Home Online Seminars Computer TeleVision Overview This page updated
Introduction to the Help Section:
Welcome to www.computertelevision.com.au!
When viewing the content on our site please remember that this is not an ordinary website.
www.computertelevision.com.au is a specialised multimedia web-site designed around delivering low-bandwidth streaming video, using only a standard telephone line and a dial-up 28.80 or 56k modem or better.
Because we are delivering video over low-bandwidth Internet connections, this means that there will be significant differences between the video that you see on our site, and what you would expect to see on your television screen. (We'll explain more about bandwidth issues in the technical information FAQs below.)
At Computer TeleVision our aim has always been to provide the best possible multimedia experience to Internet consumers anywhere in the world. However, sometimes our viewers may encounter problems due to a variety of factors. Fortunately, most problems are easily corrected.
This Help section has been prepared to assist you to enjoy the informative streamed media content Computer TeleVision offers for view.
In addition to information on solving problems, the Help section provides answers to almost any question you may have about our website, its content, our company and our services by means of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
You will also find information on recommended software, hardware, and Internet connection methods. We'll even explain some of the more technical issues involved in video streaming, if that's what you'd like to know.
We have a vested interest in keeping you as a customer, and we know that if you enjoy the best online multimedia experience at Computer TeleVision, without any hassles, then you will keep coming back to our site and tell others about us too.
If you don't mind spending a few extra minutes, we would really appreciate your feed back on what else we could add to our site that would make it even better.
Do you have any suggestions, tips or hints on how we can improve?
Do you have a question that is not covered by our informative FAQs?
If so, please send an e-mail to : suggestions@computertelevision.com.au and we'll reply as soon as possible with the information you require.
Help Section Contents:
Why doesn't Internet Explorer load the Video or Audio clips?
Why doesn't Netscape start to load the Video or Audio clips?
Why does Netscape show a piece of a Jigsaw puzzle on the screen?
Can I use or run my modem on our internal office phone system?
Microsoft Windows Media Player is available for these operating systems
Your choice of Internet browser software is critical to the success of your online multimedia experience.
We strongly recommend the use of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 5.x (or higher) as a browser, and Microsoft Windows Media Player 6.4 (or higher) as a player to view this site. Our Site also works real well with IE 4.0 and also the Neoplanet 5.0 browser.
Our streaming videos, and the website itself, have all been built using Microsoft tools, to Microsoft's own specifications. Therefore it should come as no surprise that for best performance we recommend the use of Microsoft's world beating browser and media player software applications as a platform. We generally find that Internet Explorer 5.x performs superbly and gives far less problems that any other alternative browser package (such as Netscape).
For your PC operating system we suggest Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000 or Windows NT operating systems with Microsoft's IE ( Internet Explorer) 5.x or higher.
To play the digital streaming video files we serve from our website you will also need Microsoft Windows Media Player installed. If not already installed on your system (it is supplied as standard part of Windows 98, ME and Windows 2000 and IE 5.x) you can get these same applications for Free by selecting the appropriate links on our website pages. (See also Troubleshooting Internet Explorer.)
Please install Your FREE copy of Microsoft's latest Internet Explorer for Apple users and install the Microsoft Media Player plug-in as well. You can download these software applications for free by selecting the appropriate links on our site. See also Troubleshooting Internet Explorer.
We have tested and used Netscape Navigator 4.5 and found that it will work if you install the free Microsoft Media Player plug-in. Some users recommend that you upgrade to Netscape Communicator 4.75 or better if you want the best from a Netscape product. Seems like Netscape Version 6.0 and 6.01 is not compliant to W3Cobject controls and may not work. If you don't like IE for some reason try Neoplanet it is compliant to W3Cobject controls.
However, we have noted that for some reason Netscape does not seem to handle all of the complex programming issues in delivering video streams as well as Microsoft's Internet Explorer package.
