Any of these IPTV offer channel up/down feature?

IcEWoLF

SatelliteGuys Master
Original poster
Lifetime Supporter
Dec 31, 2006
12,571
11,401
Nevada
It be nice if any of these providers offered an option to quickly change channels like up down or a better guide scrolling like DTV/Dish. Also I am a strong believer in having the option to input numbers on channels for fast switching. It be easy for folks to get into the IPTV world.
For me its easy, but my folks its a bit hard because they are use to the old cable/satellite guide.
 
None offer a channel up/down. Most however will have a previous channel feature. I would imagine a number pad will be implemented in the future for most.
I believe most of these iptv services, they will need to put the same or close to the same features as sat/cable.
When most have started the service they seem to try to reinvent the wheel by saying that "you'll like the way we do this better" and then realize to get more subs you got to make it simple.
To me PlayStation Vue is the closet with sling doing good things recently to catch up.
 
Direc tv Now has an up down feature, no Dvr though. In order to have channel numbers streaming boxes would need to come with number pads. I don't see any service supporting third party remotes
 
I don't see any service supporting third party remotes
The hard part is trying to come up with a logical numbering system for channels. As with some of the History and Discovery channels, you assign a number and they change formats dashing your attempts at thoughtful ordering.

If you broke it down by genre, there would be movies, children's, sports, news, documentaries and a dozen subcategories of reality TV. Maybe a category for retro TV and oaters (old westerns).

I submit that unless you're into a particular sect of religious programming, shopping or news, there is no such thing as favorite channels anymore. To see the best any particular genre, you have to be willing to look for titles, not channels.
 
PS Vue could easily implement a channel up down function tied to the guide grid order. No numbering necessary. My PS4 remote has an unused channel up down button, and the D-pad up and down arrows could be assigned on the game controller.

One of the great things about Vue is the separate favorites list in the guide. I rarely go outside my 10 main channels, and without number assignments, I'd hate to have to scroll down through 60+ channels to see what NBA game was currently showing on TNT. Yes, there is a sports section in browse, but again, I'd have scroll through a bunch of other things to find what I'm looking for because the TNT listing would always be in a different place. It also doesn't include my RSNs.
 
I think the point is that the channels should be numbered so we don't have to scroll. If we have a custom list, we should control over the order within that list.

Is the channel ordering in the PS Vue more or less always the same or are there conditions (aside from a custom or categorical list) that might make a channel change its order in the listing?
 
I think the point is that the channels should be numbered so we don't have to scroll. If we have a custom list, we should control over the order within that list.

Is the channel ordering in the PS Vue more or less always the same or are there conditions (aside from a custom or categorical list) that might make a channel change its order in the listing?

It would definitely be great to dial in a channel number in addition to flipping channels up/down.

In PS Vue, the channels are listed alphabetically in the grid. The favorites are duplicated and appear in alphabetical order first starting from the far left-hand side, with any local broadcast networks appearing first. This is the guide from the PC browser app, showing my favorites in alphabetical order after the local networks.
PSVue_PC_Guide.png


As you can see, sorting by genre within the grid guide is possible for PC browsers, but not on PS4 or PS3 yet, and I'm not sure about other devices. I hope it gets adopted.
 
Up and down doesn't seem particularly useful if the channels are in alphabetical order.

Alphabetical is perhaps the least desirable of the collating sequences as it has absolutely no basis in content and may change if a channel is added or renamed.
 
Up and down doesn't seem particularly useful if the channels are in alphabetical order.

Alphabetical is perhaps the least desirable of the collating sequences as it has absolutely no basis in content and may change if a channel is added or renamed.
But if I can go up/down through my favorites...

As I said before, it's something that could be easily implemented on PlayStation consoles, which get certain features other devices don't. What can I say, I like flipping channels. Beats watching commercials.
 
If you're seeing commercials that you don't want to see, I suspect you're missing some DVR functionality.
Not at all. I just like to watch sports live, and on a typical Saturday or Sunday afternoon, I can find three or four games to keep my eye on. I just don't necessarily care about each and every game enough to record them all and watch them separately in their entirety.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ronnie-
Youtube TV let you scroll thru all the live channels and as soon as you stop it will show what's playing immediately. It takes about 1/4 of a sec really fast.. must have some kind of advanced buffering technology. It is really cool. With unlimited cloud recording I just started recording anything that looks remotely interesting. Sometime when I am watching live news and it went to commercials I just flip thru the channels...oh John Wicks.... watch him killed a bunch of russians... and flip back to watch the news again LOL.
 
Youtube TV let you scroll thru all the live channels and as soon as you stop it will show what's playing immediately. It takes about 1/4 of a sec really fast.. must have some kind of advanced buffering technology. It is really cool. With unlimited cloud recording I just started recording anything that looks remotely interesting. Sometime when I am watching live news and it went to commercials I just flip thru the channels...oh John Wicks.... watch him killed a bunch of russians... and flip back to watch the news again LOL.

But what's up with the STUPID "casting only" method of watching it on your tv set? That's beyond STUPID. I watch regular Youtube frequently now through the app on my Tivo (since I cut the cord). So why shouldn't that same app be made capable of streaming their live service?
 
But what's up with the STUPID "casting only" method of watching it on your tv set? That's beyond STUPID. I watch regular Youtube frequently now through the app on my Tivo (since I cut the cord). So why shouldn't that same app be made capable of streaming their live service?
It is almost a certainty that some serious DRM capability is required that isn't necessary for the run-of-the-mill Youtube uploaded content. It might even require additional hardware for RISC-based devices such as a TiVos. Many are chagrined that computer-based clients aren't available for platforms like AT&T's RVU and DISH Anywhere requires a recent perversion of Windows. It is much the same issue I'll bet.

Security is what the content providers demand and that's going to be more and more a hardware thing. To date, nobody's come up with a successor to CableCARD that TiVo can incorporate that will offer that level of DRM.
 
***

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)

Latest posts