guru wrote:One thing that makes a BIG difference is the video resolution setting. The busier the site gets, the less recommended a 720 or 1080 quality setting will be to avoid buffering. While I spent all morning at 1080HD with no problem, the highest I could set the evening session was 480
Thanks guru, that sounds like good advice. I'll try it for Saturday's sessions.
There is an option on the resolution settings that says "Auto" I think. Does "auto" actually make the necessary resolution adjustments by itself? Or do we need to do it manually whenever there is a video quality problem like you suggest?
The "Auto" option automatically tests your connection speed and adjusts your video settings automatically. Thus, if you have a very fast internet connection, it automatically sets your connection to the highest quality and vice versa.
sprintzfan wrote: There is an option on the resolution settings that says "Auto" I think. Does "auto" actually make the necessary resolution adjustments by itself? Or do we need to do it manually whenever there is a video quality problem like you suggest?
I think when you log in it defaults to the best resolution setting at that time
Helpful stuff, guys. I've had good luck switching my browser to Chrome on one computer (a Vista) and Firefox on another (XP); Firefox seems to work best for me on my W7 machines. Now if I could just get them to stop playing that annoying BMW commercial. I'm ready to burn down my local BMW dealer if that's what it takes.
The http://www.nbcolympics.com website struggled to keep up this morning. I switched between both Chrome and IE and both crashed at some point
I have a fast fiber optic internet connection and the connection to the site wasn't great.
Initially, I was using my tablet(I get excellent wifi at home) but the picture kept freezing.
I eventually used my laptop which was a little better. Picture froze a few times and picture frames got quite slow at times. I worry about what might happen tonight and especially tomorrow with the 100m men and women final.
Some of this stuff defies logic. I had a great morning running four computers, with nary a crash. Things seem to have improved since resetting resolution to automatic. I'm hoping the evening session will be as good, but that's probably optimistic since there will probably be 10X (or more) people watching.
tracknut2012 wrote:The http://www.nbcolympics.com website struggled to keep up this morning. I switched between both Chrome and IE and both crashed at some point
I have a fast fiber optic internet connection and the connection to the site wasn't great.
Initially, I was using my tablet(I get excellent wifi at home) but the picture kept freezing.
I eventually used my laptop which was a little better. Picture froze a few times and picture frames got quite slow at times. I worry about what might happen tonight and especially tomorrow with the 100m men and women final.
Yea I had the same issue, random freezes, but it wasn't bad enough to bring frustration or anything. It was consistent enough to watch. But these commercials are crazy, they keep cutting out of some good comentary just to stith through 30-45 second of commericals
Two monitors going, nbc and sportlemon. Both freeze up occasionally, not too bad, about the same amount, not at the same time. Usually end up watching sportlemon, because it's one minute ahead of the nbc feed.
Not sure where I should post this. Because there isn't a thread I can see devoted to NBC television coverage. But for those who don't know, NBC [in the Eastern Time Zone] showed LIVE, the 10K that immediately preceded the women's 100. Then the moment it was time for the 100, they quickly left Track and Field and went to some other sport.
I mean WOW! I knew they were deceitful, money grubbing whores at NBC who have no respect whatsoever for the traditional sports audience. But even this move surprised me. It's like they just bent over backwards, to make sure that the most popular event of the day was not televised live. Like they wanted to make sure, that anyone without internet access or a good connenction, would have to endure that bore Bob Costas all night, just to see the premiere Track event of Day 2. (Thank goodness my stream cleared up longed enough, to not buffer at all during the race.) I knew they were low at NBC. Manipulative. But this is even lower than I thought they would ever go.
Actually covering live right up until the women's 100, then coyly bailing out then as though they were not switching away from anything significant.
Pathetic. What a whorish sports division they are.
Last edited by sprintzfan on Sat Aug 04, 2012 1:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I've been fairly lucky with NBC, but mostly only at 480p for the evening stuff. Had to throttle one down to 360 at times, but still very watchable. For safety, I keep the main feed on one computer and the track feed on another. During the 10,000, they ran commercials on the main feed, but went commercial free on the track feed.
sprintzfan wrote:I mean WOW! I knew they were deceitful, money grubbing whores at NBC who have no respect whatsoever for the traditional sports audience.
Pathetic. What a whorish sports division they are.
