Tips for Viewing Videos Online
This guide is written for the computer user who has limited experience with computers and the internet. We have tried to use plain English when explaining the concepts and have given you links to other websites with more information.
- Your Internet Connection
- Your Computer
- Your Browser
- Your Media Player
- Your Video Version Choices & Preferences
Your Internet Connection
What is your connection to the internet? Do you use a modem and dial up to the internet through a phone line? Or are you connected with DSL or High Speed Internet services through your phone company, cable company or satalite dish?
If you are connected to the internet through a modem, you might want to consider upgrading to faster internet service. Any video you want to view will take a long time to come up on your screen (download), or it may not work at all. We have put a few versions of the Production Splash 2006 Video here for you to try if you are using a dial up connection. The compromise for you is that the video quality will be lower because we had to make it that way for your internet connection to even be able to receive it.
If you are connected to the internet through a DSL/Satalite or High Speed Internet Service through your local cable company, then you probably receive between 768k bps (slowest) to 8 megabites per second (fastest). The faster the connection, the higher quality video you will receive and the less time you will have to wait to view it.
See: How the Internet Works for a basic explanation of how the internet works and what words like "ISP", "POP", and "Router" mean.
Your Computer
If you have an old computer, then likely everything is going to be slow for you because your computer doesn't have enough processing speed to handle a video and other media very well. You might want to consider upgrading your computer to a new one with better processing power.
See: Computer Buying Primer for a helpful article to guide you in buying a new computer. It explains the options and what to ask for.
Your Browser
The browser on your computer is something you may not even realise is there. You can find your browser by going to the place the you usually type in the URL (the address you want to go to on the web). The browser usually has a bar on top with a little symbol stating what kind it is. The most common browsers are Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Netscape Navigator. It is always best to have the most recent version of the browser on your computer and browsers are free, so it pays to upgrade it at least once per year.
The browser determines what you can and can't read on a webpage. Each browser interprets code that it receives from the page you are viewing and translates it into something you can understand. When it comes to active media, like a video, the browser may be set to block you from viewing the video or make it very difficult to download a media player that will give you the viewing experience you need.
Our favorite browser is Firefox. This one works with almost all websites on the Internet and delivers one of the best experiences. You can get Firefox for free at: Firefox Free Download.
Our least favorite is Microsoft Internet Explorer. Its default settings make it very difficult for you to download anything that doesn't come from Microsoft (like the Quicktime Player) and it alters the look of many webpages from what the designers originally intended. If you are using Internet Explorer, I recommend you add Firefox to your computer so that at least you can see the difference between the two and decide for yourself.
See: Web Browsers for more information about what a web browser is, the types available and its history.
Your Media Player
In order to view a video, you need a media player. The two types of media players we have formated our videos for are QuickTime and WindowsMedia Player.
Our preference is Quicktime. We recommend that you download QuickTime and use it for viewing the videos on our website: Download Free QuickTime Player.
Windows Media Player may already be on your computer. We have provided two versions of the video for Window's Media:
Your Video Version Choices & Preferences
Sometimes you have the settings on your browser set in such a way that you can't view the video. If you change your settings to allow pop up windows and enable active X controls, then you should be able to view the video.
QuickTime Video Version Choices
On the Video Page, we have set the default video to the medium quality and medium size of video for each. The video runs for 7:33 minutes. If you want a smaller size and lesser quality to run on your computer, or the higher quality version doesn't run on your computer, choose one of the following versions:
- Larger Size, Highest Quality
- Data Size 89.11 MB, Data Rate, 200.50 kb, Normal Size: 640x480 pixels
- Medium Size, High Quality
- Data Size 45.87 MB, Data Rate, 103.20 kb, Normal Size: 320x240 pixels
- Medium Size, Medium Quality
- Data Size 17.69 MB, Data Rate, 39.82 kb, Normal Size: 320x240 pixels
- Medium Size, Lower Quality
- Data Size 13.95 MB, Data Rate, 6.20 kb, Normal Size: 160x120 pixels
- Medium Size, Lowest Quality
- Data Size 2.61 MB, Data Rate, 5.89 kb, Normal Size: 160x120 pixels