Frequently Asked Questions

What are the system requirements needed to run a NiFTy TV player?..."
What about Mac?..."
My player doesn’t display video and the message at the bottom reads “Connecting to Server” but nothi..."
My player starts up and displays video, but all it shows is the same commercial / video clip over an..."
Is it possible to watch NiFTy video on my television rather than only on my computer?..."
I have a dual monitor setup on my computer and when I move the NiFTy TV application from one monitor..."
I am trying to play NiFTy video on my television but the video on the TV either freezes on a single ..."
Video stops during the introductory commercial and again when receiving live video -- all I see is a..."
Will running my player interfere with my web surfing?..."
Is it ok to run peer-to-peer applications, such as Kazaa or Bit Torrent, while running my player?..."
Can I run a NiFTy TV player with a satellite Internet connection?..."
My router occasionally resets itself, why?..."
Can I, or someone else on my local network, play online games while running a NiFTy TV player?..."
Are there any known problems running a NiFTy TV player with Vista?..."
Windows is asking me to unblock my firewall or give the NiFTy TV player access to an external server..."
Every time I launch the NiFTy TV player it asks me to register and when I choose "no" the program ex..."
What is peer-to-peer computing?..."
Can I run my player over a dialup connection?..."
When my player starts up, it doesn't do anything for several seconds. Is this normal?..."
Can I run my player from behind a firewall?..."
My player refuses to run. I get some kind of popup that complains about the version number. What sho..."
My client is displaying unusual "false-colored" video or no video at all. How do I fix this?..."
When I run my player, I get a message that says "The system is unable to display the video stream......"

What are the system requirements needed to run a NiFTy TV player?

NiFTy TV players are compatible with Windows Vista, XP, and 2000. In addition to a computer running Windows, you will need a high speed Internet connection.

What about Mac?

Mac users are able to view NiFTy broadcasts using our Silverlight-based NiFTy Online Television for Mac solution. This solution requires that Mac users download Microsoft’s Silverlight plug-in, available free of charge here. While the underlying technologies are different between the Mac and Windows NiFTy Online Television applications the end-user experience is near-identical in both environments.

My player doesn’t display video and the message at the bottom reads “Connecting to Server” but nothing happens. What should I do?

This error may be the result of a Windows Media codec problem. Try installing the latest version of Windows Media Player, available here.

My player starts up and displays video, but all it shows is the same commercial / video clip over and over and I never get connected to the content I’m trying to watch. Is there a way around this issue?

This problem most often occurs when the player has been blocked from accessing the Internet by your firewall. When you first launch the player it is important that you grant it access to the Internet so that it can join the broadcast network to receive the stream. If you inadvertently blocked access when you first ran the program you will need to go into your firewall program and grant the player access to the Internet. The details of how to accomplish this task will depend on the particular firewall program you are using.

Is it possible to watch NiFTy video on my television rather than only on my computer?

Yes, you can watch NiFTy TV on your TV.

To do so, it will first be necessary to connect your computer to your television. While most computers and televisions can be connected in a number of different ways, one of the most common is to use an S-Video cable. Ensure your computer and television both have connections labelled "S-Video", if so you can purchase S-Video cables at your local electronics store.

Once you have physically connected your computer and television you will need to make sure your television is tuned to the proper input channel.

Next you will probably want to put the NiFTy TV player into full screen mode. This can be accomplished by clicking the "full screen" icon located in the lower right corner of the player. (In order to return to normal display mode, click your computer's mouse anywhere on the video area and the NiFTy TV program will return to normal display mode.)

The final step is to configure your computer to route your video display to your TV. The method of doing this varies somewhat from computer to computer. For example, if you own a Dell laptop, you can simply press the <fn> and <F8> keys on your computer at the same time. This should switch your display to the television. Pressing this key sequence again should cause your computer to display its information on both the television and the computer's monitor. Pressing this key sequence a third time should return your system to "computer monitor only" mode. Most other laptop computers will have an equally simple way of switching your video to your television. For desktop computers you should consult your manufacturer's documentation.

