FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

GENERAL

TECHNICAL

GENERAL

What is Discovery Broadband?

Discovery Broadband is a free broadband video channel brought to you by DiscoveryChannel.ca.

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Do I have to pay to use Discovery Broadband?

No. Discovery Broadband is totally free.

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What kind of content will I find on Discovery Broadband?

Discovery Broadband features a wide range of exclusive video content. Watch select TV shows, daily segment clips, and exclusive extra content from Discovery Specials.

LINEUP: This channel features the latest, most relevant episodes and clips posted to Discovery Broadband. See what our producers have lined up today.

DAILY PLANET: Every day segments from Discovery's primetime science show Daily Planet will be featured in the Daily Planet channel. Also watch for show extras such as longer interviews and behind the scenes footage.
SHOWS: The Shows channel features Patent Bending and Break it Down. This fall, also watch for full-length episodes of Canada's Worst Driver (season 2) and Star Racer.

SPECIALS: On the Specials channel find extras related to Discovery's latest special programming including extended interviews, out-takes, or additional footage.

PLAYLIST: This is your own channel. Add clips from any of the other channels by hitting the "+" icon, then watch your own programming.

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Why is Discovery Broadband only available in Canada?

The programming for Discovery Broadband can come from a variety of sources: Discovery Canada’s production house Exploration Production Inc., other independent producers, and Discovery Communications Inc. In all cases we only carry Canadian distribution rights to these programs.

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I am in Canada, but I get the "Sorry! Discovery Channel Canada video is not available in your country." message. What's going on??

It could be that you are accessing the internet through an international IP address (AOL Canada subscribers, possibly business networks, etc.) Please use the link below to determine your computer location. After looking at this information, if your country code is indeed "CA" please let us know about the problem and we will try to fix it - email us at comments@discovery.ca. If the information tells you that you're in a different country code, you may want to contact your internet provider to find out why.

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Why is there advertising on Discovery Broadband?

In order to offer you all of this terrific content free of charge, DiscoveryChannel.ca displays ads to pay for the service. Please help us continue to offer Discovery Broadband for free by supporting our advertisers.

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Can I change the size of the video?

Directly below the video, to the left you'll see a link for "full screen". Please note that Full Screen mode takes over your entire screen. To return to your previous view, hit the Escape key or double-click on the video. To fully enjoy Full Screen mode, we suggest that you turn off any screensavers as they can interfere with extended playback.

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TECHNICAL

What are the minimum system requirements to run Discovery Broadband?

 

The minimum system configuration to use Discovery Broadband is:

The optimal system configuration to use Discovery Broadband is:

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Is Discovery Broadband supported on Macintosh?

Although Discovery Broadband is optimized for the PC systems as described above, the streaming video can work with most Mac systems.

Mac OS = minimum OSX

Required browser: Latest version of Firefox for Mac (download here)

Required Quicktime plugin: Flip4Mac (download here)

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Do I need special software to use Discovery Broadband?

Discovery Broadband does not require special software to run.
You will, however, need the most recent versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, and Macromedia Flash.

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How can I minimize the need for scrolling?

This is a known bug with Windows Media Player. To solve the problem, you'll need to follow two steps:

  1. Right click on the desktop of your computer and select 'Properties'.
  2. Click on the Settings tab.
  3. Click and hold the arrow in the 'Screen resolution' area and move to the right until you reach a resolution of at least 1024 x 768 pixels.
  4. Click Apply.

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The video is sometimes displayed upside down and is colored green or orange. Why is that?

This is a known bug with Windows Media Player. To solve the problem, you'll need to follow two steps:

  1. Make sure you have the latest release of Windows Media Player. You can download the latest here.
  2. Download the patch that addresses the problem. You can download the patch here.

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I am hearing sound but not seeing any video. What could be the problem and how can I fix it?

There are three possible causes for this.

Some computers cannot display video unless they are in 24- or 32-bit color mode. To see if you are in this mode, right-click on your desktop and choose ‘Properties’. Then click the ‘Settings’ tab. There should be a box near the lower-right which says ‘Color Quality’. From the dropdown menu, make sure either 24-bit (high color) or 32-bit (true color) is selected.

You may not have the required version of Windows Media Player installed. To fix this:

  1. Click your 'Start' menu and then click 'Windows Update'.
  2. Go through the Windows Update process and it should suggest a new Windows Media Player or Windows Media Player Codec for you to install.

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The video is appearing as a “slide show” but I hear the audio.

Your current bandwidth may not be sufficient to allow the video to completely stream. You must be using a high-speed internet connection. Alternatively, your computer may be tasked with doing too many other things along with the video streams. Try closing other programs that may be either accessing the internet (filesharing or messenger programs) or using your system resources.

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The video will not play and I do NOT see any error messages in the video window ñ just the ìLoadingî icon.

Some internet security programs on your computer may block the required scripts from running within the Discovery Broadband player. There are a few things to try to allow Discovery Broadband to be allowed to run within your browser:

  1. In Internet Explorer, add DiscoveryChannel.ca to your “Trusted Sites”. In the program, click Tools, Internet Options and select the Security Tab. Click on the green checkmark for Trusted Sites. Click Add Site. Add DiscoveryChannel.ca to your trusted site list. Ensure the security level of the Trusted Site list is set to Low or Medium-Low.
  2. If you’re running any “Internet Security” programs, ensure that Javascript execution is enabled.
  3. Ensure all your computer hardware and software components meet the technical requirements above.

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