It's business, man. You were expecting anything different? You can count that no big T&F event will be shown live. They've gotta cover that huge expenditure to pay for the rights.
sprintzfan wrote:I mean WOW! I knew they were deceitful, money grubbing whores at NBC who have no respect whatsoever for the traditional sports audience.
Pathetic. What a whorish sports division they are.
It's business, man. You were expecting anything different? You can count that no big T&F event will be shown live. They've gotta cover that huge expenditure to pay for the rights.
Exactly. They did stream it live. Blame the IOC for sucking as much money as they can without regard to what NBC shows live on TV.
sprintzfan wrote:Not sure where I should post this. Because there isn't a thread I can see devoted to NBC television coverage. But for those who don't know, NBC [in the Eastern Time Zone] showed LIVE, the 10K that immediately preceded the women's 100. Then the moment it was time for the 100, they quickly left Track and Field and went to some other sport.
I .
Did you honestly expect NBC to show the womens 100m final this afternoon at 4:55pm?
As we have been discussing all week, NBC is not going to show any major sprint event live since it is not happening in their preferred prime time.
I figured if they didn't show the semi finals earlier, why would they show the finals a little later.
I did not watch the race on nbcolympics.com feed since it kept freezing up. I watch the BBC which did not freeze at all.
It's business, man. You were expecting anything different? You can count that no big T&F event will be shown live. They've gotta cover that huge expenditure to pay for the rights.
Yeah I am. You know what I expect? I expect for coverage of the Olympics to somewhat resemble what I get in EVERY OTHER SPORT that I watch. (Don't take the capital letters as though I'm screaming at you bruce3404. My anger is solely reserved for NBC. lol)
I follow a lot of different sports. As I assume most of you guys do too. And what other sport or sporting event is treated this way? With all the vagueness about what is coming on when? What is live and what isn't? I don't have to deal with this kind of crap while following any other sport or sporting event that I love. (I don't recall having to deal with it back in the day when ABC was the home for The Olympics. Not deal with all this dishonesty and misleading crap.)
Admittedly. I don't believe I understand the economics of the Olympic games, as well as some of you do. From a few posts I glanced over, several of you are much better informed on this topic than I am. But does covering the 10k live from London, then NOT merely switching away before the 100 meters starts, but very slickly doing so, in a manner that plays the audience for a fool, without one word acknowledging 1.) what event was just about to start and 2.) where and when the viewer can see the event for himself, is behavior I don't notice in any other sports programming. NFL football. NBA Basketball. Nascar or Indy Car racing.
NBC handles the Olympics, like it's American Idol, not a sporting event. And so you guys are telling me that not only having major events shown tape delayed, but all the childish manufactured cliff hangers and other "reality t.v.-esque" things they do, really is helping their bottom line?
If this approach to sports helps NBC make money, how come it isn't replicated in any other sport I see? Boxing. MMA. Figure skating, whatever.
No there is just something really nonsensical and really odd, and really irriating to me how NBC handles this.
Last edited by sprintzfan on Sat Aug 04, 2012 4:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.
sprintzfan wrote:One of the things I thought I saw some of you post a few days ago, is that NBC usually loses a ton of money on these Games. Is that correct?
If so then, how can all this nonsense they do every 4 years, be justified in terms of profit margin? That is counterintuitive to me.
Not unlike countries that sponsor the Olympics or the Worlds, they expect residual action e.g. they will get a lot of publicity, people will watch more of their non-Olympic shows, people will think of NBC as THE sports network. Or in the case of countries, they feel its a good way to put their best foot forward, attract tourists, perhaps investment, etc. If it were strictly about the bottom line for this single event, the bids to carry the games would probably be half of what they are. Call it a loss leader and it may make more sense.
sprintzfan wrote: Yeah I am. You know what I expect? I expect for coverage of the Olympics to somewhat resemble what I get in EVERY OTHER SPORT that I watch. (Don't take the capital letters as though I'm screaming at you bruce3404. My anger is solely reserved for NBC. lol)
If you think of the Olympics as a 2 week reality show, instead of a sporting event, you will understand NBC's intention.
Last edited by Conor Dary on Sat Aug 04, 2012 6:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
bad hammy wrote:Nada on NBC stream - cannot get past the screen where I am supposed to tell them who my provider is. It is seeded with the correct provider but I can click on the thing a million times and nothing happens. Also picked the provider from the drop-down list, but that did not work either. Both IE and firefox.
