IP video is the transfer of video information in IP packet data format. Transmission of IP video involves digitizing video, coding, addressing, transferring, receiving, decoding and converting (rendering) IP video data into its original video form.

This figure shows how video can be sent via an IP transmission system. This diagram shows that an IP video system digitizes and reformats the original video, codes and/or compresses the data, adds IP address information to each packet, transfers the packets through a packet data network, recombines the packets and extracts the digitized video, decodes the data and converts the digital video back into its original video form.