Well, I decided to install the latest Parallels Workstation for Mac beta and 4oD to see what it's all about (I'm still anti-DRM/Windows though).

I downloaded the free Trigger Happy TV episode and was surprised to see just how SMALL the video resolution was. Using the size adjusters within the 4oD only produce badly upscaled images.

Channel4 want people to PAY for low resolution DRM video? No thanks!

M.

I really think C4 have some agenda going here. Why on earth they chose to use Windows Media over direct iTunes sales or even RealPlayer as the BBC do is beyond me. The content is too small, really lossy and takes longer to dl than watch!

If they're really concerned about DRM, they could use FLV for streaming only or even MPEG4 via QuickTime with the download option for QTPro owners disabled.

This reminds me of Emi and their cursed Copy Protection CDs, which aren't CDs at all but software players.

I understand that copyright protection is important, but so are the rights of the consumer / purchaser.

Maybe the video is formatted/has the resolution best suited to watching on a mobile phone?

KinkiJim..many thanks for the suggestions re alternatives to Windows DRM. Pity Channel 4 - which I used to hold in the highest respect - didn't bother to do their homework.

I've been doing some testing with this, and the video encoding is *awful*. C4/4oD claim that full screen video is as good, if not better, than VHS quality.

I strongly disagree and I work in the film and television post-production industry and see all manner of encoding going on around me all day, every day.

BSkyB do a far better job with their Sky Anytime - it's at least twice the resolution as C4/4oD and scales significantly better at full screen resolution. And it's free with a Sky TV subscription.

So where the heck is quality control with this service?

M.

Well..when you have a company that gives out this rubbish as to why they don't support Macs....

This is an industry-wide issue caused because the accepted Digital Rights Management (DRM) system used to protect online video content, which is required by our content owners, is not compatible with Apple Mac hardware and software. The closed DRM system used by Apple is not currently available for licence by third parties and there is no other Mac-compatible DRM solution which meets the protection requirements of content owners. Unfortunately, we are therefore unable to offer 4oD content to Mac users at this stage.

Then what do you expect? It seems to me that Channel4 rushed this service out without actually thinking it through properly? Perhaps they got a team of management consultants in?

It's because of DRM that I believe that piracy is so rampant. Why go for the legitimate product when you can get it for free in a format that'll work on just about anything?

The thing is this. Even if the Apple DRM *was* licensable, it'd exclude Linux users. Okay, there aren't anywhere near as mnay Linux users as Windows (or even Mac users) but likewise, Windows users are far more in the majority than Mac owners are. But that's still to say that providing a cross-platform system isn't worth bothering about.

Microsoft refuse to port their DRM to other platforms. Apple refuses to license theirs too. What do you do? Refuse to support either system and develop it yourself (expensive) or just do away with DRM and trust the consumer. It's more about education than simply locking everything down.

Oh I do wish a venture capatilist would come along and throw some money into something worthwhile..

The quality is crap. For 700mb I get a 1 hour 30 file that's worse than DVD quality.

If they used some better encoding they could get twice the quality at the same filesize.

quote:

Originally posted by Londonman:
Well..when you have a company that gives out this rubbish as to why they don't support Macs....

This is an industry-wide issue caused because the accepted Digital Rights Management (DRM) system used to protect online video content, which is required by our content owners, is not compatible with Apple Mac hardware and software. The closed DRM system used by Apple is not currently available for licence by third parties and there is no other Mac-compatible DRM solution which meets the protection requirements of content owners. Unfortunately, we are therefore unable to offer 4oD content to Mac users at this stage.

Then what do you expect? It seems to me that Channel4 rushed this service out without actually thinking it through properly? Perhaps they got a team of management consultants in?

Too right, C4 have not updated this in any way shape or form and STILL no support for Macs
even fecking ITV who are notorious for being behind the times have a player for Macs that works

if both the BBC and ITV can get themselves sorted over the supposed DRM problem so can C4 or do their advertisers not worry about internet content? Should all of the mac and linux users withdraw our tax funding which gets paid to C4 through hefty subsidies from the Govt?