in flight entertainment

Random

why is it that these systems are so dam slow and unresponsive? is there something i'm fundamentally missing here? without fail everyone i've ever used has been slow and unresponsive. my phone responds quicker.

is it all down to money?

Plane Mad

Wat airline system are you talking about I fly aerlngus to the states all the time and find there system good never failed or being slow at all

ScabbyLeg

It's about providing a reliable system which can be integrated into the aircraft electronics, can simultaneously cope with the demands of 300 passengers and is certified to meet strict guidelines by the aviation authorities. Gotta be cost effective too though, I'm sure..

1.21gigawatts

The tech in IFE systems is probably about 10 years behind consumer electronics. As ScabbyLeg said you cant just go putting in untested, unsafe equipment. The result could be radio interference or even in worse cases, fire on board.
The Panasonic EX2 system used by Aer Lingus is one of the most advanced in the industry.

highlydebased

The one continental use is quite slow sometimes- if they have to reboot it it takes forever too.

Random

air france is the most recent one i used.

Foggy43

Probably because with Rockwell Collins MPEG1 is being used and today we are out buying MPEG4 TV's.
I can't speak for Panasonic or Thalles.

Melion

I didnt mind the Continental one, except when they had to reboot it.

owenc

Melion wrote: »

I didnt mind the Continental one, except when they had to reboot it.

It was pretty good yea, another good one was westjet, in canada, they are very good, aswell as Jet blue, its a pity uk airplanes don't have this for domestic flights.

Dacian

Foggy43 wrote: »

Probably because with Rockwell Collins MPEG1 is being used and today we are out buying MPEG4 TV's.
I can't speak for Panasonic or Thalles.

Aer Lingus use the Panasonic EX2. They have had it 3-4 years I think, it was supposed to be launched on the first A380 only they were delayed so the latest Airbus A330s got them first. So assume it was certified in 2006, probably developed in 2004-2005. Thats touch screen tech pre-iTouch.
As stated above consumer electronics are moving faster than onboard IFE. This is due to testing and certification issues. The SwissAir crash approx 10 years ago was caused by malfunctioning IFE systems behind the cockpit.

UALacrosse

I flew on British Airways last week on an international flight and was quite happy with their in-flight entertainment. There was a wide variety of movies and music to choose from.

Hogzy

TBH im always happy with what i get as long as i have my own tv. My girlfriend recently flew with China Airlines from Schiphol to Bangkok with NO tv. There was a communal tv which rotated English and Chinese movies.

Id rather jump out of the plane. Id gladly pay up to 100euro more for a return flight if i was guaranteed personal AVOD like that on BA or Virgin.

absolutly loved BA's AVOD when i went from LHR to LAX

taro2010

The performance of them is more than acceptable given the requirements laid out above. They're a bit slow but otherwise they do work flawlessly in my experience.

Foggy43

It is a question of luck with BA. All the 747-400's are Rockwell Collins AVOD.
The B777-200's G-ZZZA-C and G-VIIA-S are GMIS which is 12 Video channels and 20 Audio Channels.
G-VIIT-Y and G-YMMA-U are Rockwell Collins AVOD
G-STBA a B777-300ER is AVOD but by Thales and all GMIS IFE aircraft will changed to Thales.