questions about internet tv, on demand, apple tv, bbc iplayer, google tv, etc...
- Thread starter Amr Rahmy
- Start date
Well I watch mainly the Beeb "live" on freeview, with some commercial stuff but find it mostly dross. Joke question: "Is Channel Five named after the number of viewers, or their average IQ?". Some stuff gets time-shifted and I occasionally catch up on iPlayer.
Even on the Beeb one can sometimes see narrative breaks where ads might go in, I suppose this is for their overseas sales.
Edit: It's the commercial stuff that's 90% garbage, with the Beeb that falls to 50-75%
Even on the Beeb one can sometimes see narrative breaks where ads might go in, I suppose this is for their overseas sales.
Edit: It's the commercial stuff that's 90% garbage, with the Beeb that falls to 50-75%
j1clark@ucsd.edu
Veteran
The only commercial 'player' I've used is the ABC player. Because it's from the broadcaster, it has advertising spots built in to the play back, which presumably can't be over ridden. Since I set it up for the Wife who wanted to watch something that was currently on the ABC network, I've not looked into it any more than find show, play show.
The problem of course is that shows cycle out of accessibility at some point, perhaps returning after some period of time. I have no idea why ABC does that... but at least it seems that the 'fifo' is about 30-45 days, so one can find episodes in the last 6 weeks or so.
I think the whole model of 'prime time run, then tiered syndication' is just so old and broken by the Internet Instant Access model, that the networks really do need to rethink the world at this point. That or make the same syndication deals with Netflix, Hulu, or whoeveristhenextbigthing that use to be for non-prime time TV syndication outlets.
As for features at a minimum:
1) remembering where in a show one has watched to. Netflix has this. I've not used Hulu at all so don't know.
2) Playlists. Don't know if Netflix has this, but it does have some sense of 'lists'.
3) Perhaps some 'social' media connection to simul-watch shows with others. I'm not that big on this sort of thing, but I would imagine that others may like it...
Educational features, not typically useful to the general viewership.
4) For me, screen captures, as often I'm watching something for educational value... well that's what I tell the Wife when she determines that I'm watching 'that crap'...
5) Real 'frame by frame' forward and back capability, again for educational use on edits.
well , i think the question is not what is good and what is not. Let 100 people judge content and you get 100 different answer.
The question is to balance time, money and purpose.
For me TV is a problem, because it is free (at leat almost) but you cannot choose what you want. If you want to be more selective, you need to pay more (paying for more channels) or purchase hardware (like recorder) to see what you want when you can. Quality (at least here in Switzerland) is high, so if you zap a bit, there is alway something watchable.
TV is a mainly social medium, so you mainly expect to share what you see on TV with other.
TV is a service, like radio, you expect some entertainment or information from the flow, but it there almost for free and you are not too critic about it
But you can use it as product, but it requires a lot of investment, if you have to scan TV schedule to find what you want and eventually record it. You need to split between the equipement (the TV set) and the content (the TV).
let's compare it to tap water or radio.
On the other hand, there are products you chose, and keep and investment is planned, like purchase of DVD, blu-ray or theater ticket.
let's compare this to a bottle of wine or books.
both are competing, for example in my living i got a 55 inches 3D screen with blu-ray, and for a 4 member family, it costs me less to purchase a BD, than going to theater, especially for kids who can watch a movie several times in a week.
But my wife and my kids are just switching it on and use it for passive watching .
Additional , the TV is connected to internet, so i can use skype, look youtube or vimeo, but frankly the interface is too lousy, and it is a lot easier on the computer.
I do not exchange usbkey with friends containing movies (Downloaded movie are rarely high quality enough), but i exchange a lot of movie on harddisk for editing (mainly poeple asking for conversion of shots they have done)
I also get media player box, but finding content can take more time than watching it, so i do not use it regularly.
I got iphone, tablets, laptops, but i am not that fond of moving picture to use them to watch moving pictures anywhere-anytime. (i do not watch sport on tv, that could be an explanation).
The question is to balance time, money and purpose.
For me TV is a problem, because it is free (at leat almost) but you cannot choose what you want. If you want to be more selective, you need to pay more (paying for more channels) or purchase hardware (like recorder) to see what you want when you can. Quality (at least here in Switzerland) is high, so if you zap a bit, there is alway something watchable.
TV is a mainly social medium, so you mainly expect to share what you see on TV with other.
