By Graham K. Rogers

I have been a keen follower of motor sport of all forms, especially Formula 1 and MotoGP, for years, attending many races in Europe. Since the advent of iOS devices, apps have allowed me to add to the information I can access during a race. This year, instead of purchasing an app for MotoGP timing I decided to subscribe to the live video feeds provided.

The main apps that I have used to complement television coverage of motor sport, were the Soft-Pauer F1 Timing app and the Dorna AG MotoGP Live Experience 2013 timing app (formerly put out by Soft-Pauer). Having followed top levels of motor sport for many years, there is no doubt in my mind that the coverage offered to motor cycle racing fans is far better value overall.

Dorna also control a number of other championships including the World Superbike Championship (from 2012). Their main shareholders are Bridgepoint Capital (32%) and the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board - who also invest in Formula One - which bought its 39% stake from Bridgepoint Capital who had earlier owned 71%.

With three classes of racing covered in the MotoGP series, plus a team of knowledgeable commentators, the whole package is aimed more at the fans than Formula One racing is. For the fan, F1 coverage works through TV companies worldwide and is closely linked to income from advertising. The revenue of Dorna AG, which controls the commercial side of motorcycle racing - at least until 2036 - comes from race circuit fees, TV broadcast contracts, sponsorship and advertising as well as corporate hospitality and services. For the last couple of years Dorna has also provided direct video feeds for those customers who wish to subscribe.

I did try this video service last year for a single race (Catalunya in June) as an experiment. With the occasional unreliability of the TV signal when it rains here, this year I decided to invest for the whole season, beginning with the opening race at Qatar.

In some ways, this is not the best weekend for those of us in this part of the world as the late hours of the races, means I cannot watch them all and work the next day; however, I treated this season opener as a test and was able to use other features to catch up that were certainly not available from the TV company.

There are three types of video pass: Full, for the whole season, at €99.95; Monthly (recurring) €24.95. There is also the race by race pass which costs €12.95, although that is not currently shown on the video pass pages. With a season of 18 races, running from April to November, the economics suggest the full season pass is much cheaper on a race by race (or month by month) basis, although there may be some users who will only need the access for those shorter periods. In terms of actual cost, the full season pass comes to slightly over €5.55 (220 baht) per race.

I began my trials with the pass by resetting the password. I had forgotten this, but the system had not forgotten my email, so the account access was fairly simple. I did this initial work on the Mac using Safari. Access was quite fiddly on the iPhone and a little easier on the iPad when I came to logging in to the account on those devices. I do not have any Android devices so was unable to try access using those. I was glad I made the investment at this early stage rather than in the final minutes before a race.

On the Mac, the video display uses the Flash player and this is delayed slightly compared with the TV signal by about 20 seconds. There were also delays on the iOS devices of an additional 30 seconds approximately. I did ask about this and was told that iOS delivery lags by about 1 minute. Each device uses a different data type: the TV uses directly transmitted signals; PC and Mac uses Flash; while iOS devices use HTML 5. Each type of signal is delayed in its own way. For example, over the last few years, when I have used the timing apps, these show times and position changes about 5 seconds before these are seen on the TV.

[As a side note, I was pleased to find that my email query was answered within a short time and while the first qualifying sessions were running.]

Displays on the devices with their different inputs were not the same. With the computer (Mac/Safari/Flash) the best display was available in a small panel, enlarged, or as a full screen video. Controls were available to balance sound levels between ambient and commentary; and for the timeline display.

Using a check-box selector, there are several types of events that a user may select (or All, or None), such as the Start, Accidents or Slow Motion. These are color-coded green, red and orange. When events occur, a marker is shown on the timeline and the user may go back to the event and view it again, while the session (qualifying, race) is running. Those specific features were not available on the iOS devices.

Trying to view video of the events on the three media at the same time is confusing because of the time differences for the relative displays. With each session, a decision needs to be made as to which device to watch. All have advantages; each has its own disadvantages.

