Crookston webcast

[jimdahl]

Quality seems on par with the demos. Interestingly, it launched into media player instead of in that special window with the advertising. It's nice because that makes it resizable (it's a reasonably small picture), but when you enlarge it too much you really start to notice the compression artifacts. I think I'm finding about 1.5x it's normal size to be my favorite.

I've had it get confused and rebuffer once in the first 10 minutes, but it's overall been very stable.

[Fedorov]

I already wrote in the hockey forum, but I found the pq to be unacceptable. I can only choose between two sizes, so I'm not sure how many you have found. I like the presentation, but football is not good and hockey will be worse.

[jimdahl]

You can resize the media player to any size just by grabbing the lower right corner of the window and dragging it.

Question for you: When you go to the pull-down menu and view -> statistics, on the advanced page what number is by "bandwidth in use"? I'm just curious if we're seeing exactly the same thing, because I find the picture somewhat watchable for football (though agree that the compression artifacts would become very annoying in hockey)

[Fedorov]

I still can't resize the image, but that's OK. When I enlarge it, it already becomes a lot worse. The bandwith in use ranges from 220 to 235.

[jimdahl]

The bandwith in use ranges from 220 to 235.

Yep, that's the highest quality you'll get, then. They're broadcasting at 222Kb/s. I was hoping it would be a bit better, too, but I find it a bit more watchable than you do. Like I said in my first post, no one is going to confuse it with tv. I am starting to get more and more of the stuttering now and then.

TD UND

[Fedorov]

I guess I should clarify my claim. It is watchable, but it is not worth $9 a game. I am also only interested in it for hockey, which is why I am more negative because I know it will become worse. Hockey is much faster and will be watched by many more people. The sound cut out during the coin toss, it has been stuttering now on my end as well, and it seems to get really messed up when there is a cut to a commercial. The first commercial resulted in "buffering" for almost a minute. This could be an issue with the radio broadcast and switching feeds for advertising.

[U2Bad1]

I found it very good for the live play.. but does anyboidy notice problems during commercials and when coming back from commercials?

[Fedorov]

As I said above, the commercials are very bad. They screw up the webcast and in the future people will pay for the service, so I think they need to go. Mine also cut out after the touchdown called back.

[U2Bad1]

As I said above, the commercials are very bad. They screw up the webcast and in the future people will pay for the service, so I think they need to go. Mine also cut out after the touchdown called back.

I agree completely, hockey will be even more difficult to watch.. the commercials are driving me nuts!!

[jimdahl]

It sounds like we're getting the "cut outs" at the same time, which makes the problem seem to be on their end instead of ours. The commercials don't work at all. I agree that only diehards are going to pay $9/game for this -- though I'm not yet sure if that includes me I'll definitely want to see the hockey demo before paying for a hockey game since it will be so much faster moving. On the business side, the demo doesn't seem to have come close to "selling out" the 300 free views.

[UND Fan]

Do others agree that there are far too many graphics? I would rather watch what is happening on the field than see the long T-O-U-C-H-D-O-W-N, First Down and Instant Replay graphics

Pretty good other than that.

[Schmitzzz]

I agree that there may be too many graphics, but overall, I am very pleased with the quality. It's not like watching it on the tube, but I have enjoyed it. If I were a huge football fan, I would likely subscribe to the service. I am very intersested in the quality of the hockey broadcast. I don't expect it to be be as good as the football but if I can still follow the game I'll pay the $100 to be able to watch most of the games... it's a great deal for someone like me who lives far away and can't possibly make it to the games.

[choyt3]

I don't know if you guys have seen a live game at the Alerus, but what we are watching appears to be exactly the same as what is seen on the video screens in the arena. That has to be the reason for the "fire up Sioux" and "T-O-U-C-H-D-O-W-N" graphics. Sounds reasonable, anyway.

42-0 wow. Crookston has been outscored 108-7 only 6 quarters into the season.

Make that 49-0 and 115-7...

Remind me why the Sioux play my alma mater again?

[Fighting Sioux Fan]

Remind me why the Sioux play my alma mater again?

It is a warm up game.

[choyt3]

It is a warm up game.

Really?

Anyway, from the UND Official Athletics website, I clicked on the "Click to listen" button (Teamline) and was sent to this Teamline's UND sports broadcast.

My question: Is this going to be the only option for listening to a web-cast of the audio to UND sports this season?

You have three payment options:

You can pay $5 for every 10 minute listening block.

You can pay a flat $40 to listen to today's entire game.

You can purchase 4,000 minutes of listening time in advance, (featuring

our lowest rate: 10

[U2Bad1]

Really?

Anyway, from the www.fightingsioux.com website, I clicked on the "listen live" button and was sent to this Teamline's UND sports broadcast.

My question: Is this going to be the only option for listening to a web-cast of the audio to UND sports this season?

[Schmitzzz]

You have to look further down the page to find the link that says "click here to listen to football broadcast". This one is still free.

[U2Bad1]

What is the point of the Teamline link then if you can still get it for free ??

[choyt3]

Edit: I see that this is an option for when the regular audio is not available (1440 the fan or 96.1 FM). Ok, my rant is over.

I already stated that a couple posts above.

Nonetheless, a $400 "option" isn't much of an option.

[UND Fan]

Teamline is for use via telephone, not via computer.

[choyt3]

Teamline is for use via telephone, not via computer.

These Games are Available on a Pay-To-Listen Basis

To listen via the Telephone OR Internet please read the payment options below. A portion of your paid call is paid to this team to help support their athletic programs. The games and sports available for this team are listed in the schedule box on the right. Enter your home telephone number below to register for your broadcasts.

The above is from Teamline.

Just going by what I read. That said, the price tag would seem to make much more sense if it is telephone only option.

[UND Fan]

You make a good point. You certainly can use Teamline on the Internet. However, there is really never a need to do so for listening to UND athletics. Their website provides radio coverage for all UND FB, BB and hockey games. You really only need Teamline when your only communication source is the telephone.

[U2Bad1]

If anybody is interested, the UM - NDSU game is on right now. YOu can access the streaming audio or video at http://mtgriz.com/

UM is beating NDSU 24-2.

[OETKB]

Just finished watching UND's first-ever webcast, and it was a lot of fun.

The picture is pretty good. I experienced quite a few short stoppages in the stream. Also, a few moments where the audio was ahead of the picture. However, I'd say 85% of the game was flawless, and that's good enough for me.

[Brent_Bobyck]

I believe that the webcast was a major success today. Yes there were a few problems with the commercials, etc. but you have to remember this has never been done before at UND and not to mention 80% of universities across the country in any division. What UND is doing with the webcasting is great and the bugs will be worked out. By the time the next few games come around, the webcast will run basically flawless. I have all the confidence in the world in the UND/REA Webcast staff.

Great Job Today!!