In CLEAR IPTV system, the Live TV and VOD Server need to process the TS stream. Basically each server needs 4 Gigabit Ethernet network adapters, 8GB RAM, Dual CPU, and RAID 5 disk. The size of disk is based on the number of VOD and TSTV programs. Generally speaking, if there is 1.5 TB RAID disk originally, 1 TB may be used for storage which could include 1000 films of 3M bps. In case of TSTV, it needs 48*10*1.3=624GB storage if it needs to support 10 channels with 2 days of 4M bps. And SAS disk is recommended.

The network size is based on the bit rates of VOD/TSTV programs and concurrent users. If there are 1,000 concurrent users and each user is playing a 3M bps program, the network bandwidth is 3Mbps*1000=3Gbps. Basically the availability rate of network adapter is 75%. It needs 4 Gigabit Ethernet network adapters. Meanwhile, it needs to consider I/O speed of disk as well. RAID storage technology improves the performance.

All the video sources from Analog TV, Digital TV, Satellite TV, or Video Conference needs the head end devices to receive and encode. CLEAR provides the encoders, TV receivers, and related devices to receive and process the video signal for further transmission.
Regarding to the configuration of encoders, it supports 4/8 inputs, MPEG-2 and H.264 CODED, and MPEG-2 TS output. And for Digital TV and Satellite TV Receiver, it supports MPEG-2, DVB-C, and DVB-S input, and MPEG-2 TS output.

CLEAR requires the opportunity to fully evaluate the customer‟s IP network to determine its ability to support IPTV. A customer will be required to correct, at the customer‟s expense, any IP network deficiencies prior to installation of an IPTV system. Basically the switch in IPTV network should support IGMP v3, IGMP snooping, etc.

The STB may access the IPTV EPG, and decode the video information and transfer to TV set.CLEAR Digital Technology offers the hardware, software, drivers, browser, and related for STB. CLEAR STB may run the embedded Linux, and it is also compatible with Android system. The below table describes the detailed hardware information for CLEAR IPTV STB.