bikerjp

I know this has come up before, but now that the tour has started I'm wondering if anyone has any first hand experience with this (web streaming, not the mobile app). How is the video quality? Coverage? Do you need really high speed to get a decent picture?

fuel0707

My wife and I have the mobile versions on our iPhones and iPads. Video coverage is pretty good with a decent signal. I was in a hotel over the last weekend and when the hotel's WiFi dropped below about a 2 Mbps data transfer rate for me, the video got really blocky.

Other criticisms that we have are that the apps will say that the next day's coverage starts at 5:50 AM or something like that but it won't actually be available until about the time that the live coverage starts on the TV. Also, it's not possible to search for a how a given rider did on a specific stage. Say you want to know how how Jens Voigt did on stage 6. All you can do is look through the results for the stage 6 and try to find Jens in a list of nearly 200 riders. I also wish that the app would show results and stage picks in the little contest between Phil, Paul, Bob and Todd.

Other than that, the app is pretty decent. Even if one's wireless connection isn't good enough to see the video, you can often get the audio-only feed. I've used that when I've been driving. And because you waited until now, you can get the coverage/apps for a reduced price.

Gjc985

I use the cycling news tdf app which is free and then procyclinglive to stream the video. Y spend $10 for something that is going to be useless in 10 days

bikerjp

I was referring more to the web streaming option rather than the mobile app. With web streaming you could theoretically pipe it to a regular TV. I have an Apple TV so anything I can watch on my laptop I can also watch on the TV. However, if the quality isn't very good it will look really bad on an hdtv.

merlinextraligh

Might want to check that. The video on the web feed is Silverlight ( a Microsoft program). I was going to run it on our TV through Google TV, which is android. Silverlight doesn't work on an Android device (and the workarouund app isn't available on Google TV)

I wonder whether Apple TV supports silverlight. You might want to check that.


So I paid for the package and have yet to use it.

fuel0707

Sorry that I can't help with an opinion on the laptop/desktop version. If I'm at home, I just watch the NBC Sports broadcast. But when I'm away from home, I use the apps. They are very handy for my situation.

bikerjp

Not sure about the Google TV, etc., but it should work on the Apple TV. You can install silverlight on a mac (have to to use netflix) and the Apple TV just mirrors what's on the computer. Audio, however, doesn't seem to work over Airplay from a browser

oespinoza83

I record on the TV at home, but all streaming, even the NBC web version you can buy is blocked at my job. So I bought the mobile app to watch live at work. Most of the complaints people have about it are that it doesn't act like a DVR or they lose signal. Both of these don't relate to me, so I am really happy with the mobile app. Get great 4G signal at work and the video has never dropped on me. And to the poster who said something about the start time, the mobile app actually starts before the "TV broadcast", not sure about the web app though.

Dudelsack 

I paid for it and I love it. Wife watches crappy reality shows on TV. I watch TdF on the iPad. It's all good.

eofelis 

This is the 3rd year we have paid for it and we like it.
Works fine on our 3mps DSL. We have a computer hooked up to our 26" flat screen TV and it looks good on there.
Bf watches it live in the morning. Sometimes I stream it at work on my PC there. Sometimes we watch the stage again in the evening.

pallen

Yeah, my only complaint is that it uses Silverlight. Doesn't work on the Surface RT tablet.

bikerjp

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like it might be okay. Maybe I'll give it a try. Kind of bummed it won't stream audio to the Apple TV but I could direct connect.