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Already offering possibly the best online catch-up service of any television broadcaster, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has moved to improve its popular iPlayer platform yet further with a selection of appealing new features and user enhancements.
iPlayer content, now in HD. Image: BBC.
The biggest new addition sees iPlayer watchers given access to select content streams and episode downloads in high-definition (HD), which should result in a noticeable rise in overall picture quality thanks to H.264 and an encoding bitrate of 3.2Mbps.
“Introducing HD streams enables users to enjoy BBC programmes in HD without a set-top box,” enthused Anthony Rose, BBC head of digital media technology, who also labelled the availability of HD content as “a significant milestone” in improving video standards.
Beyond the obvious viewing advantages of high-definition, the BBC has also rolled out a new diagnostic tool that users can task with scrutinising their Internet connection and automatically adjusting streaming to provide the best possible reception and playback.
Other fresh features include a viewing window that’s doubled in size, the appearance of the new iPlayer Desktop, an Internet speed diagnostic tool, and a cross-platform manager that expands platform usage across Windows, Mac and Linux-based systems.
And, if your computer isn’t equipped with high-speed broadband and a well-oiled graphics card – both of which are necessary to fully enjoy the HD experience – then the BBC is keen to point out that its SD content has also been improved to carry at 1500Kbps when selecting the larger window size.
“Finally, BBC programmes should look as good on your computer as they do on your TV,” added Rose, “even if you don’t choose the HD option.”
Since launching on December 25 of 2007, the BBC iPlayer has gone on to amass considerable success amounting to almost 400 million streams and downloads.
Annoying note: The BBC iPlayer is only available to residents of the United Kingdom -- so much for the international reach of the Internet.
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