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Some Thoughts on the CHL Network
By admin | November 5, 2007
I’ve been reading a lot of negative comments about the CHL Network, so I thought I’d chime in with a few observations.
1. It’s FREE.
2. Streaming live video and audio over the internet is still in its infancy. Networks are just starting to to be able to handle the bandwidth needed to pull it off properly. And for it to work properly, there are a number of things that have to work at several different places. When one of these things fails (it is technology and computers, after all) it screws up the whole thing.
3. The video feed you see is the same video feed as the old system. It is, in most buildings, the jumbotron feed. In a perfect world, what you see would be specific to the online broadcast. In reality, most teams do not have the manpower or the financial resources to devote to that. I have suggested finding a way to run only the main camera into the CHL Network box, but there are technical hurdles to leap to make that possible.
4. It’s FREE.
5. I’ve not had any problem watching any of the games. I usually run the CHL Network on my laptop while announcing the game; since there’s about a 15-20 second delay, I use it at times for “replays.” In the Hive, I’m on wireless, and I’ve not had any trouble.
Topics: Minor Observations |
November 5th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
I think the CHL Network is fantastic. Some buildings have better cameras than others and it really shows on the broadcast. We are very fortunate to be able to watch our team on the road and listen to our own broadcaster Mr. Bocchini at the same time. I have experienced very few problems, but at the end of the day nothing is perfect and as Mr. Bocchini says its free!
November 5th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
I agree with you Rich it’s FREE, and I too have had no problems. I’m finding it alot better than last year.
November 5th, 2007 at 9:43 pm
<p>Rich:</p>
<p>Streaming video on the internet is most certainly NOT in its infancy, it’s been done since at least 1998/1999, which is a very, very long time in computer-years.</p>
<p>Its which is ok, except that those on MacOS or Linux cannot access it, because the CHL went with NIFTY TV which chose to use crappy windows-only technology to implement their product. </p>
<p>Though it is free, the CHL could have done MUCH, MUCH better. </p>
<p>Heck, using modern (4-year-old) distributed (p2p) technology, one can stream video using only a home computer on a home connection.</p>
I disagree, Ben. The concept of streaming video on the scale that the league is attempting is still relatively new. While some of us who are a little more computer saavy think it’s old hat to stream video, it’s one thing to hook up a little camera to your home computer; it’s something altogether different to navigate the maze of getting 15 arenas up to speed with more technical issues you can imagine. It’s a lot more than simply plugging a cord into a computer.
November 5th, 2007 at 11:27 pm
I THINKS ITS GOOD I DO UNDERSTAND THAT SOME BUGS
STILL NEED TO BE WORKED OUT. HOPEFULLY THEY HAVE
MOST OF THEM WORKED OUT SOON.
November 6th, 2007 at 7:11 am
Rich, I know it is free but it is really frustrating when you are planning to watch the game with friends and all you do thruout the game is reboot. Most of the time it is Ok. But this last weekend was horrible.No sound for the first period and no feed for most of the second. We had to go to pointstreak to update on scoring.It would be good if they could point to the scoreboard once in awhile. The comments on the fan site reflect exactly how I felt.Just my 2 cents.
Take Care
Maurice
November 6th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
I’m definitely happy to have the CHL Network as it keeps me connected to the CHL and my hometown team.
November 7th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
You are right….the technical problems will work it self out…give it time!