Playing Video Clips

Video clips at CBC Video are currently only available in the Windows Media format. You will need the Windows Media Player plug-in installed on your computer. This is a free program that is often included with newer versions of browsers and computer operating systems. Windows Media Player is regularly updated and it's recommended you have the most recent version installed (Version 7 or higher). You can download it free from the Microsoft Windows Media website

Browsers

The CBC Video site is optimized for use with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (or higher) for PC. You'll get best performance with the most recent version of Explorer. The site can also accessed using Internet Explorer 4.0, Netscape 4.0 (or higher), Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Opera and other browsers, but some features (such as our fullscreen video feature) may not function properly. For Mac users, Safari or Firefox are suitable replacements.

For MAC users

Video on CBC.ca is also compatible with MAC OS.

For OS X you will need to download Flip4Mac Windows Media plugin

Note: When connecting to Windows Media streaming servers, the Flip4Mac may try to download the requested media instead of streaming it. This can cause the video stream to stutter or loop back after a few minutes of play. To correct this:

1. Open the System Preferences utility
2. Click Flip4Mac WMV to open the Flip4Mac preferences pane
3. Open the Movie tab
4. Select "Create streaming movies"
5. Close System Preferences and restart any open browsers

The next time you access a WMA or WMV stream, the plugin will display the streaming progress bar instead of the download bar, and the stream should play correctly.

For OS 8/9 you will need Media Player 7.1

After you've downloaded the correct codec or Media Player you may need to quit your browser and then re-start/re-open it for the player to work correctly.

Internet Connection Speed

Video clips on the site will play better with faster internet connections. Users with a high-speed connection (DSL or cable) should experience high quality video with relatively few problems. Users with a dial-up 56 Kbps modems (or slower) or an older computer with less RAM will experience longer delays while the clip buffers before playing, and may experience interruptions as the video plays.

Video Streaming

"Streaming" refers to video that plays while you are connected to the internet. This way you don't need to wait for the entire file to download to your computer before you can start watching. All clips on the CBC Video site are streamed.

Saving Clips

Due to copyright, video clips cannot be saved. You must be connected to the internet to watch video clips. You can bookmark the page and return to view a clip as often as you would like.

Macromedia Flash

Flash is a free plug-in for your web browser that enables users to navigate the collection of CBC video. It can be easily downloaded from the web and installed onto your computer. It is also another popular format for video we are planning to utilize. To download the Flash Player, go to the Macromedia Flash site and follow the instructions.