• The best ways to watch TV online

      A post about by Chris Garrett on October 27th, '07

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      Watching TV online allows you to choose exactly what you watch, when you want to watch it. No more putting up with endless repeats from the BBC or having to wait months after your friends in the US to watch a show because you live in the UK. Here’s a list of the easiest and best ways to cosume TV over the magical interweb, each method has it’s advantages and dis-advantages and suits a particular kind of viewer, but try them out and work out which one’s best for you.

      Here’s a few sources for TV shows:

      1. Veoh

        Veoh

        Veoh is a site quite similar to YouTube, allowing users to upload videos and share them with the world, however there are some striking differences that make Veoh stand out as a great way to consume TV.

        First of all, Veoh supplies superior quality video encoded in the DivX format at a much higher resolution. This means that video actually looks good when viewed in full screen. Veoh also offers a desktop client, allowing you to download video and watch it whenever you like without needing to “buffer” the video like youtube. You can also find the .avi videos in a file called “VeohMedia”. If you have the divX component for Quicktime (and QT pro) you can then re-encode the video for playback on a number of devices.

        Finally, Veoh has some awesome content deals meaning you can legally download and watch some top class shows like CSI. Check it out →

      2. TVrss

        TVrss

        TVrss is one of my favorite services, it provides a fantasticly comprehensive list of shows and provides links to torrents for each episode as it becomes available. This in itself isn’t anything particularly special, however what I really like is the ability to extract RSS feeds for a specific show or even search term across the whole database of shows. Combine this with a bittorrent client that includes support for feeds, such as Miro and you have a truely on demand service, shows are downloaded as and when they become available and you can watch them whenever you like.

        All the shows are HD aswell, so if you’re playing them back on your TV you can’t beat them for quality.

      3. Miro

        Miro

        Miro is a fantastic piece of software that was originally created as the ultimate way to discover and consume podcasts (originally named “Democracy player”). It’s since been developed into one of the most robust video players in existence, with support for practically every video format around. Miro also allows you to browse and download videos from Youtube and supports RSS feeds for subscribing to podcasts. The addition of support for torrents make it the perfect partner for TVrss.

        Miro also has an excellent directory of freely available video which you can subscribe to for automatic updates. Content includes some awesome HD podcasts and you can even add your own by following this guide.

      4. iTunes, 4OD & Bittorrent store

        iTunes

        At last, we’ve come to 2 systems that are guaranteed legal! However, the problem with them being legal is that they cost money, a considerable amount of it. Individual shows are being sold at $1.99 for US citizens (or an extortionate £1.89 for UK itunes users). I used itunes for about a year to watch my favourite US shows well ahead of UK scheduling, however I recently had to move away from itunes due to them requiring a US bank account (not just Paypal account).

        The reason I originally chose to use iTunes as my TV provider was not because of the quality (the videos are actually fairly low resolution) but because of the user-experience. The store is incredibly well designed, making consuming shows very easy and also enabling me to effectively discover new and relevant content. However, since switching, I’ve realised how riddled with flaws these services are.

        The first, and most pressing issue, is the lack of diversity in content. The services have to play by the book and that means only providing content from channels/producers/studios they’re in bed with. This means there isn’t really that much content available and when companies like NBC pull their content your left half way through a season with no hope of getting the rest of the shows.

        The systems also have to impose DRM on the downloads, which means in the case of iTunes you’re locked to playing the shows on your PC, your iPod or your appleTV. As I’ve moaned about continuously since it’s release, 4OD is only available to Windows users because of the need for a specific DRM format which means people using something better don’t have access to the content.

      I can’t imagine many people want to spend all evening glued to their PC screen (and probably don’t have a 24″ iMac like me :D) so the challenge now is getting your freshly downloaded content on to your big screen TV, here’s a few gadgets for breaking your downloaded shows out of the PC and on to the Plasma.

      1. AppleTV

        appleTV

        I have an AppleTV and I love it. It’s bought HDTV to my plasma without the need for overpriced Sky packages. I can browse youtube, listen to my music collection, watch movies and TV all via an intuitive and beautiful interface.

        There are, however, a few issues I have with the AppleTV. First, the hard-disk is tiny. When I bought mine there was only a 40GB HDD on offer, but fortunately I stream all my TV off my old G5 powermac which has loads of space. Secondly, sound is an issue. This is partly because of my TV, not accepting the appleTV’s audio line, but also the lack of surround sound support is irritating (I’m using 2.1 channels of a 5.1 setup).

        My biggest complaint with the AppleTV is the lack of third party integration. It doesn’t support divX or Xvid codecs and there’s no open platform to encourage development on the system. I’d like to see documentation and an open API become available to allow great people like Veoh to make use of an otherwise brilliant platform.

        If you don’t mind encoding your video before playback, the AppleTV is the best bridge between your PC and your TV available.

      2. Virgin Media & BT vision

        BTvision

        I’m yet to use either of these systems. The biggest issue I’ve come across with these is the need to enter into lengthy contracts and pay monthly bills for them. If I was going to use either, it would have to be BT’s offering because Virgin requires specific cables which have fairly low coverage in the UK (I can’t get it where I live!).

