Many iTV formats can also be realised with conventional technologies like classic TV and the internet.
Additional technologies for iTV applications are grouped by the digital TV transmission and a computer unit in or on the television set. (In contrast, it is possible to use the conventional technologies for back-end functions).
The aim of additional iTV technologies is either the intensification of the interaction experience through direct interaction in front of and with the television, or the enabling of new TV-related functionalities such as deferred television, complex programme selection, synchronisation with TV events or encryption.
Modern iTV concepts often demand functions of the home network and the support of new input/output devices such as tablets and smartphones.