We therefore remain firmly of the opinion that to experience the best in online multimedia you should install Microsoft's IE ( Internet Explorer) 5.x. You can install IE 5.x on your system and still leave Netscape on your machine if you prefer to use Netscape as your browser of choice. See also Troubleshooting Netscape.
Unless otherwise indicated, the streaming videos on our website have been encoded to play back at a bit rate of 20-22,000 bits per second (often written as 20-22kbps). This means it should be possible to view them with a 28.8kbps modem or better.
However, even though we have designed the streams to function on a 28.8k modem at 20-22kbps we strongly recommend that you use a 56kbps modem for the optimum multimedia experience. The 56k modem will give you a little extra "headroom" if your bandwidth is marginal.
Where a stream is offered in a selection of higher bandwidths, such as 56k, 100k (ISDN) or 300k (broadband Internet) you will only be able to play the video stream if you have an Internet access connection large enough to accommodate that particular bandwidth.
Bandwidth Technobabble-
Bandwidth, Bits and Bytes: When measuring the speed or data transfer rate of a modem the correct term used is "Bandwidth". To measure bandwidth the correct unit of measurement is the number of "bits per second", usually measured in thousands of bits per second, or kilobits per second. This is usually abbreviated to kbps.
Please Note: Many people confuse "bits" with "bytes". Each term is a unit of information in computing terms and both have their place, but there is a big difference between them. Bits are much smaller than bytes. (There are in fact eight bits in every byte.)
Bytes, kilobytes or megabytes are usually used to measure the size of a file or the storage capacity of a disk or drive.
To understand the different terms think of data flowing along the wires to your computer as if it were water flowing along plumbing pipes to your home.
Bandwidth is the measurement of the size of the 'pipe' along which the information flows. The bigger the bandwidth, the more information can flow along it per second. Bandwidth flow rate, or as it is more commonly called "bit rate", is measured in bits per second, kilobits per second (thousands of bits), megabits per second (millions of bits) or even gigabits per second (billions of bits).
Modems come in several flavours- 28.8 kilobits per second, 56 kilobits per second, ISDN, Cable, ADSL etc.
If you are fortunate enough to have an ISDN line connection to the Internet then your effective bandwidth will be between 64 kilobits per second and 100 kilobits per second.
Higher bandwidth Internet connections (usually referred to as "Broadband Internet") such as Cable Modem, DSL, ADSL, and Satellite links, start from around 250 kbps and may go as high as 6 megabits per second. These technologies are not readily available in all parts of the world.
If you do not want the streaming video to play from the web page on your browser, look for a link that says "Click here to playback in a new separate window ". You will usually see this link just above the video playback window. Just click on the hyperlink with your mouse. ( We haven't put this feature on all our video pages as some are synchronized with PowerPoint type slides and or rolling subtitles and that just wouldn't work well.)
Once activated in this way Windows Media Player opens the video clip in a separate window on the desktop of your PC.
This feature is quite useful for when you want to continue working on your computer as the video is playing. (Please note: This separate window playback option may not be available on every video on the site.)
You can minimise the original browser page and still watch the video on your computer screen by dragging the Microsoft Media player to a convenient position on your desktop.
If you would like to see the video played at full screen on your PC, there are a couple of ways to accomplish this:
Just right mouse click on the movie window and a drop-down menu will appear. Select Full Screen from the menu options and the video should begin playing at the new size after a few seconds. (Your video card's ability to handle full screen playback determines how long it will take for the video to begin playing. Some may take several seconds to get going.)
Alternatively, select View from the menu bar and then from the drop down menu select Full Screen or press Alt Enter. The video should then playback at full screen.
(Please Note: Playing a video at full screen size places much more load on your PC's chip or Central Processing Unit (CPU) and also on your video card. If either component is not up to the task you may experience delays and slower frame rates than with superior hardware.)
To reset the video playback to original size again, just hit the Escape button on your keyboard, or right mouse click on the Media Player window and then when the menu appears click on Full Screen to deselect it.