        BT’s vision package does seem quite enticing, a single box that allows you to watch and record Freeview broadcasts, internet content from a distribution deal with BT podshow and any videos stored on your network. However, you need to have a BT line and an existing broadband package with them. I think you also need to use their proprietary router aswell.

        Both packages allow you to download TV and movies on demand, this seems a nice idea as it eliminates the need for a PC unlike the iTunes/AppleTV combo. Going on the adverts both companies are putting out, Virgin appears to have the best content (shame the same can’t be said for thier freeview channel, Virgin 1) but there’s still the delay between US and UK releases.

      3. iPod with Universal Dock

        iPod

        This is probably the most affordable way of getting your downloads onto your TV, especially if you already have an iPod. All you need to do is rig the Universal Dock up to your TV, dock your iPod and away you go. You get the same remote as you would using an AppleTV, but only the iPod’s rather basic interface which isn’t quite so special sans clickwheel.

        A few issues here include the lack of HD, you’re stuck viewing at the highest resolution your iPod supports and I’m yet to find out what the sound qualities up to. You’ve also got to battle with the issue of space, there’s no ability to stream over a network like there is with the AppleTV and while 160gb is more than enough for most people’s music collection, when you’re housing your TV archive it quickly deminishes.

        But if you’re looking for a way to get up and running on the cheap and make use of what you’ve already got, I’d say this is it. On the same note, friends of mine in the past have rigged up laptop’s and small form-factor PC’s using similar connections but due to the traditional desktop PC not being designed for use at a low resolution or from a distance it didn’t work out very well.

      4. Nintendo Wii

        Nintendo Wii

        This has to be my favourite way to watch TV! The Opera browser coupled with the Wii is a combination I’m sure will revolutionise the market. What I love about this system is how easy it is. If you want to watch a video on youtube, browse to the video and play it. If you want veoh or dailymotion, just do the same. No downloading, no encoding, no hassle. Sure, the quality isn’t great. Sure, the Wiimote isn’t ideal for performing a lot of searches. Sure, there’s no central place for content. But the system’s so open, you can watch whatever you can find, just like you would on your PC, but on your Wii. One of my favourite sites to watch videos on the Wii at the moment has to be Vimeo, they recently added a specific channel for HD content, which can be viewed in HD quality through their online flash player, and while there’s no mainstream content there, some of the user submissions are pretty engaging. The design’s also so big and bouncey it works beautifully on the Wii :)

        All I think that’s needed for the Wii to take off as a TV viewing platform is something paramount to the iTunes store, a central place where you can find and watch content easily and efficiently. If someone comes up with it, I’ll be a happy Wii user :D

      These are pretty much the best ways I can think of at the moment to find, download and watch TV at your computer and in your living room. Unfortunately, all I can offer is a UK point of view on the subject, so if you’re in the US and know of any outstanding or up and coming technologies that are relevant, please leave details in the comments or signup and add your own article to Teevieo :)

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  2. 11 Responses to “The best ways to watch TV online”

    1. Apple Ipod, Ipod Nano and Ipod Video News » The best ways to watch TV online Says:
      October 27th, 2007 at 11:52 pm

      […] Eco friendly products, sustainable green living, eco fashion, eco furniture, green gadgets wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt Watching TV online allows you to choose exactly what you watch, when you want to watch it. No more putting up with endless repeats from the BBC or having to wait months after your friends in the US to watch a show because you live in the UK. Here’s a list of the easiest and best ways to cosume TV over the magical interweb, […]

    2. » The best ways to watch TV online » Minimology Says:
      October 28th, 2007 at 12:15 am

      […] Read the rest of the article at Teevieo […]

    3. Benjamin Says:
      October 28th, 2007 at 10:12 pm

      I’m curious - I didn’t realise the Wii did HD - does it have an HDMI Output? On a less geeky note, thanks for the post - It is nice to be in control of TV, rather than TV being in control of us.

    4. Chris Garrett Says:
      October 28th, 2007 at 11:09 pm

      Hi Benjamin, thanks for the comment :) I don’t think I worded that section of the article too well, the Wii doesn’t support HD, it’s resolution (for the browser) is actually very low, something like 608×456px. I really just wanted to point out that Vimeo offer HD content :)

    5. Benjamin Says:
      October 29th, 2007 at 11:39 am

      Ah, got it, I’ll check it out!

    6. Laura Says:
      November 5th, 2007 at 10:07 am

      Very insightful especially BT Vision. Currently I use http://www.freetube.uni.cc it works great but I could do with more free tv.

    7. steve Says:
      November 18th, 2007 at 2:52 am

      I just downloaded the full browser for wii.

      I am trying to watch some online videos, You tube and google vid seem to work ok but only limited videos and poor quality.

      Quality on veoh is good but All i can get are 5 min previews. Says I need dowload veoh tv to see to whole thing. When I tried it said it wasnt supported by the browser.

      Many other sites simply say plugin not supported.

      Any further tips would be appreciated

      Would be cool if opera supported flash player and divx web player. Theres great potential here
      especialy as wii could possibly be the cheapest way to access internet.

      Thanks

    8. Chris Garrett Says:
      November 18th, 2007 at 8:35 pm

      hi Steve, yes annoyingly Veoh now make you download their desktop player to watch the full length videos.

      I have a source that says a divX plugin for the Wii is coming, but it’s yet to be confirmed (you heard it here first).

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