Help Watching ABC15.com Streaming Video and Audio
To view ABC15.com's streaming video and audio (video links of this kind will always be noted by the following icon:
), you need
RealOne Player installed on your computer.
Download it here.
Please note: There are two versions of the player – one is a free version; the other you can pay a fee for if you wish.
Please view our FAQ's below if you have questions or problems accessing ABC15.com's streaming video and audio content.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q: Why do you force me to buy RealOne Player? You said it was free, but I go to real.com and it says I have to buy it!
A: We have never told anyone that he or she must buy the RealOne Player. There are two versions of the player – one is a free version; the other you can pay a fee for if you wish, which has additional options and features that the "free" version may not have. This is software that is developed by Real.com.
We do NOT require -- and have never required -- our users to purchase the RealOne Player. You can always use the free RealOne Player to view our streaming content. To download the free player, you may have to "hunt" for the link on real.com to download it. We cannot guarantee that the link to
the "free" player is always easily accessible on real.com. We have no control over their website; sometimes they change the location of the free player download link.
Q: When I click on a video link, a popup player window appears but nothing happens!
A: You need RealOne Player installed on your computer, and its plugin ability in your browser(s). If you already have the player installed on your computer,
then the problem may exist with your Internet browser. Your browser may not recognize the RealOne Player plugin. This usually happens when an Internet browser is installed
onto a computer after RealOne Player had previously been installed. This can also happen if your browser's plugin abilities somehow becomes corrupt. Re-installing RealOne Player usually corrects this problem.
Q: When I click on a video link, nothing happens at all! Not even a popup player window appears!
A: One of two things could be happening here: 1) You need Javascript enabled in your Internet browser. Visit this page for Help With Javascript; or 2) If you have a pop-up blocker installed on your computer, this could be preventing the video window from displaying. Check your pop-up blocker's documentation on how to allow a "safe" pop-up window on specific websites.
Q: When I click on a video link, I get an error message that says: "Requested file not found. The link you followed may be outdated or inaccurate." What's wrong?
A: This error message means the video file that the link connects to may not be available. If you are on the ABC 15 News LIVE Webcast Schedule page and get this error message after clicking on a link, most likely you have tried to view a link to a LIVE newscast at a time when that live newscast is not airing. The links to LIVE webcasts are only valid during the times listed on that page. All times listed are local Arizona time.
If you are NOT on the LIVE webcast page and still receive this error message, then it may be because the link you clicked on to view the archived video file is wrong, or the archived video file is missing or may have been moved. After making sure you are not clicking on a live webcast link at a time when the live webcast is not available, and you believe it is a problem with our website, then contact the Webmaster of abc15.com and let us know what problem you encountered, what page the bad link was on, and what the link was for.
Q: When I play a video clip, it is choppy or difficult to watch!
A: ABC15.com's streaming video is best viewed with high-speed Internet connections, such as a cable modem, DSL connection, or your company's corporate WAN.
However, our video is also optimized so it should be viewable on a 56k dial-up modem. If you're using a dial-up modem to view any streaming video, you may not get the best results because phone line connections can become "noisy" and cause streaming delays.
If you are using a slower modem such as a 28.8k modem speed, then your streaming results may vary greatly. We strongly suggest you upgrade to at least a 56k dial-up modem, or, better yet, a high-speed Internet connection. Also, installing the most current driver set for your computer's video card
is also recommended, which should help you get the clearest possible video.
Q: My RealPlayer says it needs to download a special plugin or codec (or an update to RealPlayer)! Should I let it?
A: ABC15.com's streaming video is optimized to use the RealVideo 9 plugin that is part of RealOne Player, in order to give you the clearest, best possible streaming video quality. You will need to allow RealOne Player to install the RealVideo 9 plugin in order to view our video.
Please note: Depending on how your RealOne Player is configured, it may try to download items other than plugins or video codecs! We strongly suggest you become familiar with how RealOne Player functions and exactly what it is trying to download onto your computer.
We have no control over what RealOne Player attempts to download.
