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Quick guide to watch online TV

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Internet Television - Quick guide to watch online TV

Lea este manual en español

This guide is for those who want to make the most of their computers' multimedia capabilities to watch online TV and don't know where or how to begin, and it is also for those who search for a free internet TV listing of TV stations that, as far as it is technically possible, work adequately in most computers and browsers.

Developed upon users feedback


Quick guide to watch online TVClick on any title to go back to the index. Frequently Asked Questions, on the right column.

What hardware and software do I need to watch online TV in my computer?

Hardware:

In the first place, this is about television broadcasting that is not always broadcast live but also recorded shows, news files, etc., which has been generically called "streaming TV", "online TV", "TV online", "Live TV", "internet TV", etcetera. Some classic air or cable TV channels also broadcast via the Internet; for example, Channels 7 from Argentina (air) and TN (cable); and there are others that only broadcast via the Internet. Some are free and some are not. We list only those that are free in our live TV page. To watch live TV on your computer there are as many configurations as possibilities. The most practical thing to do will be to try or die trying. Nowadays a fast Internet connection is more important than a fast computer. However, since TV channels broadcast for audiences with increasingly potent equipment, you will be in trouble if your computer has less than 900Mhz. But don't panic, because with a less powerful computer with a high-memory capacity video card, a very fast hard disk, or luck on your side, you can easily leap over the hurdle. If you don't know what you've got in your computer, see section I haven't the least idea.

There is an interesting story behind all this, that you can of course skip if you have no time. In the past you could find channels that used to broadcast as narrowly as 28 k. Today, minimum average broadcast is 100 k, which, though the slowest, is still broadband. In the past, typical audiences not only had more precarious computers, but their bandwidth were less wide, so that to reach those audiences, the slowest of them had to be captured as well. On the other hand, Internet population was considerably smaller, and the air was cleaner, so to speak. Today, after the blogs explosion (so hotly celebrated by the marketing experts and people who have no idea), the cyberspace is filled with filth, to make matters worse.

I am a God forsaken soul, poor wretched South American with an old low-RAM pentium and a 56k dial-up connection. Should I set off crying?

Quick guide to watch online TV Off with Windows XP. Use Windows 98 o ME and make sure that your Direct-X version is lower than 9. Set your screen resolution to 16 bits. Uninstal all the games from your computer, change Windows sound settings to No Sounds, disable background and screen protection and eliminate those programs are launched when starting up the computer. If you don't know how to do this, check Acceleration guide (Coming soon.) You might as well try to install a Linux distribution for old machines, such as Arch Linux. We drop you off here, but the Linux community would be delighted to pick you up and guide you along the process. You will only have to put up with being treated as a "newbie", but never lie to them, for they are very smart; so be clear in your questions and greet every time you get in and out. It will be an memorable experience.

If you think Arch Linux is too much for you, start at Kubuntu. As opposed to Windows, Linux will detect all your devices without asking anything from you; the sad news is that you won't be able to tinker with Defrag, since Linux does not have that sort of thing, as it does not produce fragmentation.

Additional reading You can benefit yourself with the additional reading in Crazy about Defrag page (coming soon.), a excerpt of the article Piege dans le Cyberspace, by Robert Di Cosmo, a real swordsman on the side of the good guys, that recounts a duel between Windows and Linux where, shamefully enough, the Defragmenter is swept out of the picture. Note that, however, the defragmenter is wistfully qualified as "beautiful".

Software:

You will need Windows Media Player and Real Player, to start up. However, as more and more sites use Flash Player, your computer should have it as well. This software can be downloaded free from the Software page. Rest assured that downloading is clean and safe, as McAfee SiteAdvisor has examined our site and drawn up a brief stating how clean we are.

I haven't the least idea of what hardware I have

Supposing that the system you have installed is Windows, right click on the My Computer icon, and go all the way down to Properties. On the Main tab you will see a list of the operative system, the type of processor, and RAM memory available. UP

Troubleshooting

Some channels don't seem to work, even though there is nothing wrong at first sight.

Unfortunately, many channels have been optimized for Internet Explorer and the other browsers were utterly ignored. Have the wicked one handy just in case.

