Frequently Asked Questions

Take a look here for answers to the most common questions concerning PlayOn.

Overview

What is PlayOn?

PlayOn is software that you install on your Windows PC. It allows you to use your Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or other supported device to access feeds from content providers like Netflix, Hulu, CBS, YouTube, Food Network, Cartoon Network, your personal media and more. PlayOn is both browser and media server software, built into one. It browses content from various online providers, and displays that content directly on your television, instead of on your PC screen.

How does it work?

PlayOn runs in the background on your networked PC. It uses standards called UPnP and DLNA to communicate with networked gaming consoles and TVs, working both as an Internet browser to access online media, and as a UPnP media server to serve videos to UPnP compliant devices. You can read more here.

Does your software run on Mac or Linux?

PlayOn is Windows-only software at the present time. However, you can find out how to run PlayOn in Parallels on Mac here. PlayOn is also reported by many to run well over VMware and Boot Camp on Mac. Although the porting effort to Mac and/or Linux is fairly huge, we would love to add the support, but it is not planned any time soon.

Can I install this on Windows Server 2003 or Windows Home Server?

Yes, but it may require disabling "Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration". See here for assistance.

Is this software free?

PlayOn offers a free and fully-functional 14-day free trial. You can immediately enjoy great content from Hulu, CBS, Netflix, YouTube, and much more – all on your TV instead of your computer. After the free trial, it you like it, then it's only a one-time $39.99 licensing fee to keep enjoying PlayOn. It takes a lot of work to create and continually improve PlayOn for you. We want to keep PlayOn simple and affordable, which is why it's a reasonable one-time fee – less than the cost of a new video game or cable TV – and we don't charge a monthly subscription. We also offer free support, both during your trial period and after you purchase a license. Although you may find other free and open-source media server applications out there, they most likely have little (if any) support for these products. Your license fees help us keep a dedicated support staff. By paying us for our software, you are buying into a guarantee that we will continue to improve and support PlayOn, well into the future. Experience PlayOn's risk-free 14-day free trial and discover how much you like watching movies, TV shows, videos, personal media and more on your TV instead of your computer!

How long does my license last?

Your license will be valid forever for all patches and bug fixes for the current version of PlayOn. Additionally, all functionality and feature enhancements to PlayOn will be free for existing licensed installations, unless a new major version is released (most likely some time after July 2010), at which point a new license or upgrade fee may be required to activate the latest goodies.

What guarantees do you offer?

PlayOn software enables browsing of content provider websites that may not have a direct affiliation with MediaMall Technologies. Although we work tirelessly to ensure continued PlayOn compatibility with all current and future supported services, MediaMall cannot guarantee such support in any way. We can however guarantee that we will do our absolute best to reinstate service as quickly as possible in the event of any service outage or technical failure within PlayOn.

Do you offer support for PlayOn?

We provide free support for all installations, regardless of whether you're using the free trial period, or you've purchased a license. Our success as a company is a direct result of how many licenses we can sell. By providing top-notch support (at least we like to think so), we do our utmost to keep our users happy, otherwise we'd be going out of business!

Can I get a refund if it doesn't work?

PlayOn offers a free trial period to fully evaluate the product. We generally only offer refunds in exceptional circumstances. In all cases, you must submit an official support request that demonstrates the problem you are experiencing, so we can check your diagnostic logs.

What devices does PlayOn work with?

For a list of supported devices, please see the supported devices page. If you try PlayOn with another DLNA/UPnP media device not listed on that page, please take part in the Media Devices forum and share your feedback with us as well as other users.

What content does PlayOn offer?

Currently, PlayOn supports content from Netflix, Hulu, CBS, Amazon VOD, YouTube, CNN, and ESPN -- not to mention all the third-party Plugins, which allow you to access dozens of other content sites. Take a look at the ever growing list of content of providers here.

What are PlayOn Plugins?

Plugins for PlayOn allow third-party partner companies and the open source community to develop custom feeds to pretty much any media content. We have provided a simple API, and developers who are familiar with the .NET framework can easily create and distribute their own Plugins. Although we're not officially affiliated with the following sites, we highly recommend you take a look at all the various Plugin download options at www.playonplugins.com and www.playonscripts.com.

Can I see media files from my PC's hard drive through PlayOn?

