Interactive Features on HD/Mpeg4?

[1948GG]

For quite a long time, DirecTV has had the capability to put interactive features (scores, et. al.) on the HD/Mpeg2 channels.

A good example is some of the recent sports 'multichannel' presentations, where the channels were HD/Mpeg2. Worked and looked great.

A bad example (no interactive features) is on the US Open HD (looks like Mpeg4/Ka to me) and, of course, the MLB 'extra innings' HD channels (where the SD channels have the interactive features, but not the HD, which are definitely Mpeg4/Ka ).

When are they going to get off their duff (rears) and get this going. It's been a LONG time (since the beginning of the MLB season at a minimum) to get this up and running.

Anybody have any ideas? 2009? (The programmers can't be THAT bad, are they?)

[d max82]

Satelliteracer told us aqt the beginning of the MLB season we'd see the interactive features implemented later this year.

I believe the problem has to do with bandwidth on D10, not a programming thing. I Presume this should be working when D11 goes live and the HD feeds are "balanced" between the two.

[bonscott87]

They'll have to get it working by the time Sunday Ticket starts, that's for sure.

[1948GG]

Satelliteracer told us aqt the beginning of the MLB season we'd see the interactive features implemented later this year.

I believe the problem has to do with bandwidth on D10, not a programming thing. I Presume this should be working when D11 goes live and the HD feeds are "balanced" between the two.

What a bunch of hooey. The Ku band is MUCH tighter, and we're only talking about maybe a handful of bits-per-second to send out the information. Frankly, I'm tired of all this 'wait until D11' nonsense on any question on even pathetically minimal programming such as this.

That's just like saying the reason thay aren't carrying a couple more HD stations in my area, when they've committed a full 3 Ka transponders (enough room for at LEAST 6 HD channels, if not 8), yet we get only 5. And, there's no other DMA close to us, the nearest are Spokane (just just a hint, ~20 on the signal meter) and Portland (get about ~40 on the signal meter), so it's not like the folks up in the northeast where the DMA's are crammed in like sardines.

So, it comes back to lazy programmers. Or more probably, put on the back burner by DirecTV (overpaid) executives.

[alexjb12]

This is what Satelliteracer told me when I asked him about interactivity on YESHD earlier this month

Interactivity doesn't work yet with all MPEG4 channels and all the new HD channels are in MPEG4. I know they're working on MLB HD interactivity along with a few others but haven't heard the time frame yet. The first fully functional MPEG4 interactivity will be NFL Sunday Ticket for September and they've been working on that for awhile

[Stuart Sweet]

There you go. I would be incredibly surprised if the interactive features didn't make it into Sunday Ticket. It's a huge moneymaker.