification has been implemented in a new program called SwarmPlayer in conjunction with a new .tstream format."

Tribler and BitTorrent cooperation is nothing new, as MiniNova and Tribler announced a round of invitation-only testing in March of this year. However, EZTV is the first BitTorrent indexer to be unrestrained in the technology's use, as it will provide "... .tstream files for every TV Show [EZTV] releases."