[Earl Bonovich]

DIRECTV VOD: No HDTV at Launch

The satcaster is expected to offer the high-speed Video on Demand service next year.
By Phillip Swann
Washington, D.C. (November 28, 2006) -- DIRECTV next year will launch a Broadband-based Video on Demand service that will offer thousands of TV shows and movies.

However, the service will not include High-Definition TV programming at launch, TVPredictions.com has learned.

The VOD service, which was originally expected late this year, is now likely to be launched nationally next spring. It will allow customers to use any high-speed Internet connection to download movies and other video programs from the Net and watch them on television.

The Rest of the Article is at: TV Predictions

(Note; After going back... I found that there was more to the article below the first "big" in-line google ad, which talks about it's usage with the HR20)

 

[Earl Bonovich]

My take on it... bummer, but then again.. .until the switch is flipped and Broadband VOD is enabled, you never know.

It is possible DirecTV learned from Microsoft's launch this week of HD material, that they may need a larger backbone or server side...

Time will tell.

 

[Mixer]

So this will work directly into the D* receiver with a LAN cable or will it filter through a PC?

My take on it... bummer, but then again.. .until the switch is flipped and Broadband VOD is enabled, you never know.

It is possible DirecTV learned from Microsoft's launch this week of HD material, that they may need a larger backbone or server side...

Time will tell.

 

[mitchelljd]

Earl,
Your right, the server side demands of digital downloading music are strong, it gets even more demanding when you download tv shows for itunes quality. so television is harder. and imagine the demands of full hd?

it is possible, but the storage center and infrastructure needs are significant. my bet is they don't want to offer it up before they have enough servers to make it work.

 

[Earl Bonovich]

So this will work directly into the D* receiver with a LAN cable or will it filter through a PC?

Most likely directly into the receiver.

 

[PetSounds66]

Hey I'm all for innovation...but people downloading movies is going to kill the bandwidth in my neighborhood. I can't have lag with my Xbox Live!

 

[Mixer]

That will be god news for me. Finally I will not have to worry about PC compatibilty in order to use my networking features on my DVRs

Most likely directly into the receiver.

 

[P Smith]

Dish made same sort of deal with SBC two years ago ...
See, where is the feature now - nada.
Also Dish making ViPXXX receivers what will allow to work with Internet, but after a year of deploying they have nothing.

Same will happen with DirecTV VOD over Internet. It's just new hype for attract more ppl.
DTV should issue a statement for granted permission from Hollywood or from middle tier companies who have right for those thousands movies.

 

[Staszek]

I am hoping it comes, I dont even care if its HDTV yet, I would love to beable to get HowardTV but it only works with Ondemand type services.

 

[Mixer]

I agree. This is a feature that I have been wanting for a long time. If it comes down in HD that is a bonus for me. I think it should be tested with SD first though to make sure the network can handle it.

I have DSL so not worried about how my neighbors are going to affect my abilities. I guess my biggest concern is going to be if I have a fast download going on my PC how will this type of VOD be affected when I try to watch a movie.

I am hoping it comes, I dont even care if its HDTV yet, I would love to beable to get HowardTV but it only works with Ondemand type services.

 

[Earl Bonovich]

Most likely... the VOD will have to download completely (or at least to a significant quantity), before playback will be allowed.

 

[carl6]

It is not a service I am interested in personally, and as Petsounds66 noted, if it is widely used, it will have an adverse impact on the download bandwidth available to may cable customers.

The infrastructure supporting the internet in general is starting to burst at the seams from bandwidth issues. This will be just one more straw piled on the camels back.

Carl

 

[P Smith]

Usually movie could start play after 10% loaded.

 

[Mixer]

Although I am still completey psyched for this, the fact that ti will have to download (possibly) completely before you can watch it does not make it exactly the same as Video On Demand. Also there have been reports that the shows will expire on your DVR after a determined amount of time. If that time period is 24 hours this may not be in full competition with Cable's on demand. I would think they should let you keep it for a week at least. If a 2 hr show takes 45 minutes to download I would more than likely be doing that overnight while I sleep. Then I would like to watch it over the next few days.

Most likely... the VOD will have to download completely (or at least to a significant quantity), before playback will be allowed.

 

[Mixer]

That would be very reasonable in my opinion.

Usually movie could start play after 10% loaded.

 

[Earl Bonovich]

Although I am still completey psyched for this, the fact that ti will have to download (possibly) completely before you can watch it does not make it exactly the same as Video On Demand. Also there have been reports that the shows will expire on your DVR after a determined amount of time. If that time period is 24 hours this may not be in full competition with Cable's on demand. I would think they should let you keep it for a week at least. If a 2 hr show takes 45 minutes to download I would more than likely be doing that overnight while I sleep. Then I would like to watch it over the next few days.

I honestly don't know how DirecTV is going to implement it....

I highly doubt it would be a 24 hour window, especially if the content is for free. It could also follow the "pay" model similar to PPV... where you can "record/download" it, and then have months to pay for it.

Other services that are IP based (such as Akimbo) and a few others, do a full download before allowing playback. They have to play with in the realistic bounds of the medium.

In general, for non-live content... I would rather it be a full download before playing back... then I know I am not going to get to the last five minutes and my internet connection dies...

 

[O2BRich]

I have DSL so not worried about how my neighbors are going to affect my abilities. I guess my biggest concern is going to be if I have a fast download going on my PC how will this type of VOD be affected when I try to watch a movie.

This is not necessarily true with DSL. If you are to far from the local CO they may have a DSLAM (DSL Mux) located near your neighborhood. All customers in your neighborhood share a broadband connection (Usually ATM) between that DSLAM and the local CO. This shared broadband connection is usually a congestion point if a large number of users start to do large downloads at the same time.

 

[Mixer]

O2BRich....I am really close to the CO and I have a 5MB DSL. I have several people on my block that download large files all the time (Bit Torrent) and has never affected my download. Working for a Telco though I know exactly what you mean.

 

[Mixer]

I agree on the last 5 minutes and the internet dies. I just don't want to wait an hour for on demand content. I am thrilled about the technolgy and I guess an hour is better than a few days.

I honestly don't know how DirecTV is going to implement it....

I highly doubt it would be a 24 hour window, especially if the content is for free. It could also follow the "pay" model similar to PPV... where you can "record/download" it, and then have months to pay for it.

Other services that are IP based (such as Akimbo) and a few others, do a full download before allowing playback. They have to play with in the realistic bounds of the medium.

In general, for non-live content... I would rather it be a full download before playing back... then I know I am not going to get to the last five minutes and my internet connection dies...

 

[tonyc]

DIRECTV VOD: No HDTV at Launch

The Rest of the Article is at: TV Predictions

(Note; After going back... I found that there was more to the article below the first "big" in-line google ad, which talks about it's usage with the HR20)

So if i understand the article correctly, the only people you can get VOD are the ones that have a HR20, those of us who have R15's are out