TV is a service, like radio, you expect some entertainment or information from the flow, but it there almost for free and you are not too critic about it
But you can use it as product, but it requires a lot of investment, if you have to scan TV schedule to find what you want and eventually record it. You need to split between the equipement (the TV set) and the content (the TV).
let's compare it to tap water or radio.
On the other hand, there are products you chose, and keep and investment is planned, like purchase of DVD, blu-ray or theater ticket.
let's compare this to a bottle of wine or books.
both are competing, for example in my living i got a 55 inches 3D screen with blu-ray, and for a 4 member family, it costs me less to purchase a BD, than going to theater, especially for kids who can watch a movie several times in a week.
But my wife and my kids are just switching it on and use it for passive watching .
Additional , the TV is connected to internet, so i can use skype, look youtube or vimeo, but frankly the interface is too lousy, and it is a lot easier on the computer.
I do not exchange usbkey with friends containing movies (Downloaded movie are rarely high quality enough), but i exchange a lot of movie on harddisk for editing (mainly poeple asking for conversion of shots they have done)
I also get media player box, but finding content can take more time than watching it, so i do not use it regularly.
I got iphone, tablets, laptops, but i am not that fond of moving picture to use them to watch moving pictures anywhere-anytime. (i do not watch sport on tv, that could be an explanation).
Last edited:
to filter through,
15 minutes of advertisement interrupting the tv episode (3 x 5 mins) is the worst case scenario, but that's the old tv format.
most that is on tv is crap
not that many dramatic TV series are found to be of good or exceptional quality, but there is a percentage of good shows with high quality(my opinion)
...
note : TV shows on Bluray vary quite a bit in price and duration and there is a big price difference for both new and old shows on amazon between what i think is initial msrp and current asking price, but let's say,
most of the more dramatic series or serials with story arcs are 45min 12 episodes and $60 which to me makes perfect sense to have a season be an actual season and to have a tv show not be episodic and seem more like a mini series.
...
- Blu ray one season (12 or 22 episodes, 45 or 60 mins with the exception of sitcoms) is about $45 or $60
- amazon instant watch or apple tv or itunes is 2.99 current season's episodes(one day after air), 1.99 older seasons, not sure how google tv functions
- some networks and tv channels offer shows (next day or after a week of air) for 1 week or 5 weeks before removing the episode from their player
and correct me if am wrong, apple tv, google tv, roku, do not have DVR or some of the TiVo like functions? or large internal buffer (a few minutes maybe but not enough to buffer let's say one or two tv episodes for slower internet connections?, and how good/responsive is seeking, fastforward and rewind functions?)
how would you compare the quality of amazon's or apple tv next day watch to the networks own player, is their a big quality difference?
do most people find instant watch more convenient than owing the tv season on bluray at a higher quality and having all the extras?(if you cold hazard a guess about the ratio between, people that like to watch the season back to back vs instant watch each episode as soon as it's available)
personally, i see more value in bluray (if i rate a tv series 7/10 or more), but i understand the convenience of instant watch for some people (and to scout a tv show before purchasing the blu ray) and think DVR is much better than instant watch for shows that i would rate less than 7/10 even if there was any quality difference.
15 minutes of advertisement interrupting the tv episode (3 x 5 mins) is the worst case scenario, but that's the old tv format.
most that is on tv is crap
not that many dramatic TV series are found to be of good or exceptional quality, but there is a percentage of good shows with high quality(my opinion)
...
note : TV shows on Bluray vary quite a bit in price and duration and there is a big price difference for both new and old shows on amazon between what i think is initial msrp and current asking price, but let's say,
most of the more dramatic series or serials with story arcs are 45min 12 episodes and $60 which to me makes perfect sense to have a season be an actual season and to have a tv show not be episodic and seem more like a mini series.
...
- Blu ray one season (12 or 22 episodes, 45 or 60 mins with the exception of sitcoms) is about $45 or $60
- amazon instant watch or apple tv or itunes is 2.99 current season's episodes(one day after air), 1.99 older seasons, not sure how google tv functions
- some networks and tv channels offer shows (next day or after a week of air) for 1 week or 5 weeks before removing the episode from their player
and correct me if am wrong, apple tv, google tv, roku, do not have DVR or some of the TiVo like functions? or large internal buffer (a few minutes maybe but not enough to buffer let's say one or two tv episodes for slower internet connections?, and how good/responsive is seeking, fastforward and rewind functions?)
how would you compare the quality of amazon's or apple tv next day watch to the networks own player, is their a big quality difference?
do most people find instant watch more convenient than owing the tv season on bluray at a higher quality and having all the extras?(if you cold hazard a guess about the ratio between, people that like to watch the season back to back vs instant watch each episode as soon as it's available)
personally, i see more value in bluray (if i rate a tv series 7/10 or more), but i understand the convenience of instant watch for some people (and to scout a tv show before purchasing the blu ray) and think DVR is much better than instant watch for shows that i would rate less than 7/10 even if there was any quality difference.
but these are different values. when you purchase a season on DVD or BD you "own" it, it is a product. I do not think you would slide the disk in the player every evening at 20:30.
