Enhanced customer service commitment including free DirecTV on all DTV A/C.
Jan 31, 2019, 10:55 pm
#61
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Because for whatever reason they seem to be way worse with light pollution than any other IFE. I've had screens that don't turn off and I have to rig something to block them, and the default seems to be having an entire cabin of full brightness screens on the whole time. I don't have much trouble sleeping on planes under any circumstances, except for these DTV flights which are like having a thousand suns in the cabin.
Feb 1, 2019, 5:20 am
#62
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 261
Hopefully someday we'll see the full return of IFE on UA. The systems of old on the B737s with the flip-down screens wasn't so bad, and couldn't have added that much weight. And you can still offer the so-called "Personal Device Entertainment" for those who want to schlep out a laptop during flight.
Feb 1, 2019, 7:10 am
#64
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Yes they were so bad. Looking at a low resolution screen five rows ahead playing a choppy video off of a magnetic tape and listening to a static fllled audio transmission of the same move for an entire month. We’ve come a long way and it’s much better now. PDE is the future. I know people love to complain, but how is PDE not an upgrade over the shared screen. If you don’t have an electronic device, well, get with the times.
When I started flying they used to give away free food in flight and charge for the movies. Now they give away the movies and charge for the food. That's the biggest change that's occurred in commercial flying during my lifetime.
Feb 1, 2019, 7:11 am
#65
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When is the DTV contract 
ver? I thought they were removing these from some (all?) aircraft.
ver? I thought they were removing these from some (all?) aircraft.
Feb 1, 2019, 7:53 am
#66
Join Date: Aug 2008
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I would still rather have screens with the ability to go bright (and dim) so they can be watched during the day.
Yes they were so bad. Looking at a low resolution screen five rows ahead playing a choppy video off of a magnetic tape and listening to a static fllled audio transmission of the same move for an entire month. We’ve come a long way and it’s much better now. PDE is the future. I know people love to complain, but how is PDE not an upgrade over the shared screen. If you don’t have an electronic device, well, get with the times.
DTV is not shared screens, it is a screen in every seat, to me, that's more "futuristic"
Owning or not owning a device isnt the issue but is a good point. Alot of people down own "compatible" devices. Not everyone is "young" or "rich". I bet many elderly people may not own smartphones or know how to use one. My mom still doesn't know how to use airplane mode. What about a typical family with 2.5 children. They are supposed to buy a separate tablet/phone for their kids? Some people are living paycheck to paycheck and can't afford this.
Aside from that, let's say I own a compatible device. That doesn't mean the power plug near me is working or not being used by someone else. I may need to actually use my phone the rest of the day so I don't want to drain it on the plane. Also, not all planes have the phone holder. So people are left having their neck bent the whole flight looking down or having their arms get tired holding up their device the whole time. Even in F, what if I want to watch IFE while I'm eating my meal. Some things require two hands to eat. (Yes, the newer seats have the tablet holders)
The whole point of IFE is that the airline is providing the device.
IMHO, shared screens with fixed content was the past. Then came On-demand video systems (in each seat). Then came Live TV (in each seat). I see that as the future. I guess going further in the future would be having live TV or the option of on demand tv (at each seat)
But to airlines, the future is reducing weight, so remove IFE and install something called PDE
Now my biggest issue with DTV (and PDE) is removal of Ch9.
Last edited by eng3; Feb 1, 2019 at 8:07 am
Feb 1, 2019, 8:47 am
#67
Join Date: Aug 2010
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Useless metric, it just means rushing to close the door and pull the jetway. WAY too many times I've seen them do that only to sit at the gate for an hour longer. This bonus needs to be tuned to overall on time performance, just just closing the door. At least with the door open until pushback was imminent, people could get up and leave on a long delay if rebooking options were available. I can think of several times in the last few years that I ended up missing an international connection because of this, being held captive on an "on-time departure" because they closed the door with a known delay. I would have happily gotten off the plane on at least 2 of those since I knew the connection was blown with the onboard announced delay timing.
might just have something to do with the behavior.
Lets face it - we’re all coin operated on some
level ...
Feb 1, 2019, 9:45 am
#68
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Because for whatever reason they seem to be way worse with light pollution than any other IFE. I've had screens that don't turn off and I have to rig something to block them, and the default seems to be having an entire cabin of full brightness screens on the whole time. I don't have much trouble sleeping on planes under any circumstances, except for these DTV flights which are like having a thousand suns in the cabin.
Feb 2, 2019, 6:41 pm
#69
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Yes, yes it did... Given the quirky sound systems on the various 737s, it often played way louder than the safety video. Not to great, especially on an early morning flight where you might be trying to sleep, etc...
Feb 2, 2019, 7:39 pm
#70
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SAN
Programs: UA
Posts: 204
Must be rare, I've never encountered a screen that won't turn off (except during the safety video and first few commercials). Just one that wont turn on. Light pollution may be worse because people dont know how to or bother with turning down/off their screens. I've encountered worse with people using their large ipads on full brightness in a dark cabin.
I would still rather have screens with the ability to go bright (and dim) so they can be watched during the day.
It is no different for me now. I've never gotten the PDE to work properly on my phone or tablet or laptop, it is usually choppy or the audio sync is off. Maybe one is expected to buy the latest top of the line smartphone/tablet in order to use PDE.
