An IPTV player does four jobs, one after another.
1. Connect
The player contacts your provider with the details you entered. With an M3U playlist it downloads a list of streams. With Xtream Codes it logs in with a username and password and asks for categories, channels, films and series. With a Stalker/Ministra portal it identifies itself by the MAC address your provider registered.
2. Organise
The provider's answer is turned into categories and lists you can browse with a remote. Good players cache this so the next start is fast.
3. Add the guide
Programme information (the EPG) is matched to each channel so you can see what's on now and next.
4. Play
When you choose a channel or film, the player asks the provider for its stream address and plays it. The video travels straight from the provider to your device. With LAKSMED, the stream never passes through LAKSMED's servers.
This is why a player can't fix a stream that the provider isn't sending, and why the same playlist can look different in different players: the content is the provider's, the presentation is the player's.