Internet TV Streaming (looking for some opinions!)

[YEKIMI]

I basically have given up watching video on my computer. Don't know why but no matter what I try to watch, it's choppy and jerky, almost like it's going frame by frame. Downloaded updated drivers, etc...nothing fixes it. Device manager says everything is fine with the video card.

 

[KeithE4]

I basically have given up watching video on my computer. Don't know why but no matter what I try to watch, it's choppy and jerky, almost like it's going frame by frame. Downloaded updated drivers, etc...nothing fixes it. Device manager says everything is fine with the video card.

You might need to change how much RAM you allocate for video. This is usually done in the BIOS. I had to do that on the Acer Aspire Revo I bought last week. This is a fairly low-powered "nettop" (a netbook without a display) that I use strictly for streaming video. The default video memory was originally 256 Mb out of 2 Gb total RAM. Changing it to to 512 Mb made all the difference in the world. Didn't affect the operation of Windows 7 either. Hulu is now usable, if still a bit slow when scrolling, but video is much smoother.

 

[BRNout]

3) Despite claims to the contrary here, foreign broadcast networks CAN be seen outside of their home country. I've seen the english services of Al Jazeera, CCTV, SKY News & BBC World (Just to name a few) online.

Pat, I don't think anyone made the blanket statement that foreign broadcast networks can't be seen outside their home country - the issue was specific to live streaming of the BBC and ITV. Go ahead and try to watch 95% of the program content offered on their websites and you'll find that those streams are not available outside of the UK. BBC World is offered here and is thus available - but not live; certain BBC news reports are also available on-line in the form of video podcasts. But entire shows and sporting events are not. SKY News doesn't normally offer live streams on-line, again only individual reports. You can't just go to their website and watch their programming as a cable subscriber in Surbiton would.

To add context, we were originally talking about live streams. None of the above stations offer that.

Al Jazeera and CCTV are both operated by organizations that want to have MORE foreign viewers and hence offer their programs on line to increase foreign viewership. In neither case are there any rights issues associated with content. On the other hand, a live stream of ITV, CTV, CBC and a number of other foreign networks WILL trigger violations of contracted rights to air material outside of their respective territories. That's why they are geocoded.

As someone else noted here, you can get around the geocoding by using a proxy server in the country who's programming you want to view. However, I do know that BBC has pretty sharp software and I know of people who have tried to view live soccer matches on BBC via proxy servers who were shut out anyway.