Q: I have an older version of RealPlayer installed on my computer. Do I really need to install the new RealOne Player?
A: We strongly suggest you install the latest, most current RealOne Player in order to have the best possible streaming video experience. We cannot guarantee that you will be able to enjoy our streaming video if you decide not to upgrade to the most current player version,
or allow the most recent RealOne Player plugins and codecs to be installed.
Q: When the pop-up video window displays after clicking a video link, the player window contents (i.e. graphics, news headlines, logos, etc.) looks all garbled and discombobulated. What's wrong?
A: Most likely you are not using a current, standards-compliant web browser. For example: you may be using a very old web browser such as Netscape 4. Please upgrade your browser to the most current version. Go here for more information, under the "Web Browser Upgrade Notice" section.
Q: How come some of ABC15.com's video clips are big, when other video clips are much smaller?
A: Recently, we upgraded our streaming video capabilities. This upgrade made it possible for us to increase our streaming video's resolution, which gives you a much bigger video window size, and a vastly improved video image. The upgraded video resolution is 320x240. Since we have been streaming ABC 15 video online for over four years now, we have a rather large library of old video clips that were originally encoded at 176x144 resolution (the smaller video size). It would simply take way too much time and resources to go back and re-encode all of our old 176x144 video clips to the new 320x240 size. Resampling the old clips to the larger size actually makes the older video clips much worse quality-wise, so we decided to leave the old clips in their original format. Any new video encoded for the site since the upgrade will be encoded at the 320x240 resolution.
Q: My RealOne Player is installed and set up correctly. But I still cannot play your video. I'm behind a proxy server or firewall. What's wrong?
A: If you are trying to view streaming video from behind a corporate firewall or proxy server, you may need to contact your company's Information Technology (IT) department and have your administrator verify that your company firewall or proxy server has been configured to allow streaming Real video to pass through. Please visit Real.com's Knowledge Base and do keyword searches for "firewall" and "real player" for firewall and proxy server configuration instructions.
Listed here are other possible causes that may be preventing you from viewing streaming video, either on your corporate WAN or your personal computer:
If your computer has a Winsock Proxy Client application installed, this may be causing your problem. We've found through experience that there appears to be a conflict between RealOne Player and this very old and outdated proxy client software. Uninstalling this old proxy client software should allow streaming video to play correctly in RealOne Player. If this is your work computer, contact your company's IT department before attempting to change your computer! They may have specific policies or guidelines in place for your company's computers!
If you are running any personal firewall software on your computer (example: Zone Alarm, Norton Internet Security, etc.) make sure your personal firewall software has also been configured to allow Real Player to access the Internet.
For all other configuration problems or technical questions about Real Player, please visit Real.com's Services and Support section.
Help on configuring Real Player
In most cases, Real Player can automatically configure itself for streaming audio and video to your computer. However, some times it is necessary to manually make setting changes to Real Player yourself
to ensure streaming audio and video plays correctly. Here are some pointers. Please note: These suggestions below are based on RealPlayer version 7. The options and menus in your version of RealPlayer may be slightly different!
- If your video appears shaky, or seems to "flash" bright and dim, on Real Player's menu bar, go to
View | Preferences... then
select the Performance tab. Under Video card compatibility, if the Use optimized video display box is checked, uncheck it. Click OK.
- If you click on a video clip, but all Real Player does is show you a black screen with the status bar saying "Buffering (0.0 Kbps, xx seconds)" (where 'xx' is the number of seconds counting upwards - see example image below), check your Real Player's bandwidth settings.
To check this, on Real Player's menu bar, go to
View | Preferences... then select the Connections tab. Under Bandwidth, make sure your Normal Bandwidth is equal to your Internet connection's speed.
Also make sure your Maximum Bandwidth is not greater than what your Internet connection can handle.
(For example: if you are on a 56K dial-up modem, make sure your Normal Bandwidth setting is on "56K modem" and your Maximum Bandwidth setting is also on "56K modem".)
- For all other configuration problems or technical questions about Real Player, please visit Real.com's Services and Support section.