Same here... If the clicker on my laptop wears out from me clicking on "Comcast" a thousand times in a row to try to make something happen, I'm sending the repair bill to the weasels at NBC. I finally ended up watching someone else's feed today after missing a few events while trying in vain to register on the NBC site.
bad hammy wrote:Nada on NBC stream - cannot get past the screen where I am supposed to tell them who my provider is. It is seeded with the correct provider but I can click on the thing a million times and nothing happens. Also picked the provider from the drop-down list, but that did not work either. Both IE and firefox.
Same here... If the clicker on my laptop wears out from me clicking on "Comcast" a thousand times in a row to try to make something happen, I'm sending the repair bill to the weasels at NBC. I finally ended up watching someone else's feed today after missing a few events while trying in vain to register on the NBC site.
I was initially using Chrome and I also couldn't get past the provider log
I eventually used Internet Explorer and it worked. Feed wasn't all that great and thus, I switched over to the BBC and it worked fine.
Okay then Bruce3404 and Conor. I hear you guys. And I'll try to be more rational about this then. If I'm being impractical with my griping.
Thanks for letting me vent with you guys.
Maybe it's a pipe dream of mine. But I can't help but think if only ESPN along with ABC could get these games, it might at least begin to get treated like a sports event again.
Hey Tracknut. Women's 100 final finally coming on NBC now. lol Seriously. It's comin' on right now.
tracknut2012 wrote: ...I switched over to the BBC and it worked fine.
Where can you get BBC? BBC television you're saying?
There are loads of free internet links to BBC TV that is showing the Olympics live. Unlinke the NBColympics website that cuts to ads every two minutes, these feeds don't have ads.
Are you in the U.S. tracknut? Because I am and I was figuring I'd be IP blocked from seeing anything BBC. Like I've been blocked in my attempts to get anything CTV (Canada.)
But if you're in the U.S. I'll get to work on that. I'll know it's possible for me.
Are you in the U.S. tracknut? Because I am and I was figuring I'd be IP blocked from seeing anything BBC. Like I've been blocked in my attempts to get anything CTV (Canada.)
But if you're in the U.S. I'll get to work on that. I'll know it's possible for me.
1. For some reason, they showed the w100 final [i]before[i] the hep 800. What possible reason would they have to reverse the order.
2. They should have announced "spoiler alert" before running the Shelly-Ann Frasier human-interest piece. Nice piece, and she's terrific, but dollars to doughnuts they had similar pieces on each finalist, so they could manipulate the viewer into rooting for the winner just before they showed the final.
3. No women's PV qualifying, no wDiscus final.
4. Barely a mention of the US 100m runner who looked the best - Ryan Bailey. And they didn't show his heat.
1. For some reason, they showed the w100 final [i]before[i] the hep 800. What possible reason would they have to reverse the order.
2. They should have announced "spoiler alert" before running the Shelly-Ann Frasier human-interest piece. Nice piece, and she's terrific, but dollars to doughnuts they had similar pieces on each finalist, so they could manipulate the viewer into rooting for the winner just before they showed the final.
3. No women's PV qualifying, no wDiscus final.
4. Barely a mention of the US 100m runner who looked the best - Ryan Bailey. And they didn't show his heat.
5. NO 10K!!!
The reason why they offered a human interest story for Fraser is because she is the defending Olympic Champion and has the fastest time in the world this year so it does make sense.
5. NO 10K!!! Whoa, Sr. P, "they" (NBC) showed the entire 10K LIVE on the regular NBC TV Channel (not NBCSN). Not one to defend NBC, I was disgusted that during the Saturday Night Olympic summary you're obviously referring to, which the main sports "they" see fit to televise, they kicked in midway into the Final Lap! No sense of the positioning, shoving, back-and-forth of Mo and Galen, nada. Ludicrous for one of the more dramatic moments so far.
Then, of c(o)urse, they cut away from the Stadium w/o even mentioning the 100 mW Final that was about to start. [So I ducked (I'm in Oregon;~) back downstairs to the computer and watched it on the smaller screen.
As cited above, not even showing the 100m M Heats for either Powell or Bailey lame (at least they didn't highlight Merritt's 'lameness', barely mentioning that he was out).
As for those minor sports, it's bizarre that they'll show an entire Water Polo match and just about every Beach Volleyball game Americans are in, yet not show the likes of Bailey, "America's Answer to Usain Bolt" as some would have it, nor more than one minute of Rupp's breakthrough performance in showing the E. Africans how to sustain a kick.