I have a dual monitor setup on my computer and when I move the NiFTy TV application from one monitor to the other its video either freezes on a single frame or goes black, yet I can still hear audio. What should I do?

This issue is generally related to improper video card support for dual monitors. Often, updating your video card's drivers to the most recent release will correct this issue.

In order to update your video card drivers you will first need to determine the card's manufacturer and model number. To do so follow the instructions below:

Click the "Start" button.
Launch the DirectX Diagnostic Tool. To launch this tool:

Windows XP users should: click "Run" and then type in "dxdiag" (withoutthe quotes).
Windows Vista users should: type "dxdiag" (without the quotes) into the"start search" field.

The DirectX Diagnostic Tool will be shown. Click the "Display" tab (or "Display1" if there are multiple displays listed). The manufacturer of your video card is displayed in the "Manufacturer" field while the model of your video card is shown in the "Name" field.
Download the appropriate video driver files for your card.

For Intel graphics cards, please visit http://www.intel.com/ and click on "Support & Downloads" for updated drivers.
For NVIDIA graphics cards, please visit http://www.nvidia.com/page/home.html and click on "Download Drivers" for updated drivers.
For ATI graphics cards, please visit http://www.amd.com/ and click on "ATI Graphics Drivers" under the "Support" section for updated drivers.

Install the updated video drivers, reboot your computer, and run the NiFTy player again.
If the problem persists, please contact us.

I am trying to play NiFTy video on my television but the video on the TV either freezes on a single frame or goes black, yet I can still hear audio. What should I do?

This issue is generally related to improper video card support for dual monitors. Often, updating your video card's drivers to the most recent release will correct this issue. Directions for updating your drivers is provided in the answer to the previous question above.

Video stops during the introductory commercial and again when receiving live video -- all I see is a single image. Is there a fix for this?

This issue occurs in some PCI Express graphics cards. You must change a setting on your graphics card to solve this issue. Follow the instructions below to solve this issue:

Click the "Start" button.
Launch the Device Manager. To launch the manager:

Windows XP users should: click "Run" and then type in "devmgmt.msc" (without the quotes).
Windows Vista users should: type "devmgmt.msc" (without the quotes) into the "start search" field.

The Device Manager will be shown. Double click "Display adapters" and then double click the graphics card shown under it.
The type of graphics card you have is provided under the "Location" field. If you do not see "PCI" anywhere in the "Location" field, please disregard the following steps and contact us.
If you do see "PCI" in the "Location" field, follow these steps:

Click the "Start" button.
Windows XP users should: click "Run" and then type in "dxdiag" (without the quotes).
Windows Vista users should: type "dxdiag" (without the quotes) into the "start search" field.
The DirectX Diagnostic Tool will be shown. Click the "Display" tab.
Under the "Direct X Features" section, DISABLE the AGP Texture Acceleration by clicking the "Disable" button.
Reboot your computer and run the NiFTy player again.
If the problem persists, please contact us.

Will running my player interfere with my web surfing?

No. Running your player should in no way interfere with surfing the web or downloading files. We have engineered your player so as to be a well-behaved program. It is quite small, does not require an install script (it can be run directly as an exe), uses a surprisingly small number of CPU cycles (even on older machines), and most importantly does not hog your bandwidth.

If you do experience a noticeable delay surfing the web or downloading files while running your player please file a bug report.

Is it ok to run peer-to-peer applications, such as Kazaa or Bit Torrent, while running my player?

We recommend that you close (and exit) all peer-to-peer applications while running your player. Running peer-to-peer applications limits your computer's ability to rebroadcast the video stream to other viewers. Your player will continue to run even with peer-to-peer programs actively exchanging data, but as a result you may receive a lower quality version of the stream.

Can I run a NiFTy TV player with a satellite Internet connection?

The answer to this question depends on your particular satellite Internet connection. Due to bandwidth restrictions and limited connection speeds, some satellite Internet consumers have reported problems in the past.

My router occasionally resets itself, why?

The NiFTy TV player utilizes the UDP communications protocol. This is a common protocol used by many programs, such as Bittorrent, Skype, and many popular multi-player online games, such as "World of Warcraft".

