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WATCHING A FILM -- ADVICE AND FAQ
Are you having trouble playing video in the SPIKE Player? In order to watch videos at SPIKE, you need to have latest version of Adobe’s FREE Flash player installed on your machine. If a recent version of the Flash player is not detected on your machine you should be prompted to download and install Adobe’s most recent Flash player. If you are not prompted to download the player, you can manually access the download by visiting: Free Flash player. After installing the latest version of the Flash player make sure to perform the following actions with your browser: clear the cache, clear cookies, and restart. Ad blocking software (eg. Norton Internet Security) can also interfere with playing videos. If you are running any type of ad blocking software you may need to disable ad blocking, clear your cache, and restart your browser to view videos. If you're still unable to get video clips to play, please email us a complete description of the problem. For us to best assist you, you'll need to include your computer platform, operating system, browser type and number, and the name of the clip you're trying to watch. (For example: PC, Windows 2000, IE 6.0, Miller Lite: Catfight) PLAYER FAQ How do I Watch SPIKE?
Video doesn't Play in the SPIKE Player.
How do I delete my cookies?
What happened to SPIKE+?
Why are some videos Blurry?
Can I Download the films on SPIKE?
Why does my Computer Crash when I try to view films on SPIKE?
What is Streaming?
What is Video Compression?
Can WebTV users watch videos?
What are the minimum system requirements for watching videos for PC users?
What are the minimum system requirements for watching videos for Macintosh users?
What are Plug-Ins?
What are Cookies? How do I Watch videos?
A. To watch a video on SPIKE, you will need to download and install the latest version of the Adobe Flash Player.
Video doesn't Play in the SPIKE Player.
If you are having trouble getting video to play, try deleting your cookies.
How do I delete my cookies?
To delete cookies, go to your browser's preferences/options and go to the cookies section. a. In Internet Explorer, navigate to the "General" tab and click the "Delete Cookies" button. b. In Firefox, navigate to the "Privacy" section. Next to the "Cookies" option click the "Clear" button. For further information, try accessing your browser's help content. This is generally located in the browser menu under "Help". Go to the index and search for "cookies" or "deleting cookies" or "manage cookies".
What happened to SPIKE+?
We are no longer offering SPIKE+ subscriptions. However, existing SPIKE+ subscribers can still watch their 500k streams with no ads. To do so, select "Media Preferences" in the Player. When you reach the media preferences screen, choose Real Player as your preferred media player and choose 500k (subscription only option) as your preferred bandwidth. You may also access the media preferences screen here.
Why are some videos Blurry?
The quality of videos is relative to the speed of your modem. If you are using a 56k modem to access SPIKE, your connection speed may be too slow to get a high-quality video stream; therefore the film may appear blurry or be delivered like a filmstrip instead of a movie. Can I Download the films on SPIKE?
At the moment, we don't offer downloads of our video files.
Why does my Computer Crash when I try to view films on SPIKE?
As with all programs and plug-ins, Flash Player and/or Web browsers can freeze or crash your computer. This should not happen on a regular basis. When using a demanding application like a streaming video player, try not to have other programs running that might be using system resources. What is Streaming?
The term "streaming" refers to files that are designed to play as they download without the need to complete the download before you begin playing it. These streaming files are specially encoded and delivered from high-performance streaming servers. The whole process is designed to let you enjoy more great, high-quality content faster. There are many streaming products on the Net: music, videos, animations and more.
What is Video Compression?
In order to deliver quality video over the Internet, digitized video clips are compressed using custom software. These video files start out so big that downloading them would take many hours, even on a high-speed connection. Compression decreases the file size, allowing for a reasonable amount of download time or streaming capability. Can WebTV users watch videos?
Currently, WebTv doesn't support streaming media that is encoded higher than 24kbps. The slowest SPIKE streams are encoded at a minimum of 56kbps, thus SPIKE does not support WebTV.
TECHNOLOGY AND SYSTEM HELP
What are the minimum system requirements for watching videos for PC users?
Minimum System Requirements * 233MHz Intel Pentium II processor * 64MB of RAM * 56Kpbs modem * 16-bit sound card and speakers * 65,000-color video display card at 800x600 resolution * Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 4 or later * DirectX version 3.0 or later * IE 5.0 or later * Netscape 4.7 or later Recommended System * 300 MHz Intel Pentium III processor or greater * 128MB of RAM * DSL/ADSL/Cable Modem * Full Duplex sound card and speakers * 65,000-color video display card at 800x600 resolution * Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack 4 or later * DirectX version 8.0 or later * IE 5.0 or later, OR * Netscape 4.7 or later Browsers: * IE 5.0 or later * Mozilla 1.1 and associated Gecko Engines (AOL 8.0 or later, Netscape 7.0 or later) Media Players: Adobe Flash Player 8 or better
What are the minimum system requirements for watching videos for Macintosh users?
* 266 MHz PowerPC/G3/G4 processor processor or greater * At least 64MB of RAM with Virtual Memory turned on * Mac OS 8.5 or later * 56Kpbs modem, or better Browsers: * Internet Explorer 5.0 or later * Netscape Navigator 7.0 or later Media Players: Adobe Flash Player 8 or better
What are Plug-Ins?
Plug-ins are small applications that give your browser extra capabilities, such as playback of audio or video files, 2-D or 3-D animation, and so on. When you try to view or hear a file that requires a plug-in, like a movie or sound clip, the necessary plug-in launches automatically if you already have it. Current browsers come prepackaged with the most popular plug-ins (some are listed below), but if you don't have the plug-in you need, you can download it from the developer's site. Plug-ins are generally free, though some offer advanced features for an extra fee. If you download and install a plug-in but find that you still can't view the desired files, quit the browser and reopen it. Some older browsers require you to quit the program in order to fully install a plug-in. What are Cookies?
A "cookie" is a small piece of data that a Website sends to your computer to make your surfing easier. By doing the record-keeping for you saving passwords, noting which plug-ins you have, and so on cookies make surfing more efficient and more personal. We take the security and privacy of our users very seriously, but cookies are required to view films on SPIKE. For full details about our privacy policy, please click here.
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