Disney+ Hotstar, India’s leading premium streaming platform, has introduced new features and upgrades to enhance the mobile viewing experience for cricket fans during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. Developed in collaboration with ICC, these innovations aim to make watching cricket on mobile devices more immersive and engaging.

MaxView - Vertical Video Streaming

MaxView allows viewers to watch the live streaming of cricket matches in a portrait/vertical format, facilitating convenient one-handed viewing. Users can opt-in for MaxView from the settings option. This enables convenient one-handed viewing and caters to how users increasingly consume content on mobile devices.

MaxView offers all the key features like the live match feed, scorecard, and ads in vertical orientation. It includes innovations such as a single player view and a split-screen mod. MaxView will be available on both iOS and Android platforms as an opt-in feature.

Disney+ Hotstar Data Optimization

Recognizing that many fans watch cricket matches on mobile data, Disney+ Hotstar has optimized its video delivery pipeline to provide high-quality streaming while reducing data consumption significantly. The enhanced compression algorithms and delivery protocols ensure minimal buffering and stalling even on slower networks. Fans can now watch complete matches without exhausting their cellular data limits.

Enhanced Video Quality

The streaming quality has also been augmented through the use of artificial intelligence. Additional filters are using AI to further refine video clarity, especially for hazy outdoor conditions. These AI-enabled enhancements work alongside the optimized delivery to provide the best possible picture quality.

Non-Subscribers Access

For the World Cup, Disney+ Hotstar will allow non-subscribers to watch matches for free on mobile devices, albeit at a limited 480p resolution. Premium subscribers can watch in up to 1080p quality. The move expands accessibility and allows casual viewers sampling the premium experience during the marquee tournament. Users can seamlessly upgrade to paid plans if desired.

New Content Discovery Features

Disney+ Hotstar has introduced new content discovery capabilities like the Coming Soon tray offering reminders and alerts for upcoming movies, shows. It also provides separate sections highlighting free videos. The platform will showcase free badge tags during the World Cup to make it easier for non-subscribers to identify watchable content. The personalized recommendations engine has also been improved.

Updated Cricket Watching Experience

Focused features aimed at enhancing the cricket viewing experience include an always-on scorecard pill with live match details and statistics. It ensures users never lose track of the live action even while browsing other content. A novel social cricket-watching experience has also been introduced via the Live Feed tab, which offers a simulated viewing party-like environment.

Disney

Accessibility and Subscription Plans

Disney+ Hotstar provides different subscription plans like the ad-free Premium (INR 1499/year), which offers an ad-free user experience with up to 4K resolution streaming and the ad-supported Super (INR 899/year) targeted at diverse audiences. Specific accessibility features for hearing and vision impaired audiences are also offered. Users can also access select content on the platform for free without any subscription.

With innovations like MaxView vertical video streaming, optimized data delivery, AI-enabled video enhancements, an interactive social viewing experience, and extensive free content, Disney+ Hotstar has undertaken a comprehensive revamp of its mobile platform for the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023. The features aim to cater to how fans now consume sports and entertainment on internet-connected mobile devices. For cricket enthusiasts in India, it promises to make the World Cup viewing experience on smartphones more immersive and data-friendly than ever before.

Please, also have a look into : Disney and Reliance in talks for Hotstar and Star Sports sale: Reports