Yes! Although, this feature is currently in beta, you can choose to enable local media file sharing, or "My Media", and select specific directories on your PC's hard drive to share through PlayOn. Any media files in those directories should show up through the "My Media" folder. As this is still a beta feature, there are some limitations; first off, most content will always be automatically transcoded on the fly -- much like how PlayOn processes online media -- even if your connected device could potentially handle the native file directly. This means that fast forwarding can be an issue for many devices. Also, media you share through a network device will often not be correctly discovered through PlayOn. We're working on fixing both of these issues, as well as making big improvements in the "My Media" feature in general, so stay tuned!

Why should I buy PlayOn when I get Netflix on my Xbox 360 or PS3 already?

The November 2008 Netflix-Xbox 360 integration requires a Live Gold subscription membership, which costs more over one year than the single $39.99 PlayOn license. Also, PlayOn offers more content than just Netflix – from Hulu to YouTube, Amazon VOD, CBS and more. We will also be adding more and more content over time, all as free upgrades to existing users. Plus, if you have a Wii or other device, PlayOn enables you to watch Netflix, Hulu, YouTube and more on your TV today!

Will PlayOn work if and when Hulu charges subscription fees?

Hulu brings great movies and TV shows to computer screens throughout the United States. PlayOn will continue supporting Hulu whether it is free, a premium membership or both. PlayOn empowers you to stream movies, TV shows and videos from Internet websites such as Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, ESPN, CBS, CNN and more, plus personal videos, music and photos from your PC, so you can enjoy watching them on your TV instead of crouched over your computer. A Hulu membership and a PlayOn license still cost much less than a month's cable bill and enable you to enjoy Hulu plus a growing variety of channels and content on your living room TV.

Does PlayOn work on the Wii?

Yes! It's currently in beta. We use the built-in embedded browser in the Wii (the "Internet Channel").

Does PlayOn work outside the US?

It depends on the content. Some content providers, such as YouTube, allow viewers from outside the US to watch their videos. However, some sites, such as Hulu and CBS, geographically restrict their viewers to within the United States.

What does "realtime transcoding" mean?

Transcoding just means converting the format of some media to another format. PlayOn is a "transcoding media server". We take media from online websites, which is often in formats like Windows Media, Flash Video, or H.264, and convert it to a format that your networked device can understand, often MPEG, as this is a reliable standard. Some devices have more advanced "codecs" -- this just means that they can play the fancier Flash and H.264 videos. Our server will know in these cases if it can just pass the video along as is, without transcoding it to another format. When we say "realtime transcoding", we just mean that the PC is downloading the video from a site like Hulu, and converting it on-the-fly to another format, and then sending it to your device. It sounds simple, but it's really not.

Features

Is there a way I can skip ads on Hulu and CBS?

No, there is not currently, nor will there be, a way to skip ads from premium content providers through PlayOn. The ads are what enable these companies to offer their content over the Internet so that services like PlayOn can bring them to any device you wish to view them on, whenever you want to view them.

Can I add my own RSS feeds?

The best way to add your own feeds to PlayOn is to take a look at the PlayOn Plugin API, and see the various Plugin options for adding custom content. You can either develop your own Plugin for the content you're interested in, or see if the growing development community has already created just what you're looking for.

When will you support HD videos on Hulu, CBS, and Netflix?

We are working on this. Keep in mind that this will require a beefy PC to handle the realtime transcoding of HD content.

Can I hide the small "i" button that shows on the Wii?

It's not possible to hide the small information button, as it's built into the Wii Opera browser, and Nintendo provides no way to request it to be hidden.

How do I install on a different drive, or specify the temp scratch space?

PlayOn defaults to installing on the same partition where Windows is installed (usually the C:\ drive). This also means that the temporary scratch space that is used for transcoding media files is also on that same partition. If this partition is a bit cramped, and you want PlayOn to use a different drive for temporary files, you can create a symbolic link with our "Junction Helper" tool. It automatically downloads a Microsoft program called Junction, and makes a "symbolic link" to your preferred drive partition.

Can I skip transcoding and serve the online streams directly to my device?