There may be various reasons for this problem. Always try the simplest solutions first:
Check that the Volume slider on the right hand side of the Media Player window is not turned down. Slide it to the right for more volume.
Check to see if the Speaker Icon next to the volume slider on the window has a diagonal line across it. If so this means it has the Mute function turned on and you will need to click on it to turn on sound again.
If there is no volume slider visible, right mouse click on the Media Player window and select Volume on the drop down menu. The fly-out menu will give the ability to increase or decrease sound volume and turn Mute on or off.
Confirm that your system is capable of playing back sound, and that its playback options are set correctly. On Windows based systems go to Start Button, click on Settings, click on Control Panel, and then double click on Sounds. Try playing one of the sound files to see if sound is working on your system in general, but not on the Media Player for some reason. If it is the player which seems to have the problem it may have some driver files corrupted. You might try reinstalling the Media Player software package.
Check that your speakers are still plugged in. (They may have been accidentally unplugged.) If they are amplified speakers that have a power cord to a wall socket then you need to make sure they are actually powered up and turned on. Look for a red or green light that indicates Power is on.
On Windows 95 or higher platforms confirm that the Speaker Icon is showing on your task bar (this icon looks like a tiny speaker and should be displayed next to your clock on the bottom right hand side of your computer screen). If you can't see the Speaker Icon then it is possible that you don't have a sound card and/or sound system software components (drivers) installed on your system. Please consult your Microsoft Windows manuals and computer documentation on how to install sound system options.
If you can see your Speaker Icon, then check to see if the volume has been set too low to hear. Select the icon by clicking on it, then increase the volume by dragging the volume control upward to your preferred volume position. If the Speaker Icon has a red circle with a diagonal line over it you will need to turn off the Mute function by double clicking on the Speaker Icon and un-checking the Mute selection boxes on the volume control panel.
If all of the above fails to correct the problem it may be necessary to try reloading sound card drivers or even try replace the sound card itself. If you do not have technical expertise to accomplish this then it may be necessary to seek professional assistance.
There are many different reasons or causes for buffering streaming media (video and/or audio), however, to fully understand the causes it helps if you understand how streaming media works.
Buffering Illustrated:
Streaming is a little like partially filling a bucket with water, and then opening a hole in the bucket for the water to pour out. If the amount of water entering the top of the bucket is about the same amount or less than is pouring out the hole in the bottom, then the level in the bucket will be sufficient to maintain the flow.
However, if the flow into the bucket is not great enough, or the hole in the bottom is too big, then all the water in the bucket will run out and the hole will need to be plugged until there is enough in the bucket to start again.
This is exactly what happens in video streaming when buffering occurs. The cause is almost always a problem with insufficient bandwidth to maintain the required flow rate for the stream.
Buffering is the term used to describe the delay between when you begin downloading a streaming media file and when it starts to play. It is also the term used to describe how streaming video (or audio) will sometimes pause while playing, and then resume after a short delay due to insufficient bandwidth to support the data flow of the stream file.
It is quite normal to see a message on your media player displaying "buffering" when you first begin playing a stream file. At this point the computer is gathering a stored amount of 'buffered" data before beginning to play the stream.
This stored information is known as a "buffer" and it will usually be equal to several seconds worth of streaming video or audio. (For example, our default pre-load, or buffering time, is about 5 seconds on a 28.8kbps modem line.)
As the video plays the computer will try to maintain the stream at a constant flow rate, despite the fluctuations in the amount of information it is receiving. The purpose of the stored data in the buffer is to smooth out these variations in the flow of information from the server (where the file originates) to your computer.
Considering that many of the streams that you will play over the Internet may come from thousands of miles away, or even from the other side of the world, it is quite understandable that there would be some variation in flow rate as the information passes along the Internet pathway.
Buffering once or twice through the playing cycle of the video sometimes cannot be avoided if your connection to the Internet is somewhat marginal.