• My old TV, for example, uses the TV signal and not internet feeds offers a more square picture. It came with the apartment and I am stuck with it for now. Unlike my widescreen TV (at a friend's apartment) the picture quality is not brilliant and some of the image is lost by the TV company's onscreen logos and advertising. There is also a loss of some of the left side of the picture with the race timing display.

• The 15" MacBook Pro I use has a good picture at times (see below) but wearing glasses for close work means that I have to make a decision as to position: close, with spectacles; or further away without, but with a less clear display.

• The iPad image is mostly clear and sharp, sound levels are fine (no mixing as with the Mac) and, despite the smaller size of the screen, the overall viewing experience was good. I found that the iPhone screen gave me a super-sharp image, but that its size was too limiting for real enjoyment. I watched one race on the Mac, then went to bed and watched a second race on the iPad.

With the lateness of transmissions from Qatar (to be repeated for the next race from Austin, TX), I decided to miss the final qualifying session on Saturday evening and the last race on Sunday. Normally, I would check the TV schedules and plan the next day (or later in the week) to view the rerun. Mind you, there is never a guarantee here that a scheduled rerun will actually appear and I have gone back home on several occasions over the years to anger and disappointment when something else is being shown instead. Any complaint to the company is met with the email equivalent of a sheepish grin.

The Video Pass circumvents all that. On the following morning, over an extended breakfast, I was able to view the videos on demand (as well as videos of sessions I had already seen): again and again and again if I wanted. There are also scores of others available, going back to the 1992 season as well as a selection of other useful videos.

The quality of the videos varies: not simply from session to session, but within each video as well. I might sometimes be watching a section which appeared slightly blurred, yet a short while later the display (on any of the devices I used) was sharp and clear. This may actually be the camera work; or perhaps variations in signals as the riders' leader-board was also affected. It was not something that I found particularly spoiled my enjoyment of the racing.

Once or twice the internet feed itself slowed enough for the video signal to stop for a few seconds. The MotoGP site does reccommend a 4 MB link. There was no indication as to where the delay had occurred (Qatar, Thailand, my own ADSL link), but as the advent of rain here may cause the loss of a TV picture for lengthy periods, this was a brief annoyance. As much of the MotoGP and Formula 1 season coincides with the rainy season here, it would appear the risk of losing a feed is lower; and this is one of the reasons I made the leap. It also means that in some homes, the motorcycling fan can watch the sport while other members of the family can view TV content as normal. With the three races of a normal MotoGP afternoon, this can be several hours that tie up the TV.

For the Qatar races, there was a beta video feed of multiple screens. A panel at the top of the display allows a frame type to be selected. In theory the user can then view several camera angles and feeds at the same time, even swapping them frame to frame with click and drag. Although the frames displayed, I was not able to view any other than the main video feed.

I am unsure as to why this was so, but as I use Click to Flash to prevent Flash videos to display unless I want them, this may be the cause, even though I added MotoGP to the white list. If this service appears again, I will give this a second go. As it was an experiment, I lost nothing really.

I should be noted that the Timing of riders shown with this service is fairly basic. We either have to rely on commentators announcing important information, or purchase the additional timing app. I may yet do that.

There was a minor problem with billing when I appeared to be charged twice: the credit card company informs me by SMS. When an almost identical amount was messaged to me 2 days after the initial purchase, I checked PayPal and the credit card site. When I phoned, the operator let me know that the initial charge had been rescinded and a second charge levied. I was indeed only charged once. That second fee was 6.50 baht lower, so may have been a PayPal adjustment for currency fluctuations (at least the effort was made).

Overall, the experience was satisfying, especially the part in which I watched the racing on my iPad in bed. The value to me as a follower of such forms of motor sport is great, and the service was especially useful with the way I have access to on-demand videos after the race and do not have to rely on the cable company whose record of reliability could be better. In addition, the whole of the race transmission is not interrupted at all by any advertising.

Such access will also be of benefit to me (and others) for those days when we are dragged into the country, presuming there is a signal, or down to the beach. For some it could also mean that a TV is not needed, if all that is wanted are such feeds.

If Formula One were to provide such a service I would be like a dog with two tails.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.