Sneak Prevue Laserdisc!

[JoeTheDragon]

Was this from sneak Prevue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd_H_9ql-CQ Wow comcast trying to be hip with how to order rap.


well the old Sneak Prevue seems to live on with the In iN DEMAND sports info slides http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im4aBvWC ... re=related.

[AriX]

Was this from sneak Prevue http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd_H_9ql-CQ Wow comcast trying to be hip with how to order rap.

No, that's not Sneak Prevue - it has a markedly different presentation style. The "How to Order" rap is pretty funny though

well the old Sneak Prevue seems to live on with the In iN DEMAND sports info slides http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im4aBvWC ... re=related.

Haha, I see what you mean.

[joseph_sobora]

Now that were in the topic, I remember "Sneak Prevue" did had a promo back in 1995 where a suspicious crook, wearing tree branching on his head, was trying to return the tapes at a local video store late at night, then he was spotted by the cops and was later behind bars with the "Sneak Prevue" logo at the bottom of the right hand corner. It had the footage of the movie "The Mask" with the ordering instructions and the "TONIGHT" listings background. I saw this on the Prevue Channel.

[tin]

I definitely think there's room for some better form of channel guidance than flipping through channels, or even flipping through 100+ channels in a guide. I like the idea of being able to watch a channel to find out what's going to be on tonight (that's not a rerun or some crap). Nothing like that exists anymore.

I agree with that entirely. I also think it's not going to be that difficult even in the age of 500+ channels. While doing the channel parsing for freeview listings on PGweb I strip nearly 1/2 the channels out because they're either single subject (QVC = selling you stuff), severely part time (some of them are on for just 2 hours a day!) or just the same channel as another an hour later (OK maybe someone does want to see that). It might also be worth doing an even more selective version that as you suggest picks out first showings, movies/sport, primetime or things of particular interest only. However that would require a lot more work on the metadata.

However, the innovation on Rovi's side seems to have been completely stifled. The main problem with them being a patent troll is that they're more invested in their patents than their products. A few years ago, they laid off all/most remaining IPG developers from the Tulsa office that originally developed the software, and outsourced the development to Comcast, who also does not seem to know how to improve it. And they sold off the TV Guide Network because it didn't relate to any patents that could be useful to them (maybe also because it sucked). The hardware deployment, software design, and transmission for the TV Guide Network still shares the Rovi office in Tulsa despite the ownership change.

Aha, as I guessed. That's really sad as I am sure there's stuff they can do with the systems they own. Good news that Virgin in the UK at least is beginning to show their patents don't apply - if anything to maybe get them to innovate a bit to stay alive!

This is partially unrelated, but Rovi also has a monopoly on U.S. TV listings, and most data about what's on TV here needs to come from them at some level, which is severely annoying.

That is ridiculous! How can one company have the monopoly on the data about what's on? Talk about milking the cash cow!

I agree with this as well. I get the impression this will be more due to the cableco's wanting to differentiate their services - and being controlling/greedy (that's the impression I get from over here) they don't want to pay some external company to provide a barker channel that everyone else has as well - albeit with appropriate logos. I was going to say that capacity issues towards the end of analogue probably forced the issues as well, but actually our cablecos here never made any effort to ensure all capacity was filled with the highest quality stuff, so that's probably rubbish.

Perhaps that's the case. I may well be in the minority, but I really think that better, more straightforward barker channels and guidance channels could really help to make finding out what's on TV and On Demand much easier. A lot of people around me seem to have trouble doing that.

I didn't really say what I meant to say there, I agree that a straightforward national/slightly customised barker channel would be better. A team working on a national version is going to produce a better quality product than a guy locally. I just think
the cablecos probably thought they know better and even though they have not managed better in 10 years they have not changed that view.

However I am even more confused now as to how it died. Looking at the youtube video of what we think is the MPEG delivery system, it's really slick and evidently a bit more graphically capable. (I would also guess that it was not running on an Amiga - unless they tried something with the A4000 or maybe bastardised A1200) I am sure they would have had to kill off the laserdisc version sooner or later as the cost must have been high, and the laserdisc players must have been getting old, but it could have lived on that newer format for a long time.

As Joseph pointed out, the video we were looking at was not in fact Sneak Prevue. They did have an MPEG version of their system somewhere, but it also ran on the Amiga.

Sure but the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9kaxqGmaa4 is clearly using the same software IMHO Whether an Amiga/MPEG (I think unlikely because of the amount of colours in the graphics, although it's hard to tell) or something else, it's just a de-branded sneak prevue don't you think?

[AriX]

I agree with that entirely. I also think it's not going to be that difficult even in the age of 500+ channels. While doing the channel parsing for freeview listings on PGweb I strip nearly 1/2 the channels out because they're either single subject (QVC = selling you stuff), severely part time (some of them are on for just 2 hours a day!) or just the same channel as another an hour later (OK maybe someone does want to see that). It might also be worth doing an even more selective version that as you suggest picks out first showings, movies/sport, primetime or things of particular interest only. However that would require a lot more work on the metadata.

Agreed!

Sure but the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9kaxqGmaa4 is clearly using the same software IMHO Whether an Amiga/MPEG (I think unlikely because of the amount of colours in the graphics, although it's hard to tell) or something else, it's just a de-branded sneak prevue don't you think?

I've gotta disagree with you here. While it is certainly influenced by Sneak Prevue's presentation style, it is clearly not the same software or platform. Sneak Prevue was pretty heavily branded, and Prevue Networks would not have marketed a generic version of it. If you look at certain screens side-by-side, like "Up Next" and the previews themselves, they are clearly different enough that the services are unrelated. I know for a fact that the MPEG version of Sneak Prevue ran on the same Amiga software as the LaserDisc version, and this is not it.