If you are experiencing a lot of buffering when playing the video streams on our website it almost always means that your Internet connection is not capable of maintaining a flow rate equal to, or in excess of 20-22,000 bits per second which is equivalent to a 28k modem.
Some reasons why you may experience buffering issues and poor line capacity.
Even if you have a 56k modem, your Internet Service Provider may be restricting the available bandwidth to your connection because he has too many users accessing the same pipe. ISP's buy bandwidth from telecommunications companies and are in the business of making money by packing as many users as possible into their available bandwidth. Where ISPs run their "pipe" at 90% capacity or more it is very common to find users experiencing buffering when playing video streams. Streaming consumes large amounts of bandwidth, and may in fact use hundreds of times as much bandwidth as ordinary text pages on the web. A user surfing text pages may notice that a page takes a lot longer to come up sometimes but may not blame the ISP. However, streaming video will instantly tell you if you have poor bandwidth.
If you're computer is connected to a network and you are using a shared Internet connection, or you access the Internet through a proxy server, then the available bandwidth may be divided among many users. This can mean that you may not have sufficient bandwidth to your own PC to supply the requirements for streaming. Check with your network administrator to see if anything can be done to free up some bandwidth for your needs.
Also, check to see if your Internet connection is going through a PABX or internal switching system to get an outside line. How can you tell if your system is a PABX? If you have to instruct your modem to dial a certain single number (usually 0) to pick up a line you will most likely be going through another system level, such as a PABX or internal switching device. Some of these telephone switching systems operate at insufficient speed for video streaming. If this is your problem you will need to arrange a dedicated phone or data line to be your Internet connection.
Your telephone service line may be very poor quality and therefore not capable of allowing sufficient data flow. If your telephone line is also a fax line then the telephone company may have restricted the available bandwidth down to what is normally used by faxes. Once again, this may be insufficient for the needs of Internet streaming.
The Number of hops (that's the number serving computers that connect our server, a server is a computer that serves your computer data of some kind). There can be as many as 30 hops or more that will effect the streaming or data journey to your computer from our server. Any of these hops may be overloaded and may not be able to handle a consistent 20kbps transfer rate.
Firewalls can affect data speed transfers, these are programs that act as a sentries or gate keepers on your ISP's network or corporate network. These keep an eye on network traffic and work in the background while you use the Internet. As investigators or sentries they can add another layer to the data stream issue and slow down your internet connection.
Proxy servers like firewalls are used to add security and backup type processors to network systems. Some times you can bypass them by disabling proxy server settings in your browser this may be found in the properties> internet options settings dialog. Contact your ISP on how you can work around the proxy server issue. Most of them are willing to help, but if they are not, then vote with your dollar and get another ISP. As a courtesy, please let your ISP know about the change and why. If you don't tell them they won't know where they went wrong and may not change their policy. They may even offer you a special package to lure you back to the fold.
Some times e-mail programs may try to share or take some or your valuable telephone line resource when they want to automatically up-load and download e-mail. Just turn off your mail program or disable it for a while so you can maximise your telephone line connection speed and capacity.
And as a final reason, it should be noted that any other thing that can affect a computer to computer relationship can also affect the smooth running of streaming.
All things considered, the demands of the streaming videos on Computer TeleVision's website are not that exorbitant. Any decent quality phone line and even a basic modem should enable streaming to take place.
To give you some idea of how economical our data flow rate is, we can store 5 to 6 minutes of 28kbps video and audio to one standard 3.5" 1.44MB floppy diskette. But even with use of this is highly efficient data transfer method, current copper telephone lines can at times be very slow and ineffective, leading to the problem of buffering due to insufficient bandwidth.
To eliminate buffering there are several simple options:
Improve your modem- by moving up to a 56kbps version.
Improve your Internet connection- by installing an ISDN line, cable modem, DSL or ADSL or Satellite link. This should not only allow you to view our low-bandwidth videos but also to see full motion, full screen video at much higher bandwidths.
