AOL is trying. They added two XM stations to the Radio@AOL lineup --
the 128 kbps LC-AAC feed for subscribers, not the low qualty
open-to-all online version). The channels are XM Big Tracks and Chill,
though the latter has now stopped working. In fact Chill disppoints me
since it is mostly lounge with little sign of the electronic ambient I
best like.
March 11 saw start of beta testing "AOL Hi-Q Video" which uses Kontiki
DRM stuff. I had problems with "Delivery Service" software. Fast
enough,
though, since 43 minute, 430 mb WMV, episodes of "La Femme Nikita" were
pushed to me in a bit more than 30 minutes. They expire June 1.
I couldn't download more than two episodes without having to
force close AOL and reboot to download another two. So I couldn't
simply have all episodes consecutively download.
Not worth the effort since one can only play shows (after closing
Zonealarm) in AOL's wrapper of WMP 10, which precludes pan/scan.
Quality was poorer than XviD.
But, this seems promising of what can be accomplished. With the right
codecs, one could view HDTV-quality shows, likely even having them
streamed real-time. I'm surprised ITV and Sky don't offer such a
service to the US and Canada, though time zone differences make it more
desirable that downloads occur while subscribers sleep. "Hex" is a natural for American teen girls...
But bogging down PCs with complex new DRM software will surely deter users.
BTW, why do we need BluRay? Reduction of over 75% is obviously possible
with the best codecs; i.e., current movie DVDs could hold 37Gb of info.
the 128 kbps LC-AAC feed for subscribers, not the low qualty
open-to-all online version). The channels are XM Big Tracks and Chill,
though the latter has now stopped working. In fact Chill disppoints me
since it is mostly lounge with little sign of the electronic ambient I
best like.
March 11 saw start of beta testing "AOL Hi-Q Video" which uses Kontiki
DRM stuff. I had problems with "Delivery Service" software. Fast
enough,
though, since 43 minute, 430 mb WMV, episodes of "La Femme Nikita" were
pushed to me in a bit more than 30 minutes. They expire June 1.
I couldn't download more than two episodes without having to
force close AOL and reboot to download another two. So I couldn't
simply have all episodes consecutively download.
Not worth the effort since one can only play shows (after closing
Zonealarm) in AOL's wrapper of WMP 10, which precludes pan/scan.
Quality was poorer than XviD.
But, this seems promising of what can be accomplished. With the right
codecs, one could view HDTV-quality shows, likely even having them
streamed real-time. I'm surprised ITV and Sky don't offer such a
service to the US and Canada, though time zone differences make it more
desirable that downloads occur while subscribers sleep. "Hex" is a natural for American teen girls...
But bogging down PCs with complex new DRM software will surely deter users.
BTW, why do we need BluRay? Reduction of over 75% is obviously possible
with the best codecs; i.e., current movie DVDs could hold 37Gb of info.
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