Change for Change's Sake
I think I must be getting old and crotchety. I just wrote an e-mail to Fox Sports Net Northwest complaining about how they've changed the graphics that display the score and other information during Seattle Mariners games. I watch them play almost every night, so the change was quite noticeable. It pretty much made it much less readable to make it look more up-to-date, I guess. Anyway, here's what I wrote:
I must say I'm not a fan of the new graphics you're using for the score, outs, pitch counts, etc., during the Mariners game. First of all, I'm watching on a standard 27" tube TV. The score line is significantly below the top of the screen. I'm hoping this is just a temporary bug. If not, you should move the line all the way to the top of the screen, like the old one.
Next, the fonts for inning, outs and pitch count seem to be much smaller than before and are much more difficult to read--especially with the trendy Mac-like (and unnecessary) glassed-over effect you've placed on it.
Also, I'm finding the colors you're using behind the team names to be distracting. The old line was much simpler and blended in with the background, until you wanted to look at it to see the score or pitch count, or whatever. The focus of the broadcast should be the game itself, not some fancier, harder to read graphics.
Another thing that could use some more work is the new number of pitches display. The gray background doesn't really work with the black text for the balls and strikes--it's too hard to read. The pitcher's name is shown in white on a similarly colored background and is equally hard to read.
Finally, the fake computer-sounding beeps it makes when it appears is pretty silly and really adds nothing positive.
What I liked about the old display was that it was unobtrusive with relatively large, simple fonts on a high contrast background. If you much change it for change's sake, please keep on working on it to make it easier to read and less obtrusive.
Thanks.