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Posts with tag ABC.com

ABC.com streaming player adds new features

by Richard Lawler, posted Jun 5th 2008 at 10:24AM


ABC.com was a leader out of the gate with its online HD player, and this fall it's adding new features to become more appealing in a suddenly crowded environment. "True full screen viewing", closed captioning, better navigation and search tools, plus the ability to easily send, share and embed video clips are all on the way to give things a more Web 2.0 feel. Of course, we wouldn't mind a higher bitrate but that doesn't seem to be in the works just yet. ABC.com says it has the leading online player over other networks like NBC, Fox and CBS with over 300 million episodes served - we guess someone's been using it to keep up with old Lost episodes.

[Via Reuters]

Is Apple TV's (and Xbox Live and VOD's) HD truly high definition?

by Richard Lawler, posted Jan 19th 2008 at 9:39AM

HD is coming in a lot of forms these days, but ZDNet's George Ou thinks some of them -- like Apple TV, Xbox Live Marketplace, ABC.com streaming and cable VOD -- don't count. Sure all of these sources are HD resolution, but George's argument is that due to overcompression and low bitrates, they don't compare with 1080p upconverted SD DVDs, much less Blu-ray or HD DVD. Low bitrates might mean less detail than we're used to and some issues with fast moving action, but we've checked out all of the above, and if you've got the pixels, then you're HD. Whether or not thats enough to satisfy is up to the viewer, but we're sure there's a faction out there arguing if you have to get off your couch to buy it, it's not really a high def experience either.

ABC.com's free online HD player is live

by Richard Lawler, posted Jul 25th 2007 at 1:31PM

ABC.com's long awaited free "HD" player is finally available on its website, delivering 720p video at 24 fps. Users with a fast PC and at least a 2 Mbps connection can take a look right now, at one episode each of Lost, Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty or Grey's Anatomy. The streaming technology adjusts to available bandwidth, on a 6Mbps cable connection, it kept the HD light in the lower right hand corner lit and high quality video streaming, however if bandwidth drops it can become a pixely mess in a hurry. Check after the break for a few more screens of the player and let us know how its working out for you so far. Good enough that you won't worry about DVR'ing HDTV episodes of Lost anymore, or not quite ready for prime time viewing?

[Via LostRemote]

Continue reading ABC.com's free online HD player is live

ABC.com's HD will be less than 2 Mbps

by Ben Drawbaugh, posted May 31st 2007 at 9:09PM

ABC.com streaming Video
We knew that free HD from ABC.com was too good to be true, and now ABC's VP of technology spills the beans. In order to deliver streaming HD over the Internet, ABC will be using On2 Technologies' video codec to deliver 720p video at 24 fps, but at a bitrate of between 850 Kbps and 2 Mbps. This really isn't much higher than their current streaming service -- that some already believe is HD -- and about half of what we would consider acceptable if encoded with H.264. Sure we knew that the the video wasn't going to be up to our standards, but at this rate we wonder how many people wouldn't just pay $2 an episode to avoid all the dancing grass and un-skipable commercials, if given the chance.

ABC.com to go HD

by Ben Drawbaugh, posted May 16th 2007 at 7:11AM

ABC.com in HD
Here at Engaget HD there is one universal truth; more HD is a good thing. Now we have all seen what could possibly be the best Internet streaming video to date, which is available on ABC.com and while it looks good, it isn't HD. ABC is looking to change that by making real HD available on their site, and in the same resolution we are used to seeing on ABC. There is no word on what bit-rate the 1280x720p video will be delivered in, or even what codec will be used, but based on ABC's track record, you could say; we have our hopes up. Hey ABC while you're at it, why not get some of that HD content on our Apple TV, lord knows it needs it.




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