Lightbox - Telecoms new on demand TV service

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#1074741 26-Jun-2014 05:51

NonprayingMantis:

it's not very clear what they mean TBH

"The combined total number of movie/file/show/episodes is 11235."

so does that mean each show is one title, or one episode is one title? obviously a movie is one title, but for TV they could probably explain it a lot better. I would assume each title is an episode for TV?

From the website:

The combined total number of movie/file/show/episodes is 11235 (not counting multiple episodes of the same show).

Therefore a TV show is being counted as '1' in that title count regardless of how many episodes of it there are.

sdav

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#1074841 26-Jun-2014 10:12

alasta: The problem with these types of services that have been launched recently is that they are focused on overseas entertainment content, and they really don't cater to people like myself who are more interested in domestic news and current affairs.

The only credible offerings in that space are the 3News and 3Now apps which have poor resolution and severely limited ability to stream to Apple TV. That's why Freeview will be my delivery platform of choice for the forseeable future.

You're absolutely right, I would also love to see NZ made content available on these services. Local content is a point of difference that Netflix is unlikely to bother with. For example, if Lightbox have a kids area they can post previous weeks What Now or even The 4:30 Show episodes... if TVNZ allow it.

In regards to only being on computer or mobile I take on board everyone has to start somewhere, but the goal posts have shifted somewhat with companies like Netflix wanting to move into NZ. I was hoping someone like Telecom/Spark would come out with some more options at launch. I know they are a NZ company and I will give it a shot but if they don't offer what Netflix offers after 6 months it will be hard for me to justify spending my money with them over Netflix.

Also, are there any movies on Lightbox? Things like "Hey, TV Lover!" and "you’ll find some of the best TV ever made right here" lead me to think not which could mean they will go aggressively after TV rights and ignore movies initially (not a bad thing).

BigPipeNZ

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#1074865 26-Jun-2014 10:28

steve98:
NonprayingMantis:

it's not very clear what they mean TBH

"The combined total number of movie/file/show/episodes is 11235."

so does that mean each show is one title, or one episode is one title? obviously a movie is one title, but for TV they could probably explain it a lot better. I would assume each title is an episode for TV?

From the website:
The combined total number of movie/file/show/episodes is 11235 (not counting multiple episodes of the same show).

Therefore a TV show is being counted as '1' in that title count regardless of how many episodes of it there are.

hmm, because they mention 'episodes' earlier in the sentence in the total, I interpreted your bold bit to mean that that they were explaining that they aren't double counting the same episodes available on UK and USA i.e. if episode 1 of show X is available in both regions, they are only counting it as 1.

But I do agree it is ambiguous.

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sultanoswing

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#1075335 27-Jun-2014 02:21

sdav:
alasta: The problem with these types of services that have been launched recently is that they are focused on overseas entertainment content, and they really don't cater to people like myself who are more interested in domestic news and current affairs.

The only credible offerings in that space are the 3News and 3Now apps which have poor resolution and severely limited ability to stream to Apple TV. That's why Freeview will be my delivery platform of choice for the forseeable future.

You're absolutely right, I would also love to see NZ made content available on these services. Local content is a point of difference that Netflix is unlikely to bother with. For example, if Lightbox have a kids area they can post previous weeks What Now or even The 4:30 Show episodes... if TVNZ allow it.

In regards to only being on computer or mobile I take on board everyone has to start somewhere, but the goal posts have shifted somewhat with companies like Netflix wanting to move into NZ. I was hoping someone like Telecom/Spark would come out with some more options at launch. I know they are a NZ company and I will give it a shot but if they don't offer what Netflix offers after 6 months it will be hard for me to justify spending my money with them over Netflix.

Also, are there any movies on Lightbox? Things like "Hey, TV Lover!" and "you’ll find some of the best TV ever made right here" lead me to think not which could mean they will go aggressively after TV rights and ignore movies initially (not a bad thing).

Agree with this too. I'd like to see endemic NZ content on there, including hard-to-find NZ classics from back in the day (although perhaps they won't have aged as well as I remember). If they could put a chunk of what is currently on TVNZ/Sky's "Heartland", I'd be interested - at least it'd be unique compared with generic overseas offerings, which are competing in the global marketplace.

