Project Canvas 'YouView' Trust approved

TalkTalk to offer free Project Canvas set-top boxes with some broadband packages

Project Canvas, the multi-broadcaster project aimed at offering streaming TV content over the Internet, recently gained approval from the BBC Trust. With that hurdle cleared, the project will now need support from ISPs if it's going to be a success, and TalkTalk is suggesting that it may offer set-top boxes for free on certain broadband packages. That sounds pretty supportive to us.

It makes plenty of sense to have ISPs on-board, because Project Canvas, which is expected to launch with the brand name YouView, will consume a massive amount of data. Having ISPs like TalkTalk involved from the start should mean that they can charge an appropriate monthly fee to cover their costs, and ensure that the quality of service doesn't suffer. With boxes expected to retail at around £200, we'd assume that TalkTalk will want you to sign up for at least a 12-month contract in order to get a 'free' box.

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CRAVE.CNET.CO.UK/TELEVISIONS

Name confirmed as YouView this morning

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TWITTER.COM/RUSKIN147
16-09-2010 @ 11:43

Cleared by Ofcom today .....

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WWW.GUARDIAN.CO.UK/MEDIA
19-Oct-2010 @ 10:02

and

MEDIA.OFCOM.ORG.UK/2010
19-Oct-2010 @ 10:03

How is it that the BBC can specifiy/standardise YouView set top boxes (and other set top boxes like Freeview, Freeview HD, Freesat) and other standards, but not a consumer thing that is a big competitor to Blu-ray & DVD (maybe YouView is a sort of competitor to those - but you know what I mean)?

no, not really.

I suppose because there is no need for the BBC to develop a new disc based format. The commercial sector has already done that.

Surely its only for the BBC (as a broadcaster) to develop delivery formats, rather than a storage/retrieval formats?

Well the reason they could is that it should cost a lot less for them (BBC Worldwide) to release on than say releasing on Blu-ray (no forced AACS licenses etc.). Also, they could make it do stuff that Blu-ray can't. They've been doing experiments on high frame rates (and giving reasons why they are a lot better than current ones), ie. above 50/60 (up to 300 or so), cameras can now easily do 1080p50/60 (okay the BBC aren't fully using it yet..) but there is no way to get it to the consumer if they did, they've been broadcasting Super Hivision to Japan (and across the channel?), and downcoverting it to 4K, they've been recording things in a fuller-3d format (not just stereoscopic - ie. with the scene surrounded by cameras to generate/calculate a full 3d scene). There's many formats Blu-ray can't do (eg. 1080p at anything other than 24 fps, stereoscopic 3D at only 1080p24 or 720p but nothing higher).

Some of these types of things of things could be added to a physical format the BBC could specify, and internet bandwidth (and bandwidth caps) wouldn't be a problem for it (like they are with YouView). It could be a disc format or some other physical format you buy - whatever is cheapest to produce. It could be an open format or the BBC could earn from other people using it. It doesn't have to be a separate machine - it (the drive or whatever) could be an addition to a set top box - ie. YouView+ or Freeview HD+...

The problem with the BBC doing something like that is blu-ray and such disc formats have already gone through long periods of development with many organisations contributing and making improvements. Such improvements that you have suggested would require much higher storage capacity, which blu-ray was developed for, meaning new formats at the moment would find it hard to improve on blu-ray. Also blu-rays are probably cheaper to produce than developing a new open standard as although there are licensing costs they are already being produced in bulk.