TECHNICAL HELP

Overview

For the time being, PILS video--particularly live streams--is being sent as MPEG-4 video using Apple Computer's Quicktime structure. Video will be most accessible to those with the latest version of Quicktime, which can be downloaded and used for free.

During Quicktime's installation, you may be asked for a registration number. This is only needed for those who upgrade the Player to Quicktime Pro. To install the free player, merely click the "Next" button and installation will continue.

An alternative is the free VideoLAN Client, a multi-platform program for viewing a variety of video formats. More help will be provided in the future on using VLC to connect to PILS.

Problems

If you experience problems viewing material at PILS, it may be for one of the following reasons:

1. Slow Bandwidth: Live content on PILS aims for a transfer rate of approximately 1 megabit/sec. If your connection or computer cannot keep up with the data, the quality of the video and audio will degrade. You may get stuttering in the video, marked by hesitations and skipping, or you may get odd bands of color, as the software does not have enough data to update the image.
   
   
2. Firewalls: Live content in particular is affected by firewalls that may restrict activity by the protocols typically used for streaming video. To compensate for this, try the following:
   
   
   1. Open the Quicktime Player software
   2. Open the Quicktime Preferences panel (in Windows, this is done by going to Edit > Preferences > Quicktime Preferences; in OS X, this is done by going to the Apple Menu and selecting Preferences > Quictime Preferences)
   3. Change your streaming preferences to use HTTP as the protocol, communicating on port 80. (for Windows, select Streaming Transport from the drop-down menu, then click on "Use this protocol and port ID" and then click on "Use HTTP"; for OS X, click on Connection, then click on Transport Setup, then select "Use this protocol," then choose HTTP from the drop-down list)
   4. Close Quicktime Preferences and try to re-connect to the PILS video stream.

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Portable International Lecture System
University Center for International Studies
4G Posvar Hall, University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Phone: (412) 624-2918; Fax: (412) 624-4672
E-mail: weixel@ucis.pitt.edu
http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/pils

This page last updated: 4/1/2005