BBC iPlayer: TV without a TV (BBC iPlayer)

Member Name: Review_God

Product:	BBC iPlayer
Date:	07/11/08 (495 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use, good quality videos, large amount of content

Disadvantages: Only TV shows from the BBC, so you'll still need a TV

The creation and growth of the internet is probably the biggest thing to have happened in recent times. It was thought up half a century ago, but that was in a science fiction story! It has only been the in the last twenty or so years that the internet has been developed. Starting off all you got were pages of text because it is all that could be transferred at the slow speed of the internet at the time. As speeds increased we got images, and recently (the last 5 years or so) onto video as well.

Video is what I want to concentrate on here. As you will probably know, video is basically just tons of images displayed one after another, giving the idea of motion. This explains why video has taken so long to get onto the internet - a three minute video might be about 2700 frames at 15fps. The internet has only recently been able to shift around this amount of data. This of course applies to any large files, not just videos.

So, what good is this new-found ability to download videos from the internet? Websites like YouTube have been huge successes, but why be content with watching random strangers look stupid? What about 'proper' video? What about TV?

Ignoring the fact that everybody has televisions that work fine, it was decided that watching TV on a computer would be really awesome - and it only took a few years for broadcasters to catch on. Channel 4 was one of the first with "4od", which was frankly rubbish. You had to use a clunky, slow, buggy piece of software to download TV shows to your computer. It was not good, but it was a start.

The earliest version of the BBC's iPlayer was similar - you downloaded a piece of software, and then you could download most of the TV shows that had been broadcast on TV in the last 7 days. A 'catch-up service', as they put it. This was nice, but it wasn't as simple and easy to use as it should be. It was difficult to use, you had to use internet explorer, and it didn't work on Windows Vista or on Macs. I think that services such as iPlayer should be able to be a replacement for a TV, and the first version of iPlayer was not at this point.

Two versions later, and I think the BBC iPlayer has achieved this goal. The service now almost always works properly, there is no longer any need to download anything, and radio shows are available. Just head over to bbc.co.uk/iplayer and you can start watching straight away from within your web browser. Almost everything that was broadcast on TV in the last 7 days is available to watch, even US imports like 'Heroes'. On top of this, for some BBC shows such as 'Doctor Who' and 'Merlin' earlier episodes of the series are also available for as long as there are new episodes being aired. So if you start watching a show at say episode 5, you can go back and watch episodes 1-4 even if they aired more than a 7 days ago.

The iPlayer website is very easy to navigate. On the homepage are links to 'highlights' of the week, as well the top 10 and what aired the previous evening. It also displays what you recently watched, and if you didn't finish it you are given an option to resume watching from where you left off. There is also a search box so that if you know what you want, you can find it straight away. If you delve further into the site you can browse shows by channel, or by when they aired. Despite all these options, the site is very clear, easy to use and almost impossible to get lost in.

Videos themselves are clear, crisp and of a good size. There is an option to watch them full screen, but this makes them a bit blurry. You can play videos in higher quality if your internet connection is fast enough, but to be honest I have never noticed much of a difference between normal and high quality. It might just be my eyes.

So, is it good enough to replace a television? I use iPlayer more than I use a TV for BBC shows, mainly because I can watch a show whenever I want to rather than at the time the television tells me. This can even be on the same day as it was broadcast on TV, as a show is often on iPlayer within an hour.

However, I don't think the internet will replace TV just yet. I love the BBC iPlayer, but I watch more than just the BBC. ITV and Channel 4 have their own catch-up services but they are a bit rubbish, and I would rather watch them on TV. Perhaps this will change in a year or so, when 'Kangaroo' is released. Kangaroo will be an online video service that will have content from BBC, ITV and Channel 4 all on the same site. Not much is known about it at the moment but if it is anything like iPlayer, it'll be a huge success.

BBC's iPlayer has been very popular. So popular in fact that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have been moaning that everyone is using it too much and slowing down their networks! The iPlayer has served about 250 million shows, and it is used by all age ranges - 20% of people using it are 55 or over.

The iPlayer is incredible piece of technology, and is way ahead of it's competition. You should give it a go - you paid for it after all.

Just go to www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer

Summary: BBC is ahead of the game - your TV licence is being spent on something awesome.

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