Web Design in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

The Web on TV

Some people access the Web via their television sets using a set-top box that connects to the television and either a cable or modem Internet connection. Although it is not as full-featured or versatile as browsing on PCs, it may offer a convenient and more affordable alternative for some users. Gaming consoles are another option for using the TV as the display for Internet content.

The only significant player in the web TV arena is MSN TV (formerly WebTV , which hit the market in 1996). As of this writing, it remains barely a blip on the radar screen of overall browser usage, but it still has millions of users. Some sites are designed specifically for MSN TV.

MSN TV uses a television rather than a monitor as a display device. The canvas area in the MSN TV browser is a scant 544 × 372 pixels. Principles for designing legible television graphics apply, such as the use of light text on dark backgrounds rather than vice versa and the avoidance of any elements less than two pixels in width. These and other guidelines are provided on MSN TV’s special developer site at http://developer.msntv.com/.

Of particular interest is MSN-TV Viewer , which shows you how your web page will look on MSN TV, right from the comfort of your computer. It is available for free for both Windows and Mac (although the Mac version is antiquated and will not be updated). For information on MSN-TV Viewer, go to http://developer.msntv.com/TOOLS/msntvvwr.asp.