MPEG is not a software platform, it is just a different way of storing video. It was used instead of the LaserDisc player, not instead of the Amiga.

[tin]

Sure but the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9kaxqGmaa4 is clearly using the same software IMHO Whether an Amiga/MPEG (I think unlikely because of the amount of colours in the graphics, although it's hard to tell) or something else, it's just a de-branded sneak prevue don't you think?

I've gotta disagree with you here. While it is certainly influenced by Sneak Prevue's presentation style, it is clearly not the same software or platform. Sneak Prevue was pretty heavily branded, and Prevue Networks would not have marketed a generic version of it. If you look at certain screens side-by-side, like "Up Next" and the previews themselves, they are clearly different enough that the services are unrelated. I know for a fact that the MPEG version of Sneak Prevue ran on the same Amiga software as the LaserDisc version, and this is not it.

HMMM OK, on the computer generated side of it, that is a pretty blatent rip off of Sneak Prevue. Of course the backgrounds etc are different and unbranded but that's understandable. Wonder if we can dig any more information up on it.

MPEG is not a software platform, it is just a different way of storing video. It was used instead of the LaserDisc player, not instead of the Amiga.

Course, I understood that just calling it MPEG for the want of a better name. BTW do you know anything about the hardware used for the Amiga/MPEG version? I looked through a load of patents last night but did not find anything relevant. I also have an A4000 that plays MPEG directly, could it have been that, or was it just A2000's with hardware controlled like the LaserDisc player?

[Bolt96]

Late reply but thanks for the clips & pics! Looks like Sneak Prevue wanted to go for more of a slick, modern look. I almost remember the red Comcast In-demand bg used on the Sneak Prevue for my area.

I definitely think there's room for some better form of channel guidance than flipping through channels, or even flipping through 100+ channels in a guide. I like the idea of being able to watch a channel to find out what's going to be on tonight (that's not a rerun or some crap). Nothing like that exists anymore.

Truer words have never been spoken! Almost 1,000 channels with nothing but crap, it is really a mystery to me why something similar to Prevue Channel/Sneak Prevue's format is not in existence today.

[tin]

Seeing as Rovi is a patent troll, and therefore you'd never get away with running such a thing, and that they don't seem interested in developing such a thing themselves, I wonder if they'd licence the relevant patents so someone else can run one?

[AriX]

Seeing as Rovi is a patent troll, and therefore you'd never get away with running such a thing, and that they don't seem interested in developing such a thing themselves, I wonder if they'd licence the relevant patents so someone else can run one?

Actually, there are very few/no patents on the Prevue Channel, and only one or two on Sneak Prevue, which may not apply to all such services. The vast majority of Rovi's patents acquired from TV Guide/Prevue are interactive-related.

[AriX]

HMMM OK, on the computer generated side of it, that is a pretty blatent rip off of Sneak Prevue. Of course the backgrounds etc are different and unbranded but that's understandable. Wonder if we can dig any more information up on it.

I haven't been able to find much, but these videos have some more clips of it:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xggfj0 ... shortfilms (this one also has a little clip of the Prevue Channel at the end that I hadn't seen before)
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xf1ptb ... shortfilms
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xf4m45 ... shortfilms

Course, I understood that just calling it MPEG for the want of a better name. BTW do you know anything about the hardware used for the Amiga/MPEG version? I looked through a load of patents last night but did not find anything relevant. I also have an A4000 that plays MPEG directly, could it have been that, or was it just A2000's with hardware controlled like the LaserDisc player?

After reviewing the MPEG stuff, I'm really confused. I'm not at all sure whether or not Sneak Prevue itself actually had an MPEG version. From a UVSG promotional release:
"Sneak Prevue and The Barker take pay-per-view promotion to a new level and dimension. The biggest news for Sneak Prevue in 1996 was our joint venture with Starnet’s The Barker. The Barker’s MPEG I digital format allows us to enter the digital age of television with established technology in approximately 8 million homes. This joint venture brought our combined total number of basic subscribers to over 34 million, up from 26 million, or 30%, in 1996."

I'm thinking that "The Barker" may in fact be this pay-per-view previews channel that we've been discussing. So what is this "joint venture"? What is it branded? Maybe the "Sneak Prevue" video that I said was mislabeled was in fact related to Sneak Prevue? But if they had this vastly superior technology in 1996, why were they still using LaserDiscs in 2002? Also, I just re-read part of the Sneak Prevue-related patent, which provides an even more interesting tidbits:

"One commercially available promotion service, known as Sneak Prevue is a promotion distribution and broadcast system. The Sneak Prevue based on tapes has its video promotion transmitted over the satellite in the wee hours in the morning from the uplink to the downlink. A system called a character generator located at the downlink screens such transmitted video promotions and records only pertinent portions. The Sneak Prevue based on laser discs uses laser discs to deliver video information and, thus, has random ability to interrupt the normal play, for example, with the promotions for upcoming events. In either of the Sneak Prevue systems, the cable headend connected to the satellite downlink broadcasts to cable subscribers promotional videos overlaid with local information."

This suggests (1) there was a VHS or otherwise tape-based version of Sneak Prevue that somehow downloaded video over satellite (maybe this is the MPEG-based version that we've been discussing, but the videos are not stored in MPEG format? or maybe completely analog?) and (2) there was some facility for promotional videos to be sent over satellite and overlaid in real-time.

I think what I need to do at this point is call up my friend and ask him some of these questions, and see if I can finally get that source code from him.