Some routers experience occasional resets while running UDP applications, especially when multiple UDP applications are run on the same local network. If you are experiencing this problem, we first recommend that you exit all other UDP-based applications while running the NiFTy TV player. If the problem persists, consider upgrading your router's firmware.

The Linksys WRT54G router is known to be especially sensitive to resets while running UDP-based applications, such as the NiFTy TV player.

Can I, or someone else on my local network, play online games while running a NiFTy TV player?

Under most circumstances, yes. However, some users have reported occasional router resets while playing multi-player games such as "World of Warcraft", which utilize the UDP communications protocol. If this occurs, we recommend either upgrading your router's firmware or not actively gaming while running a NiFTy TV player.

Are there any known problems running a NiFTy TV player with Vista?

Most viewers do not experience problems running NiFTy TV players under Windows Vista. However, some viewers report that on rare occasions their video stream “freezes”. If you experience this behavior, simply reselect the channel you're currently viewing from the “Channels” menu located in the top left portion of the player. If this action fails to resolve the problem, exit the player, wait for it to fully shut down, and then restart the player.

Windows is asking me to unblock my firewall or give the NiFTy TV player access to an external server, what should I do?

Firewalls are designed to block your Internet connection in order to minimize the chances that your computer will be accessed (or hacked!) by "unwanted visitors." They also have the unfortunate side-effect of disabling many of the things you might want to do online -- like watching streaming video -- since these activities depend on your PC making an unimpeded connection to other computers. Therefore, if you are using a firewall, Windows may request that you grant the NiFTy TV player access. To make the NiFTy TV player work properly, you will need to unblock or otherwise disable the firewall, if prompted.

Every time I launch the NiFTy TV player it asks me to register and when I choose "no" the program exits. Is this normal behavior?

Yes, this is normal behavior. In order to run the player, you must register. The program will not run unless you register.

What is peer-to-peer computing?

Peer-to-peer computing systems, like Kazaa and Bit Torrent, allow individuals to share files by storing local copies on many different machines and distribute the processing and communications costs across the network. The NiFTy TV player uses a technology that is similar to peer-to-peer technologies in that it too distributes its processing and communications costs across many host machines. However, it differs in that ours is a broadcast technology, not a file sharing technology. This difference means that the NiFTy TV player can utilize the advantages of a distributed model while avoiding the pitfalls of traditional peer-to-peer approaches which lend themselves to the illegal trading of copyrighted material. In the NiFTy TV model, every cable modem / DSL enabled computer that connects to the network can potentially retransmit the video stream to two additional viewers. This decentralized approach to transmitting video over the Internet has the potential to make wide-scale "simulcasting" of broadcast and cable TV over the Internet economically viable. The technology also promises to give small content producers an economical way of reaching mass audiences for the first time.

Can I run my player over a dialup connection?

We do not recommend running your player over dialup connections.

When my player starts up, it doesn't do anything for several seconds. Is this normal?

Your player can take several seconds to connect to the root server, be assigned to a broadcast node, connect to that node and then buffer audio and video content prior to playing. We endeavor to keep this wait as small as possible. If the start up wait becomes excessively long, let us know by dropping us a bug report.

Can I run my player from behind a firewall?

Yes, you can.

My player refuses to run. I get some kind of popup that complains about the version number. What should I do?

New versions of the NiFTy TV player are released from time to time. When a new version of the software is released, older versions of the player are prevented from connecting to the system. To get up and running again, click the blue text in the dialog that the player presents.

My client is displaying unusual "false-colored" video or no video at all. How do I fix this?

This behavior has been known to be caused by certain video codecs. To fix this problem, upgrade to Media Player 11 located here , or download and run this codec pack from Windows.

If the problem still exists, drop us a bug report.

When I run my player, I get a message that says "The system is unable to display the video stream..."

This error generally occurs when your computer has insufficient resources, such as processor cycles and / or bandwidth, to run the program. If this is the first time you have seen this message, try rebooting your machine. If the problem persists, it could be related to the presence of excessive spyware. We recommend you clean your system with programs such as Adaware (available free of charge from http://www.lavasoftusa.com.)

If the program refuses to run after taking these measures, please contact us.