Pixels look different on TVs. I wonder about techniques, or if it is possible to target game consoles with media queries. As a designer, I would prefer to tailor that experience. It is not just that type looks fuzzy, colors react differently.
To complicate matters further, something that should not be overlooked is the fact that people may be interacting with their TVs using other 3rd party remotes. For example, on PS3, if users have bought the PlayTV add-on (giving them TiVo style epg set up with no monthly fee) then it’s a fair bet they’ve bought the TV style Bluetooth remote that PlayTv encourages you to buy as a companion.
When the BBC iPlayer Bigscreen experience first came out they clearly hadn’t tested their offering using that device, which made it hugely annoying to use because you couldn’t scrub through a programme properly. Thankfully their greatly improved version now works much better with this remote.
Back before I had a “smart phone” (and I was one of the last to adopt), I relied heavily on my Nintendo DSi XL’s browsers—and before that, I had that cartridge browser for the DS! When I was out of town, I’d hop on wifi, go to the mobile version of my email service, and get to work!
When I redesigned my site at rachelnabors.com, I kept in mind how it would look on my “wee browser” and adopted my approach to suit. Does it look perfect? No. Is it usable and readable? Yes!
Thanks for the numbers on teens and kids using these kinds of browsers. That’s so useful for companies trying to reach that demographic and further confirms that different people use different devices with different capabilities differently. Know your audience! Know your objectives!
My assistant is a huge gamer and brought the idea to me a year ago and I looked at him like he was crazy, but once you experience in a web design and the graphics in a gamers concept it does teach you how to create new concepts and reach to new clients.
Not only will handhelds be the new super highway but we have to remember this is a video game society and with ever growing systems being built the more accessibility we should demand from our clients sites
Hi Anna. In my point of view, is ver very important test one website in the most platforms. I´m webmaster and I try to test my sites in all computers browsers, the most knowed pda and cell phones and some game consoles … And when more complex is the site, more issues to solves to work and get nice look . I agree with NessThehero says , thats adherence to standards is very important… Today there are TV´s with browsers … With this variety , our job needs to do more easy.
Because as you observed, TVs aren’t used like desktop or laptop screens — they’re viewed from a distance, so they’re essentially the same form factor as a smartphone (minus the convenience of a touch interface).I’m just venting but I think these companies need to understand that adhering to standards is important if they want people to design for their context.
I think, at least in the IE side, things should get better with the release of windows 8. Hopefully the increasing use of shared code across the different platforms will make things easier.
I already have fewer problems on the apple side then I did in the past.
It is really becoming overwhelming with the number of devices we have to test for. For me, as a small company (ok, very small), I aim for the most popular (desktop, tablet, phone) and assume these other browsers have the chops to keep up. If not, I just can’t afford to test for everything!
22 Reader Comments
Back to the Articlegregawesome
Pixels look different on TVs. I wonder about techniques, or if it is possible to target game consoles with media queries. As a designer, I would prefer to tailor that experience. It is not just that type looks fuzzy, colors react differently.
Webbster
Great post.
To complicate matters further, something that should not be overlooked is the fact that people may be interacting with their TVs using other 3rd party remotes. For example, on PS3, if users have bought the PlayTV add-on (giving them TiVo style epg set up with no monthly fee) then it’s a fair bet they’ve bought the TV style Bluetooth remote that PlayTv encourages you to buy as a companion.
When the BBC iPlayer Bigscreen experience first came out they clearly hadn’t tested their offering using that device, which made it hugely annoying to use because you couldn’t scrub through a programme properly. Thankfully their greatly improved version now works much better with this remote.
RachelNabors
Back before I had a “smart phone” (and I was one of the last to adopt), I relied heavily on my Nintendo DSi XL’s browsers—and before that, I had that cartridge browser for the DS! When I was out of town, I’d hop on wifi, go to the mobile version of my email service, and get to work!
When I redesigned my site at rachelnabors.com, I kept in mind how it would look on my “wee browser” and adopted my approach to suit. Does it look perfect? No. Is it usable and readable? Yes!
Thanks for the numbers on teens and kids using these kinds of browsers. That’s so useful for companies trying to reach that demographic and further confirms that different people use different devices with different capabilities differently. Know your audience! Know your objectives!
JCS
I actually think the the navigation is good on the 360, and here the scores for the Beta, just hope some improvements for a final release.
html5test.com -> 133 and 5 Bonus
css3test.com -> 32%
and here a picture
http://i46.tinypic.com/w1pi5z.jpg
onerredfish
Good article and great food for thought. I’m exhausted just thinking about all of that testing and troubleshooting…
iccirla
My assistant is a huge gamer and brought the idea to me a year ago and I looked at him like he was crazy, but once you experience in a web design and the graphics in a gamers concept it does teach you how to create new concepts and reach to new clients.
Not only will handhelds be the new super highway but we have to remember this is a video game society and with ever growing systems being built the more accessibility we should demand from our clients sites
Atlanta Real Estate and Homes
No worries for my target audience. people surfing the web on a Nintendo are not going to be able to buy a house…
wcwriter
Great article, thanks for sharing. I usually test all my websites in each of the major browsers, as well as on multiple operating systems.
drakebr
Hi Anna. In my point of view, is ver very important test one website in the most platforms. I´m webmaster and I try to test my sites in all computers browsers, the most knowed pda and cell phones and some game consoles … And when more complex is the site, more issues to solves to work and get nice look . I agree with NessThehero says , thats adherence to standards is very important… Today there are TV´s with browsers … With this variety , our job needs to do more easy.
louisvuittongz
Because as you observed, TVs aren’t used like desktop or laptop screens — they’re viewed from a distance, so they’re essentially the same form factor as a smartphone (minus the convenience of a touch interface).I’m just venting but I think these companies need to understand that adhering to standards is important if they want people to design for their context.
wiphye
I think, at least in the IE side, things should get better with the release of windows 8. Hopefully the increasing use of shared code across the different platforms will make things easier.
I already have fewer problems on the apple side then I did in the past.
pixelheap
It is really becoming overwhelming with the number of devices we have to test for. For me, as a small company (ok, very small), I aim for the most popular (desktop, tablet, phone) and assume these other browsers have the chops to keep up. If not, I just can’t afford to test for everything!