I'm going to come in on NBC's side. They've given us the entire Olympics. They're providing individual links that allow one to see almost every throw, jump or heat. After AM day one, they're giving us British broadcasters on the main T&F field. How infinitely better this is than anything since Barcelona (and you had to pay for that)? Sure, I've had to play around with different browsers and sometimes scale down the resolution, but it's working! A big thank you to NBC for helping make this the most watchable Olympics in the last two decades with an assist to YouTube.
Thanks for correction, Jack. I've been watching my computer in the afternoon, enjoying the British, but yesterday, unavoidably, I was out doing errands all day. I got home at 7, studiously avoided seeing results, turned on TIVO at 8, worked for 1-1/2 hour, and sat down to watch track, fast-forwarding through beach volleyball etc. I didn't know the 10K was on live - actually, I'm not sure where you find out, unless you sit in front of the tube, flipping the dial. But not to mention the result in the prime-time show seems inexcusable.
Nut, you're right, it makes sense, but if Shelly-Ann had finished 6th, I bet we'd have seen a nice feature on Carmalita instead.
Bruce, the streaming T&F is terrific, when it works. It's almost triple-case. But the prime-time show is ghastly.
misterp wrote:Nut, you're right, it makes sense, but if Shelly-Ann had finished 6th, I bet we'd have seen a nice feature on Carmalita instead.
Being someone who has knowledge of NBC's track and field program formats, I can assure you that there was no back up feature for Jeter in the event she won the race. It was decided long ago to have the SAFP feature before the 100m final.
misterp wrote:Nut, you're right, it makes sense, but if Shelly-Ann had finished 6th, I bet we'd have seen a nice feature on Carmalita instead.
Being someone who has knowledge of NBC's track and field program formats, I can assure you that there was no back up feature for Jeter in the event she won the race. It was decided long ago to have the SAFP feature before the 100m final.
Wrong wrong wrong. They had a 4 minute feature on Carmelita just before the 100m semi finals.
I am surprised how come no one mentioned about them not featuring Felix either.
Are you in the U.S. tracknut? Because I am and I was figuring I'd be IP blocked from seeing anything BBC. Like I've been blocked in my attempts to get anything CTV (Canada.)
But if you're in the U.S. I'll get to work on that. I'll know it's possible for me.
I am in the US. Check your message for the link.
It's working like a charm too! Thanks again man!
Great coverage!
Does anyone here know from a technical standpoint, why there is ABSOLUTELY NO buffereing and other such nonsense with the foreign feeds like Sportlemon and BBC, like there is for so many of us with that nbcolympics live extra GARBAGE!?
Call me a conspiracy theorist if you want, but I can't help but think NBC intentionally wants to offer an inferior web stream product in order for us to have to watch that clown Costas every night. lol
But thanks to tracknut and others here, looks like I'm completely Costas-Free from here on out.
Are you in the U.S. tracknut? Because I am and I was figuring I'd be IP blocked from seeing anything BBC. Like I've been blocked in my attempts to get anything CTV (Canada.)
But if you're in the U.S. I'll get to work on that. I'll know it's possible for me.
I am in the US. Check your message for the link.
It's working like a charm too! Thanks again man!
Great coverage!
Does anyone here know from a technical standpoint, why there is ABSOLUTELY NO buffereing and other such nonsense with the foreign feeds like Sportlemon and BBC, like there is for so many of us with that nbcolympics live extra GARBAGE!?
Call me a conspiracy theorist if you want, but I can't help but think NBC intentionally wants to offer an inferior web stream product in order for us to have to watch that clown Costas every night. lol
But thanks to tracknut and others here, looks like I'm completely Costas-Free from here on out.
Buffering is usually caused when thousands of people log on at the same time and the system is "straining" to provide a good feed as with the case in nbcolympics.com coverage.
The BBC links are also alot better since you don't have the every two minute commercials like on the nbcolympics coverage. I was utterly disappointed yesterday after watching Bolt cross the line in the 100m heats on the nbcolympics.com coverage, they immediately cut to 3 commercials and thus, we missed a whole bunch of replays.
NBC has total disregard(disdain) for its viewers. It was almost 11pm before they showed the womens 100m final last night on TV even though the event happened almost 6 hours earlier.
I'll try it for Saturday's sessions.
I finally ended up watching someone else's feed today after missing a few events while trying in vain to register on the NBC site.