And I'd hope to see a Roku app amongst other devices / platforms, from a selfish perspective :)

Kyanar

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#1075391 27-Jun-2014 08:40

Benoire: Meh, when they give me native access through HTPC software (XBMC/MediaPortal etc.) with a remote control on my TV then I'd be interested. By native I mean simple webpage login that an app can be developed for and they don't hide any of the stream details. I don't mind if its in flash, HTML5 or Silverlight as long as its not restricted like TVNZ Ondemand is.

Won't happen. It'd be absolutely impossible to get rights clearance to provide unrestricted streams. If you mean "not restricted to Samsung" then sure.

sultanoswing:

Agree with this too. I'd like to see endemic NZ content on there, including hard-to-find NZ classics from back in the day (although perhaps they won't have aged as well as I remember). If they could put a chunk of what is currently on TVNZ/Sky's "Heartland", I'd be interested - at least it'd be unique compared with generic overseas offerings, which are competing in the global marketplace.

And I'd hope to see a Roku app amongst other devices / platforms, from a selfish perspective :)

A lot of that aged content can be found at http://nzonscreen.co.nz if you're inclined to watch it - seems like someone should be talking to those guys about maybe making an app as well.

Benoire

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#1075395 27-Jun-2014 08:45

Kyanar:
Benoire: Meh, when they give me native access through HTPC software (XBMC/MediaPortal etc.) with a remote control on my TV then I'd be interested. By native I mean simple webpage login that an app can be developed for and they don't hide any of the stream details. I don't mind if its in flash, HTML5 or Silverlight as long as its not restricted like TVNZ Ondemand is.

Won't happen. It'd be absolutely impossible to get rights clearance to provide unrestricted streams. If you mean "not restricted to Samsung" then sure.

Oh I don't mean unrestricted, these windows based players leverage flash, HTML5 or silverlight and can carry DRM as normal... It would be nice if they adopted the open policy and allowed opensource development to tie in to the streams...

JimmyH

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#1075999 28-Jun-2014 13:15

They won't. The rights holders are very unlikely to allow their content on a platform that includes open-source streaming, as they are paranoid that this will mean the stream can then be captured easily. Which it could be.

But then again it's already trivially easy to capture content streamed over composite, component or HDMI connectors anyway, copy protection notwithstanding. So they aren't really protecting much from a determined archiver anyway......

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bfginger

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#1076357 29-Jun-2014 07:18

Benoire: Meh, when they give me native access through HTPC software (XBMC/MediaPortal etc.) with a remote control on my TV then I'd be interested. By native I mean simple webpage login that an app can be developed for and they don't hide any of the stream details. I don't mind if its in flash, HTML5 or Silverlight as long as its not restricted like TVNZ Ondemand is.

They should've launched with an HDMI dongle and remote control package with bundled 3 month subscription and connectivity setup guide to be sold in shops.

bisr: People plugging their laptops (or tablets) into the TV is just a terrible, terrible idea. It is just a bad way of delivering your product, and an even worse way of presenting it.

The average person doesn't ever plug their computer or tablet into their TV. Many of the people who know how to do this stuff use netflix or bittorrent.

JimmyH

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#1076589 29-Jun-2014 16:30

bfginger:

They should've launched with an HDMI dongle and remote control package with bundled 3 month subscription and connectivity setup guide to be sold in shops.

The last thing I would be interested in is a service that needs a proprietary dongle connected to an HDMI port to use it. My TV only has 4 HDMI sockets, and they are already all in use.

NonprayingMantis

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#1076594 29-Jun-2014 16:45

bfginger:
Benoire: Meh, when they give me native access through HTPC software (XBMC/MediaPortal etc.) with a remote control on my TV then I'd be interested. By native I mean simple webpage login that an app can be developed for and they don't hide any of the stream details. I don't mind if its in flash, HTML5 or Silverlight as long as its not restricted like TVNZ Ondemand is.

They should've launched with an HDMI dongle and remote control package with bundled 3 month subscription and connectivity setup guide to be sold in shops.

bisr: People plugging their laptops (or tablets) into the TV is just a terrible, terrible idea. It is just a bad way of delivering your product, and an even worse way of presenting it.

The average person doesn't ever plug their computer or tablet into their TV. Many of the people who know how to do this stuff use netflix or bittorrent.

It's no more difficult than plugging a DVD player, playstation, or similar into your tv, which most people seem to be able to manage without any trouble.

rugrat

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#1076622 29-Jun-2014 17:49

NonprayingMantis:
bfginger:
Benoire: Meh, when they give me native access through HTPC software (XBMC/MediaPortal etc.) with a remote control on my TV then I'd be interested. By native I mean simple webpage login that an app can be developed for and they don't hide any of the stream details. I don't mind if its in flash, HTML5 or Silverlight as long as its not restricted like TVNZ Ondemand is.

