Expressvu "On Demand"

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I have read a while back that this is how they wanted to implemented this and am currently trying to find proof of this somewhere. Their info is very vague on their website. I don't see how they would be able to have VOD in any other way unless you have to wait to download the movie via the SAT stream.
 
It is not a VOD service if it requires additional equipment like a PVR to access it. People with STBs cannot access this on BEV/Dish, so it's a download service, just like you download to a computer HDD.

Also, there is a delay associated with the process - the movie (a portion at least) has to be buffered to the HDD, while VOD doesn't have that delay. So, we'll also have to disagree.
 
They certainly can call them VOD, however, by calling everything VOD, the term loses its usefulness. The analogy is Full HD. By calling ExpressVu's offering Full HD, the idea that FULL HD means 1080p has been lost.

I personally think that by calling downloads VOD, the term has lost its usefulness.

Another analogy would be streaming vs. downloading. Both involve data being sent to a computer but making the distinction is important.

(edit: posted before I saw 57's response so some duplication!)
 
on the info sheets on the new rec'rs, the cat5 jack is described for future use/VOD
 
Every cable user has the ability to access VOD? I thought it was only users with a digital box? Why is that any different than a user who needs a PVR?

IMO they are both VOD. Just because they are stored on Rogers HDD is irrelevant to me.

Which one is better and can viewed by many is a different matter.
 
I fail to see why partially downloaded data and pure streaming would change the fact that at a particular moment in time you wanted to watch something and both methods allow you to watch it right away. To me......that is VOD.
 
There's a big difference in price between a STB (which is often free from Rogers - say with Digital VIP, or as a new subscriber after rebates) and many hundreds of $ for a PVR.

Also, many people have several (inexpensive or free) STBs on several TVs in their home, while BEV customers with STBs cannot access (I realize that the 9200 can be accessed from a couple of TVs)
 
How much time does it take for the programme to start after you request it?

How much equipment (how expensive or elaborate) is required for the process to work?

These items are what distinguish one from the other. One would not call a bicycle a car, even though they are both used as transportation.
 
that's a silly analogy 57. A better analogy would be is a electric car the same as a gasoline powered car.

Why would the cost matter? Why would the equipment matter?

AFAIK currently Dish chooses movies which get a small part recorded on certain PVR model receivers. Since HDD space for this is already separated it does not use up any of the normal space. It starts immedietely.

This new service which is supposed to work through internet I know little about. I would guess with a high speed connection it wouldn't take more than several secs to have enough buffered to begin playing? No idea what equipment is required.

Even there current service I would consider VOD. Very very limited choice though.

again. If you can play the video through the stb when you want to I believe this is the spirit of the term VOD.

How well or poorly it is implemented is irrelevant.
 
Helpful discussion. When is something a tax, when an involuntary donation?

Video On Demand is a live streaming technology that allows for thousands of choices of programming at any given moment. This means being able to stream SD or HD signals just as if you were watching a linear channel. But instead of allocating one channel for each title (as PPV does), now you decide what is sent down the pipe on the one channel. That might be something from Howard Stern, NFL Network, Treehouse, National Geographic, Food, TMN, MPix, or dozens of others.

Cable delivers that model. Today.

Satellite is trying to find some variation on this and undermine the cable flavour by appropriating the name.

Satellite can "store-and-forward" by using a portion of a customer's hard drive and download, overnight, a fixed set of movies and shows which can be played back, "on demand", for a fee. The limitation is the size of the customer's PVR hard drive; and how much one wants to give up for the privilege. Who wants a PVR with only 10 or 15 HD hours remaining available for personal use? And the other 10 or 15 hours filled with 5 or 6 movies at $6-$8 per viewing?

Satellite can also "jump the shark" and deliver broadband downloads over DSL so that content is pre-loaded on the satellite PVR or, a buffer is created for a "live" streaming event. The point is ... that is NOT satellite any longer ... it's DSL. I wouldn't recommend you try that in HD. Nor would I care to pay the bandwidth bill.

Play semantics any way you wish: "On Demand" is actually what it sounds like. The ability to access thousands of titles, starting after a click or two, at any moment. Satellite TV simply cannot do this, even fudged with a 160 GB PVR. Or a 2 Terrabyte PVR, for that matter.

Cable delivers this user experience, today. Satellite cannot.
 
I have family are friends who work for bell.It is almost impossible for them to have a true vod system with out charging there customers a arm and leg.At any given time there will be 500 movies and shows.You really can't compare expressvu to dish/dtv.As they have more then 10 time the customers.
 
from wikipedia.

Video on demand (VOD) systems allow users to select and watch video and clip content over a network as part of an interactive television system. VOD systems either "stream" content, allowing viewing in real time, or "download" it in which the program is brought in its entirety to a set-top box before viewing starts. The latter is more appropriately termed "store and forward". The majority of cable and telco based VOD systems use the streaming approach, whereby a user buys or selects a movie or television program and it begins to play on the television set almost instantaneously.

Often, nowadays, the term encompasses a broader spectrum of delivery devices, referring not only to set-top-boxes but also computers, mobile phones and indeed any system that can receive on-demand audio-visual content over a network.


I will not argue that rogers currently is cheaper to receive and has a much larger base of its clients.

There is no reason in the future that all stb's have a preinstalled flash drive which will allow it to do VOD.
 
If they were to utilize the internet access that most people have as well as the ethernet feature, then I don't think it would be difficult at all or expensive. Cable companies basically do that now with their current setup. As mentioned above, many people don't have access to ethernet cabling near their receivers just as they don't have phone cabling.

I don't think I would ever use VOD anyway, but I'm just curious to how they would implement it.

Of course you can't compare Dish to ExpressVu seeing that the population of the states is far beyond that of Canada which is why ExpressVu Piggy-backs off the ideas of Dish. Just like when Dish gets new mpeg4 receivers, Bell is to follow. The question is now that Dish has VOD, how do they do it and does ExpressVu plan on it as well?
 
saw a news release about Dish network launching their VOD IPTV service today. They called it a "Push/Pull" system.

Bell can only be a few years behind? :) :rolleyes:
 
Its not a deal breaker for me ( I don't know if I would ever even use it, if it were available
I wouldn't mind having it, IF it was free, but I am satisfied with my current setup and programming
Whether it was delivered via satellite, or via dsl, with a buffer, does it really matter?
As long as its available "on demand", or with very little wait time, then it doesn't matter what you call it
 
If it were super compressed and "beamed" onto your Hard Drive in 25 minutes, great but otherwise, set a Timer go to bed, get up watch the movie.

Is it really imperative that we watch a movie NOW.......
 
the whole "Video On Demand is a live streaming technology ......" is Rogers marketing. Is that what VOD is because they say it?

Is Bell "THE FULL HD EXPERIENCE"? I think not.

The amount of VOD events is irrelevant. I doubt ROD have the library it has now when it started. It was still VOD then.

Don't confuse marketing with real life.

Let me ask you this. If there was a flash drive in the rogers stb that actually buffered a small portion of the video for better playback.........would that change anything?

Which is better? ROD without any question is. That does not mean the other guy is not VOD.

I wonder if we would even be having this conversation if there was never a ROD to compare it to.
 
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