UHD TV

Real Media Player

What is Real Media?

What are Real Media files?

Player Standards

An updated player from RealMedia is required to view UHD streaming material. One can obtain Real Player from RealMedia at their website, which is located at http://www.real.com/freeplayer/?rppr=rnwk. If you have Real Player on your computer go to the update section and download the latest version. RealMedia players are available on most operating systems. The current Real Player 15 will work on the Windows OPerating System, OS 10.x and Unix operating systems. See "Step 2: Learn the RealPlayer 15 Interface" for an introduction to the RealPlayer interface.

Player Problems

Windows displayed Invalid Page Faults, or RealPlayer crashed or showed distorted video such as: an empty magenta or black square; a snowy, static-filled picture that moves; a video with a green tint that is distorted; video with stripes in all or part of the screen; or video that is stretched vertically or horizontally in one direction, making the picture look long and flat, or tall and thin.

These problems occur when your computer is using a video card that does not understand the instructions that RealPlayer is giving to it. You may be able to resolve this problem with one of the following solutions. (You don't have to do all of these: if the first one doesn't work, try the next, and so on):

- setting your video display to 16-bit color;
- updating your video card drivers;
- installing the latest version of DirectX;
- lowering the hardware acceleration of your card;
- disabling optimized video in RealPlayer;
- using DivX or XviD codecs.

Solution 1: Set your video display to 16-bit color.

RealPlayer requires 16-bit (65,000-color) color depth. If the video card is not capable of this, you will receive an error message when you start RealPlayer that requests that you increase the video resolution.

To check your color settings:

1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel (Windows 7/Vista/XP: Start > Control Panel).
2. Double-click the Display icon.
3. Click the Settings tab.
4. Select 16-bit, 24-bit, or 32-bit from the colors list.
5. Click OK.
6. Restart your computer if prompted.

Solution 2: Update your video card drivers.

Solution 3: Install the latest version of DirectX.

Solution 4: Lower the hardware acceleration.

Choose the appropriate procedure for your operating system:

Windows 7/Vista/XP:
1. Right-click a blank area on the computer desktop.
2. Select Properties, then the Settings tab.
3. Click the Advanced button, then the Troubleshoot tab.
4. Move the Hardware Acceleration slider to None or one notch away.
5. Click OK twice.
6. Restart your computer.

Windows 98SE, ME, 2000:
1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click the System icon.
3. On the Performance tab, click the Graphics button.
4. Move the Hardware Acceleration slider to the Basic or None level.
5. Click OK.

If the problem no longer occurs after changing this setting, leave your system on this setting. If it does not resolve the problem, set it back to where it was. The Basic or None setting is more compatible than Full in most cases, but setting it at Basic or None disables some advanced features of the video card.

Solution 5: Disable optimized video.

If you have tried the solutions above and are still having problems playing video, they may be caused by a video card that uses WinDraw drivers instead of DirectDraw drivers. Disabling optimized video in RealPlayer will improve compatibility for video cards that are not DirectDraw compatible.

To disable optimized video in RealPlayer:

1. On the Tools menu, click Preferences. The Preferences box opens.
2. In the Category pane, click Hardware.
3. In the Video Card Compatibility section, drag the slider to Most reliable.
4. Click OK.
5. Close RealPlayer and restart the computer.

Solution 6: Try the DivX or XviD codecs.

Some videos may need a codec to play properly. (Codec stands for compression/decompression. A codec is a program that compresses a file to save space, then decompresses it for viewing.) Click here for more info on the DivX and XviD codecs.

Connection Problems

RealPlayer 15 is designed to obtain the highest quality playback possible.

Note: These connection settings are standard for optimal playback for your Internet connection speed. If you are running a satellite connection, you will need to change your normal connection rate to 512 Kbps. This is due to the difference between your upload and download speed.

Connection

To set any other Internet connection:

1. Open RealPlayer and click the Tools menu, then Preferences. The Preferences box opens.
2. In the Category pane, click Connection.
3. Click the Test Connection button.
4. From the TurboPlay Connection Test window, click the Perform Test button.
5. When the connection test finishes, write down the results.
6. Click Next, then OK to close the Preferences box.
7. Under Bandwidth, change Normal to one setting less than what your available bandwidth tested at, unless you are on dial-up.
8. Under Network Time-out, Connection should say 20 seconds and Server should say 90 seconds.

Bandwidth

The best way to set your RealPlayer 15 bandwidth is to set its maximum bandwidth (connection speed) to the largest allowable setting. For example, if you have a 56K modem, you would set the bandwidth in RealPlayer to 56K. Your normal bandwidth setting should be set one level below it; if you have a 56K modem, you would set this to 33.6K.

Setting the bandwidth correctly is especially important when you play presentations that include a mix of streaming pictures, audio, video, and text at the same time.

To set the connection speed within the player:

1. In RealPlayer, click Tools and select Preferences.
2. In the Category pane, click Connection.
3. Under Bandwidth, set the Normal drop-down list to one level below the speed of your modem.
- If you are not sure of your connection speed, click the Test Connection button instead. This automatically sets your connection speed.
4. Make the Maximum drop-down list equal to your modem speed.
5. Click OK.

After you configure RealPlayer this way, it can manage streaming data so rebuffering can be avoided, and the clip can play smoothly and at the highest quality level possible.