Improve your ISP- by moving to an Internet Service Provider that is known to maintain his pipeline to the Internet at around 50% capacity (instead of 80% or 90%), thus leaving plenty of room for users at even peak load periods.
Primarily it is the speed and capacity of your telephone or Internet connections which will affect data transfer speed and efficiency. With better speed and capacity buffering can be virtually eliminated.
You can ask your telephone line provider to run a check on your line(s) to test for performance, capacity and signal clarity over the copper wire. If you are connected to an old telephone exchange that is in need of being upgraded, the equipment may not be able to provide you with sufficient bandwidth for your Internet needs. Contact you carrier for more details on line checking and fault finding.
Also check with your ISP (your Internet Service Provider) they will most likely have some special instructions on how to tune up your modem by adjusting some of the configuration settings. This can sometimes greatly improve internet data speed rates.
Windows can also be tweaked to give more efficient download or data transfer rates. One shareware software package that may prove useful is TweakDUN. Here is a link to find more about TweakDUN and even download a copy if you want. It is very easy to use and it can cut download times in half. Here is more information on how TweakDUN works for the technically inclined. You may find other programs that do much the same thing at software sites such as tucows.com sites and winfile.com.
1/ Possibly you have not installed Microsoft Media player plug in click here to get the latest copy for free. (Mac users should click here: Microsoft Media Player for the Mac )
2/ Your Explorer browser may not be the latest version you will need either 4.0 or 5.0. We recommend that you install Microsoft IE 5.0 You can get this for free from Microsoft. (Mac users can get it from this link: Microsoft's latest Internet Explorer for Apple users )
1/ Possibly you have not installed Microsoft Media player plug in. This application is critical for playing the media files.
2/ Your Netscape browser may not be the latest version. We recommend that you install Microsoft IE 5.x You can get this for free from Microsoft.
If Netscape shows a piece of a jigsaw puzzle in one or more of the windows on a page that means you need to load a missing plug-in component, which is most likely to be the Windows Media Player. You can get Windows Media player for free from Microsoft. Just click on this link to get it.
If you are using Netscape you will need to have at least version 4.5 or better to view this site. Contact Netscape to purchase or obtain the latest free version.
Or, better still, if you want the best browser for multimedia you can get Microsoft IE 5.x browser for free by clicking here!
Shared modems are modems that more than one person can use in the office which are normally connected to the office network.
We recommend that you don't, since the bandwidth will be shared among various users and the demands of streaming media will usually require you to have it all to yourself. You are unlikely to get enough bandwidth by sharing a 28.80 or 56kbps modem with even one other user. Unless the modem you are sharing is an ISDN, cable modem or better forget about using it for streaming media.
We recommend that you have a dedicated modem and telephone line. This will help you get the best in control of the web from your end and will allow you to set your computer for the optimum in video, audio and data delivery.
We strongly recommend that you have a dedicated phone line that does not run through an internal telephone system like a Commander or Omni (a telephone system that requires that you dial 0 or another number to get an outside line).
This is because it is most likely the telephone system will slow down the effective speed of your internet communications to something like a 14.4kbps modem speed. This would possibly be enough for an audio streaming file to play, but not enough flow to enable video streaming.
Macintosh for versions prior to X player 7.01 or higher
Macintosh for version X or higher player version 7.01 or higher
UNIX Solaris player version 6.4 or higher
Microsoft Windows 3.11 player version 6.4 or higher
Microsoft Windows 95 player version 6.4
Microsoft Windows 98 player version 6.4 ,7.0, 7.01 or higher
Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 player version 6.4
Microsoft Millennium player version default or 7.0, 7.01 or higher
Microsoft Windows 2000 all versions player version default or 7.0, 7.01 or higher
Microsoft Windows XP all versions player version default or 7.0, 7.01 or higher
Hand Held Computer Devices and other Consumer Devices player version 7.01
We would really appreciate your feed back on what else we could add to our site please let us know of any tips or hints you may have. Please send an e-mail to : suggestions@computertelevision.com.au