They should've launched with an HDMI dongle and remote control package with bundled 3 month subscription and connectivity setup guide to be sold in shops.

bisr: People plugging their laptops (or tablets) into the TV is just a terrible, terrible idea. It is just a bad way of delivering your product, and an even worse way of presenting it.

The average person doesn't ever plug their computer or tablet into their TV. Many of the people who know how to do this stuff use netflix or bittorrent.

It's no more difficult than plugging a DVD player, playstation, or similar into your tv, which most people seem to be able to manage without any trouble.

It's slightly more complicated, got to tell computer to output to TV, know how to set resolution on computer, output dual screen or single screen. Plus I lose buttons at bottom of screen and sides of TV due to overscan of TV, can't find on TV how to turn overscan off. I manage to cope though, move mouse pointer off screen where can't see it and click.

Also can only output 1080 if screen on laptop turned off, otherwise it will only allow laptop max screen resolution set.

DVD Players, PS3 etc remain plugged into TV. Also usuable with remote, wireless controller.
Be a hassle having to plug and unplug laptop from TV all the time.

Hope more devices come available later, for now I guess getting it to market asap is most important.

davidcole

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#1076627 29-Jun-2014 18:05

rugrat:
NonprayingMantis:
bfginger:
Benoire: Meh, when they give me native access through HTPC software (XBMC/MediaPortal etc.) with a remote control on my TV then I'd be interested. By native I mean simple webpage login that an app can be developed for and they don't hide any of the stream details. I don't mind if its in flash, HTML5 or Silverlight as long as its not restricted like TVNZ Ondemand is.

They should've launched with an HDMI dongle and remote control package with bundled 3 month subscription and connectivity setup guide to be sold in shops.

bisr: People plugging their laptops (or tablets) into the TV is just a terrible, terrible idea. It is just a bad way of delivering your product, and an even worse way of presenting it.

The average person doesn't ever plug their computer or tablet into their TV. Many of the people who know how to do this stuff use netflix or bittorrent.

It's no more difficult than plugging a DVD player, playstation, or similar into your tv, which most people seem to be able to manage without any trouble.

It's slightly more complicated, got to tell computer to output to TV, know how to set resolution on computer, output dual screen or single screen. Plus I lose buttons at bottom of screen and sides of TV due to overscan of TV, can't find on TV how to turn overscan off. I manage to cope though, move mouse pointer off screen where can't see it and click.

Also can only output 1080 if screen on laptop turned off, otherwise it will only allow laptop max screen resolution set.

DVD Players, PS3 etc remain plugged into TV. Also usuable with remote, wireless controller.
Be a hassle having to plug and unplug laptop from TV all the time.

Hope more devices come available later, for now I guess getting it to market asap is most important.

Also means your laptop is stuck watching tv. And you have to sit with it to control it. Nope I'd rather have a device that has a remote.

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bfginger

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#1076784 30-Jun-2014 06:28

JimmyH:
bfginger:

They should've launched with an HDMI dongle and remote control package with bundled 3 month subscription and connectivity setup guide to be sold in shops.

The last thing I would be interested in is a service that needs a proprietary dongle connected to an HDMI port to use it. My TV only has 4 HDMI sockets, and they are already all in use.

I didn't say the Lightbox system should require a proprietary dongle to as the only method of access. It would just be useful for the average person who wants to use a remote control and doesn't own a 5 metre HDMI cable.

jarledb

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#1076824 30-Jun-2014 09:09

dclegg:
davidcole:
turb: I'll be signing up for the trial period and blitzing through any content that isn't on Netflix as fast as I can! (Vikings)

Viking is on Netflix Netherlands...btw....I've been watching it there. POssible via a dns service that allows region switching.

Is it worth watching?

Wife and I love it. Really should give it a chance IMHO.

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dclegg

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#1076838 30-Jun-2014 09:29

jarledb:
dclegg:
davidcole:
turb: I'll be signing up for the trial period and blitzing through any content that isn't on Netflix as fast as I can! (Vikings)

Viking is on Netflix Netherlands...btw....I've been watching it there. POssible via a dns service that allows region switching.

Is it worth watching?

Wife and I love it. Really should give it a chance IMHO.

It does look like the kind of thing we'd enjoy. We'll take it for a spin and see how we fare with it.

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