When you are looking at the serie, it is the same content, but you use it as a service, it is there at 20:30, should you be there or not.
So if you have a real interest for the content, you could purchase de DVD to make some continuation of the service.
But since the series are often duplicated on several channels at different times or often they push a new episode followed by an old one, you got few
few reason to purchase it and also few motivation to record it.
When you are looking at the serie, it is the same content, but you use it as a service, it is there at 20:30, should you be there or not.
So if you have a real interest for the content, you could purchase de DVD to make some continuation of the service.
But since the series are often duplicated on several channels at different times or often they push a new episode followed by an old one, you got few
few reason to purchase it and also few motivation to record it.
but, people that go to apple tv or amazon instant watch and pay 2.99 for the next day episode of their favorite show see the episode as a valuable entertainment product that they rent or lease for a day.
different from the people that subscribe to netflix (for a small fixed amount of money) to watch from the selection available to netflix(quantity vs quality) which mostly consists of older season of limited select shows.
i think i was always talking about,
- internet tv services like apple tv and amazon instant watch (i forgot to mention, they do offer seasons at a reduced price), where you choose the content that you want to watch and when you are ready to watch it
- netflix or hulu, same idea, but they only offer older seasons and all content is included in one subscription
- blu ray or what ever physical medium will be available in the future
not talking about older ways of broadcast, radio, satellite, ...etc. where you have to plan your viewing around the channels programming. i might have mentioned dvr as a feature missing from current online tv services.
side question about dvd and blu ray collections, do people on average prefer custom boxes for movie and tv collections(to make them a bit unique, and the inclusion of art or any trivia items from the IP) over regular dvd cases with a simple slip on cover, and which ones do you prefer for dvd collections. or would some movie fans not like the odd shape or dimensions of boxes in their dvd library.
- some things that i have seen as adding value to the product or blu ray collection, for example the bond 50 collection, coffee table wide photo album type binder with screenshots and art from the movies. a few other tv shows also makes that type of photo album dvd box, the cool thing is that half the pages include artwork, summaries and trivia
- other products that are essentially a box that holds an assortment of items like a map or a badge or part of a script, sometimes in games an entire concept artwork book, or a clue or a replica of a prop in the show or movie.
- a folded piece of hard paper or plastic that looks like it was made for advertisement purposes in a store but is ultimately flimsy and unstable
- dvds in regular dvd cases with a slip on cover with artwork
different from the people that subscribe to netflix (for a small fixed amount of money) to watch from the selection available to netflix(quantity vs quality) which mostly consists of older season of limited select shows.
i think i was always talking about,
- internet tv services like apple tv and amazon instant watch (i forgot to mention, they do offer seasons at a reduced price), where you choose the content that you want to watch and when you are ready to watch it
- netflix or hulu, same idea, but they only offer older seasons and all content is included in one subscription
- blu ray or what ever physical medium will be available in the future
not talking about older ways of broadcast, radio, satellite, ...etc. where you have to plan your viewing around the channels programming. i might have mentioned dvr as a feature missing from current online tv services.
side question about dvd and blu ray collections, do people on average prefer custom boxes for movie and tv collections(to make them a bit unique, and the inclusion of art or any trivia items from the IP) over regular dvd cases with a simple slip on cover, and which ones do you prefer for dvd collections. or would some movie fans not like the odd shape or dimensions of boxes in their dvd library.
- some things that i have seen as adding value to the product or blu ray collection, for example the bond 50 collection, coffee table wide photo album type binder with screenshots and art from the movies. a few other tv shows also makes that type of photo album dvd box, the cool thing is that half the pages include artwork, summaries and trivia
- other products that are essentially a box that holds an assortment of items like a map or a badge or part of a script, sometimes in games an entire concept artwork book, or a clue or a replica of a prop in the show or movie.
- a folded piece of hard paper or plastic that looks like it was made for advertisement purposes in a store but is ultimately flimsy and unstable
- dvds in regular dvd cases with a slip on cover with artwork