Olympics online video: Forget it, Mac
Posted on August 1, 2008
Filed Under TV networks
NBC has gone live with its “Olympics on the Go” online video service, now active with footage from the Games’ trials.
I eagerly called up the site, now up at TV Tonic’s Olympic page, hoping to find the promised “near HD”-quality video, delivered via files that download semi-automatically onto the computer.
Here’s what I got instead:
Basically, you need Windows Vista and the latest version of Windows Media. I fit the profile on my laptop, and will report back. But for now, this post points to the absurdity of NBC and the Olympics not accommodating the many Mac owners, a demographic quite similar to that for sports programming.
Microsoft, of course, is in the mix, as a major ad sponsor and partner in the video operation. Microsoft, as in the creator of Vista and Windows Media.
For the “lucky ones” with (the widely disrespected) Vista, here are the system requirements.
Operating system:
- Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit currently not supported)
- Windows Media Center required — included with Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate
Hardware:
“If you meet the software requirements above then you most likely meet these hardware requirements as well.”
- Processor — 1GHz 32-bit processor minimum
- Memory — 1GB mininum RAM (2GB recommended)
- Disk space — minimum of .5GB per subscribed channel + 1GB add’l
- Video — 1024×768 minimum resolution; support for DirectX 9 graphics, minimum 128MB VRAM, WDDM Driver, Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware, 32 bits per pixel
Bandwidth:
- Broadband internet connection required (cable, DSL or similiar; 500kbps throughput recommended)
- “Aways on” connection for the best experience
“NBC Olympics On The Go delivers large video files; it may use a lot of bandwidth. It is not recommended for people using dial-up or metered broadband accounts.”
Here’s a link to the Olympics video quick start guide.
Incredible to find major media acting as if the Mac were still a second-tier computer system. Hulu, owned jointly by NBC Universal and Fox, doesn’t have sports as part of its deal with the NBC network. Prospects for the files showing up on that browser-based video service don’t look good.
The set-up is coming soon to the official NBC Olympics video page, which has some feature footage up there now.
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