TVU Networks – Frequently Asked Questions
About the TVU service
What is TVU?
How does TVU work?
Is TVU free?
Is TVU safe?
About watching TVU
What do I need to be able to watch TVU?
How do I play a channel?
Why does it take time to start up a new channel?
Why didn't the channel I selected come up?
Why can't I find the channel I want?
Why are some channels grayed out?
Do I need to create an account to watch TVU?
Can I watch TVU on a Mac?
About TVUPlayer
How do I enter the Full View mode on the player?
How do I return to the Channel View Mode?
How do I enter full screen mode?
How do I exit from full screen mode if I clicked the Windows maximize button?
How do I exit from full screen mode if I double clicked the player’s screen?
What is the Signal indicator in the blue Channel information box?
What is the Bandwidth indicator in the gray control panel?
What's that window on the right side?
How do I open/close the “Pull Out” window to the right of TVUPlayer?
How can I search for a channel?
I’m only interested in channels in my language – how can I find them?
How do I add a channel to my favorites list?
How can I tell my friends about TVU, or about a particular channel?
Web site questions
Why can't I see all the channels listed in the TV Guide on TVU?
Which browsers can I use to watch TVU?
Can I use the Firefox browser?
About the TVU networks service
What is TVU?
TVU Networks offers a free global live TV service that you can watch on your Windows PC or Mac over a broadband Internet connection. This service is dedicated to bringing you TV that you can't get from cable or satellite, such as news and sports from around the world.
How does TVU work?
TVU uses real-time packet replication, which is very much like P2P file sharing, except that the video is brought to you in real time. Every additional viewer watching a channel helps make the network stronger and helps improve the signal of all the other viewers watching the same channel.
Is TVU free?
Yes, TVU is 100% free. If anyone has sold you this service, we suggest you demand a refund.
Is TVU safe?
TVU is 100% safe. TVU doesn't write any data to your hard disk, other than the TVUPlayer itself and a few necessary configuration files. This makes it almost impossible for virus, worms, and the like to spread via our service.
About watching TVU
What do I need to be able to watch TVU networks?
You can watch TVU from either our downloadable TVUPlayer or via the “Watch TV” tab on our website.
Here is a list of system requirements:
- Windows (2000, XP, or Vista)
- Hardware:
- Software:
- Windows Media Player (version 9+)
- Windows Media Player 11 is recommended
- Microsoft IE (version 6+)
- Firefox (version 2+)
- Mac: OSX 10.5.x (note: the Mac product is currently in a TVU Labs early release)
- Hardware:
- CPU: Intel 1GHZ+
- RAM: 512MB+
- DISPLAY: 32-bit Color
- High Speed Broadband connection
- TVUPlayer
How do I play a channel?
Just click on any channel in the “Channel Guide” to the left of the player window.
Why does it take time to start up a new channel?
When you switch to a new channel, the TVU Player immediately starts filling up a buffer. When the buffer is ready, the channel starts playing – the amount of time it takes is dependent on how much bandwidth you have and who else is watching.
Why didn't the channel I selected come up?
The number of bars gives you an idea of what kind of reception you're likely to get on that channel. If a channel doesn't come up, it's usually because there isn't enough bandwidth available for the channel (from the broadcaster, from you, and from the other viewers).
Why can't I find the channel I want?
All the channels available will show up on the Channel Guide in TVUPlayer. If a channel isn’t available it could be because the channel is not broadcasting at that moment, or that the channel has been blocked for your area.
Why are some channels grayed out?
Channels are grayed out if they are currently not available to you. This will usually be because they are not currently on-air, but sometimes they may be subscriber channels, or channels that aren’t available in your area.
Do I need to create an account to watch TVU?
No, you don't. With a TVU account you can message with other viewers on the channel, post comments on the forums, and customize more options.
Can I watch TVU on a Mac?
Yes, you can, although this is lab edition with limited features.. You can download the Mac player here: http://pages.tvunetworks.com/labs/macosx.html . It’s not a product yet, but we wanted to start to share the power of TVU with Mac users.
Here is a list of system requirements:
- Mac: OSX 10.5.x
- Hardware:
- CPU: Intel 1GHZ+
- RAM: 512MB+
- DISPLAY: 32-bit Color
Note: you can only watch with the Mac TVUPlayer; the ‘Watch TV’ feature on our website will not work on a Mac.
About TVUPlayer
How do I enter the Full View mode on the player?
To see just the video, push the button labeled "Full View". This puts you into a mode that shows only the video and hides the channel list.
How do I return to the Channel View Mode?
Click the ‘Channel View’ button on the control panel.
How do enter full screen mode on the player?
There are 2 ways to do this:
- Double Click the player window
- Click on the Windows maximize button at the top of the player
How do I exit from full screen mode if I clicked the Windows maximize button?
Click on the Windows restore button.
How do I exit from full screen mode if I double clicked the player’s screen?
Press the “Esc” key to exit full screen mode. If you double clicked by accident in an attempt to exit and the screen has paused, just bring it back to full screen and click one more time. This will unfreeze the frame.
What is the Signal indicator in the blue Channel information box?
The Signal indicator tells you how well the channel is coming over TVU. The bars work like the bars on your mobile phone.
Here’s what the bars mean:
- 1-2 bars : the channel may not come up at all
- 3 bars : may load slowly and/or not smoothly
- 4-5 bars : a quick start-up and a good viewing experience.
What is the Bandwidth indicator in the gray control panel?
The Bandwidth indicator shows you the signal bandwidth of the channel, expressed in kilobits per second (kbps); a higher bandwidth means a better picture.
Note: Channels with bandwidth over 550 can only work well if the broadcaster and the viewers have very high-speed Internet connections.
What's that window on the right side?
We call that the "pull-out" window. You can use it to see the Message Board for the channel you're watching, Reviews, the TV Guide, and the Broadcaster’s Blog.
How do I open/close the “Pull Out” window on the TVUPlayer?
Simply click on the blue triangle on the right border of TVUPlayer.
How can I search for a channel?
By using the ‘Search Channels’ feature. You can search by channel name, number, and description. The Search function happens automatically when you type text into the Search field; there’s no button that you need to click. To cancel your search, click the red X on the right of the Search field
I’m only interested in channels in my language – how can I find them?
On the left side of the TVUPlayer, there’s a pull-down list, that defaults to “All languages”. You can use that list to select one language; if you do, only channels that broadcast in that language will be shown in the channel list. You can go back to seeing all the channels by selecting “All languages”.
How do I add a channel to my favorites list?
Click on the “plus star” symbol in the blue channel information box.
How can I tell my friends about TVU, or about a particular channel?
Use the “envelope” symbol in the blue channel information box. This will generate an email that you can quickly address to your friend(s). If you do it while watching a channel, the email will tell them about that particular channel.
Web site questions
Why can't I see all the channels listed in the TV Guide on the TVU service?
The TV guide is a Global resource for channel listings, so not every channel mentioned is available on TVU.
Which browsers can I use to watch TVU networks?
- Microsoft IE (version 6+)
- Firefox (version 2+)
What if I'm using the Firefox browser?
All you have to do is download the latest player and the latest TVU firefox plug is automatically downloaded.
Thanks for watching TVU networks!
The TVU networks team
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