I installed Real Player and Windows Media Player but I can't see videos at You Tube.

Hey, have you read the title to this Guide? Your question is out of range with the topic. Anyway, download Flash Player controllers, as these are the ones You Tube uses for its videos.

I can't instal Flash Player

There is an incompatibility problem that, sometimes, prevents Flash Player from installing in browsers such as Internet Explorer and Opera. A typical symptom is that Flash Player seems to start installing but it never ends.


Quick guide to watch online TV The most practical solution is to make Firefox your browser. Under usual conditions, just opening Firefox it detects Flash contents and automatically installs the appropriate drivers. Other good reason to use Firefox is that when it comes to watching online TV it has an eerie talent to work with multimedia content.

There is sound, but no image

There may be many reasons for this. Although logical thinking tells us that some video driver is not present and should be installed, this is not always the case. If you are sure that your problem is neither the video driver nor Direct-X 9 or higher, nor the player (Windows Media, Real Player, Flash Player), then uninstall any recording software, such us Nero or the like, and try again.

What simple test can I run to check performance?

A fast Internet connection (broadband) is advisable, but it isn't always a guarantee, and it isn't always an obstacle. The most effective simple test is to start by checking that your system efficiently plays a Windows Media video, a Real Player one, a Quick Time one, and a Flash Player one, without being connected to the Internet. If it doesn't, how can you dream it will do better when connected?

It was doing alright and all of sudden it doesn't anymore.

Identify the problem.

Performance

Open Windows Media player: Tools-Options-Performance. Windows Media Player advanced setup You may change the connection speed. Check "Select connection speed" and choose one that matches yours. Sometimes the automatic detection does not offer the best option.

Advanced

Click on Advanced. Below Video Acceleration tab, settings that can improve the streaming playback usually are, "Use video mixing renderer", "Use overlays" and "Use video blending". You can try other options, restarting the Media Player after every change. As you'll spend some time on this, you better take it easy.

Watching online TV using GNU/Linux

Watching online TV using GNU/Linux

Simple procedure

For most cases, it will be enough to install Flash Player and MPlayer to watch online TV. If you don't know how to install Linux programs, the Linux Software page can help you out. Bear in mind that unnecessary or inadequate installation of media players can cause conflicts and prevent you from watching online TV. For example, if you are using KMPlayer, which is for KDE, do not install or uninstall Totem, which is for GNOME. If this does not work, see below.

Example and troubleshooting

To have a practical example, let us suppose that you want to watch online TV here using Kubuntu, that your browser is Firefox and your media player is KMPlayer. Customize it.

Installation

1. First install mplayer and all its dependencies. From Systems menu, start Adept Manager (you can use any other pack manager). On the option Manage Repositories, where it reads "Download from", choose Main Server. This will get you all the libraries you need. At Search box write in mplayer, choose all the search results (KMPlayer should be among them, which is the media player we will use), ask for installation and apply the changes.

2.Using the same procedure, search for and install all gstreamer0.10-plugins-bad every time it appears.This will correct all the playing errors, among them buffer overflows .

3. Try KMPlayer and make sure it can play (Preferences-Configure) with Xine. If this option does not appear, search and download Xine. If KMPlayer does not show among the multimedia programs, use Add/Remove Programs and check if it is available to download.

4. Associate extentions wmv with KMPlayer on Firefox; this way you will be able to watch TV channels that use wmp

How can I associate file extensions on Firefox to watch online TV using Linux?

Very simple, as it all is in this wonderful guide. On Firefox go to "Edit", "Preferences", "Applications". Then Select "WMV" and associate this extension with some of the options from the drop-down menu, such as "Windows Media Plug-in". Restart Firefox and test. If tried all options without result, then choose "Use..." from the drop-down menu and at "Browse" localize path Home - File System/usr/share/apps/kmplayer/kmplayerui.rc

If you want to, you can repeat this process to associate other file extensions with KMPlayer. This association can be done with Konqueror browser in a simpler way (Preferences-Configure-File Associations), even though you won't always get the same results as with Firefox.

From Firefox, open this page and click on any channel icon that use wmv stream, such as TN, for example. Firefox will advise you to launch an application to play the file. Click OK and enjoy it.

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