Originally Posted by
bkc6j
-Once they started flying the system, they noticed (and I frequently noticed) some artifacts in AVOD playback (skipping picture and sound).
PS: I was told that the first time the full system had ever flown was just on Friday, and that was when they noticed some of these issues. I was pretty impressed the system worked as well for this point of development.
In my experience the systems from Panasonic Aero are never fully bug-free. Two years after launch, I can still easily crash the Panasonic system on the SQ Airbus 380's, only by performing functions that the system is supposed to perform. Repeated complaints to SQ about the problems got acknowledgement of the issues from a very high management level at SQ when the 380's were first launched - and yet they persist. Complaints to Panasonic Aero don't even get a response from them, typical.
The existing IFE vendors are incompetent boobs IMHO. You have literally tons of equipment on the planes that performs poorly, while at the same time you have tons of equipment (iPods, iPads, dedicated DVD players, etc) hauled on to the aircraft to perform the same tasks. Airlines would be better served by ditching these poorly operating systems and renting iPads to the passengers.