DTV is not shared screens, it is a screen in every seat, to me, that's more "futuristic"
Owning or not owning a device isnt the issue but is a good point. Alot of people down own "compatible" devices. Not everyone is "young" or "rich". I bet many elderly people may not own smartphones or know how to use one. My mom still doesn't know how to use airplane mode. What about a typical family with 2.5 children. They are supposed to buy a separate tablet/phone for their kids? Some people are living paycheck to paycheck and can't afford this.
Aside from that, let's say I own a compatible device. That doesn't mean the power plug near me is working or not being used by someone else. I may need to actually use my phone the rest of the day so I don't want to drain it on the plane. Also, not all planes have the phone holder. So people are left having their neck bent the whole flight looking down or having their arms get tired holding up their device the whole time. Even in F, what if I want to watch IFE while I'm eating my meal. Some things require two hands to eat. (Yes, the newer seats have the tablet holders)
The whole point of IFE is that the airline is providing the device.
IMHO, shared screens with fixed content was the past. Then came On-demand video systems (in each seat). Then came Live TV (in each seat). I see that as the future. I guess going further in the future would be having live TV or the option of on demand tv (at each seat)
But to airlines, the future is reducing weight, so remove IFE and install something called PDE
Now my biggest issue with DTV (and PDE) is removal of Ch9.
I would still rather have screens with the ability to go bright (and dim) so they can be watched during the day.
It is no different for me now. I've never gotten the PDE to work properly on my phone or tablet or laptop, it is usually choppy or the audio sync is off. Maybe one is expected to buy the latest top of the line smartphone/tablet in order to use PDE.
DTV is not shared screens, it is a screen in every seat, to me, that's more "futuristic"
Owning or not owning a device isnt the issue but is a good point. Alot of people down own "compatible" devices. Not everyone is "young" or "rich". I bet many elderly people may not own smartphones or know how to use one. My mom still doesn't know how to use airplane mode. What about a typical family with 2.5 children. They are supposed to buy a separate tablet/phone for their kids? Some people are living paycheck to paycheck and can't afford this.
Aside from that, let's say I own a compatible device. That doesn't mean the power plug near me is working or not being used by someone else. I may need to actually use my phone the rest of the day so I don't want to drain it on the plane. Also, not all planes have the phone holder. So people are left having their neck bent the whole flight looking down or having their arms get tired holding up their device the whole time. Even in F, what if I want to watch IFE while I'm eating my meal. Some things require two hands to eat. (Yes, the newer seats have the tablet holders)
The whole point of IFE is that the airline is providing the device.
IMHO, shared screens with fixed content was the past. Then came On-demand video systems (in each seat). Then came Live TV (in each seat). I see that as the future. I guess going further in the future would be having live TV or the option of on demand tv (at each seat)
But to airlines, the future is reducing weight, so remove IFE and install something called PDE
Now my biggest issue with DTV (and PDE) is removal of Ch9.
I agree with your post though. When you look around the world most full-service carriers have IFE. I think the issue with the screens being too bright could be fixed by having it set up such that when the lights are dimmed, the screens also go to a dimmer setting unless you turn them up. The FAs may not care for this though as they might get a sudden influx of requests for help to brighten up the screen after it does this. Also I didn't design the system so I don't know if it is possible to add this function after the fact.
Feb 3, 2019, 8:34 am
#71
Join Date: Aug 2008
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I agree with your post though. When you look around the world most full-service carriers have IFE. I think the issue with the screens being too bright could be fixed by having it set up such that when the lights are dimmed, the screens also go to a dimmer setting unless you turn them up. The FAs may not care for this though as they might get a sudden influx of requests for help to brighten up the screen after it does this. Also I didn't design the system so I don't know if it is possible to add this function after the fact.
If one wants to sleep, they can close their eyes and/or wear an eye mask. One cannot watch tv if the screens are off or removed. Sounds the same as the whole window shade up/down debate. (I want sunlight to help me adjust to jet lag, there is no other option for this other than opening the window shade. People can still sleep if they want) One should be able to utilize the features of their seat (recline, window, tv, etc) and not be impeded by someone else unless there is no alternative.
Feb 3, 2019, 2:54 pm
#72
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SFO
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DTV is on the legacy CO 737s from my flight experiences. Once these planes get retrofitted with the new seating, DTV will go away in favor of the PDE systems so this freebie has a limited lifespan. The DTV daytime programming mostly sucks anyway. I just wish they would fix the MacOS PDE software, have never been able to get that software to install properly my Macbook and I'm a tech guy....
Feb 3, 2019, 3:00 pm
#73
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Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Austin, TX
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The problem with the DTV seats is that nobody knows how to turn them off. If they turned themselves off with inactivity, or if there was an obvious, one-press OFF button, I wouldn't have an issue. Instead, you get a cabin full of screens at full brightness, showing the same looping ads and whatnot, while nobody pays attention.
Feb 3, 2019, 3:42 pm
#74
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Japan
Posts: 5,577
The problem with the DTV seats is that nobody knows how to turn them off. If they turned themselves off with inactivity, or if there was an obvious, one-press OFF button, I wouldn't have an issue. Instead, you get a cabin full of screens at full brightness, showing the same looping ads and whatnot, while nobody pays attention.
Feb 3, 2019, 4:41 pm
#75
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t.