A very common question! And according to many device manufacturers, their consoles can natively handle quite a few different media file formats and codecs. It would make sense if PlayOn could just shuttle online video streams, such as FLV or H.264, directly to the device, instead of converting it on the fly, right? Unfortunately, the theory is better than reality, mainly for two reasons. First, although the devices claim to handle these codecs, the actual support is often unreliable, especially when the media is streamed from a web server vs. coming from a flat file on disk. Second, and much more importantly, all of the core online content providers available in PlayOn have quirks associated with them that actually require transcoding. For example, it's impossible for a DLNA client to incorporate separate advertisements interspersed within a main video. Also, many of the ads are in different media formats than the main show. DLNA clients require one single, contiguous video stream, and are unable to switch gears in the middle to accommodate a new codec. Additionally, many source videos include multiple layer overlays (such as logos or watermarks, advertisements, and timers), which can be correctly handled by the custom player on the webpage in your PC browser, but not by a DLNA player. On the bright side, PlayOn will be adding logic to skip transcoding of locally served "My Media" files when a given client device is known to reliably handle a specific file format and codec.

Technical Issues

What are the most common issues that cause problems for PlayOn?

There are four big bottlenecks for getting PlayOn to work, and if any one of these is not up to snuff, you're in trouble, and it's time to either upgrade your system, or find another solution!

1) PC horsepower: You need a powerful processor (CPU) on your PC to handle realtime transcoding of online content. Check out the minimum requirements for PlayOn. If you're near the minimum, you may experience hiccups during playback whenever your PC is doing other tasks. Solution? Reward yourself with a new PC.

2) Home network speed and reliability: If you're using a wireless network for your PC or device, especially if it's on 802.11g, you are likely to experience problems. PlayOn requires a lot of bandwidth on the home network to pass over the MPEG video files to the device. Anything that may interrupt or slow down that video feed will result in an unhappy device, and you'll see excessive buffering. If you want to be sure that your home network isn't the issue, at least try using wired or powerline adapters, and see if this helps. It's always good to narrow down the variables.

3) Broadband speed: A super fast PC and a robust and quick home network aren't enough if your pipe to the Internet is too slow! Your mileage will vary considerably if your broadband connection is borderline (try the bandwidth test in PlayOn Settings to get an idea). Every single content provider encodes their online videos in different ways, and at different resolutions. Sometimes videos will work fine from one source, but work terribly from another. The bottom line is, the fatter your connection to the Net, the better off you'll be.

4) Security software: We have seen quite literally countless instances where security software (or firmware on a router) blocks PlayOn, either by slowing things down, randomly breaking playback streams, or even squashing PlayOn out of existence. And we can't really do a thing about it, in almost all cases. Firewalls and security software is a tricky thing. There's nothing especially odd about what PlayOn does or how it works, but the sad fact is that the majority of software security packages out there just tend to block communication at some level on a home network. Or block programs even from running at all, even when the user configures them to be allowed. Our advice is to try temporarily disabling your security software to see if it helps. You may even need to go so far as uninstalling it completely (again, temporarily, and only if you're confident you can reinstall it). If you find that your security software is holding PlayOn back, contact the company that makes that software, and see if they can help. And if you learn something, share it with rest of us on the forum!

5) Corrupted software: PlayOn depends on a lot of core Microsoft and other third-party software to run correctly. The most important packages that PlayOn requires are: .NET framework (2.0 or higher), Internet Explorer (version 7 or higher), Microsoft Silverlight (version 3 or higher), Adobe Flash (version 10 or higher), and a "healthy" Windows operating system. If you have lots of other software installed, it may get in the way of PlayOn, or cause certain functionality in PlayOn to fail. These issues, when they appear, are really difficult to diagnose and fix.

I installed PlayOn, but my device can't see it. Why?

There could be a lot of reasons, but the absolute two most common are: firewalls, and multiple network connections. You have to make sure that your firewall and security software is allowing our media server to have access. You can check the status of your firewall and security software in PlayOn Settings (Start > All Programs > PlayOn > PlayOn Settings). See the user guide for more information. Also, you might experience problems finding the media server from your device if your PC has two network connections enabled (this may happen if you for example have both the wired and wireless connection enabled on your PC, so that your PC represents itself twice on your network, with two separate IP addresses).

I found the server, but why can't I see any videos listed at all?

Make sure you are in the Video category, especially on the Xbox 360, and even more so on the PlayStation 3. We make this same mistake ourselves occasionally, by accidentally going into the Music or Photos categories on the PS3. For instructions on how to find the right server and category, consult the user guide. If you still think you're doing everything corectly, but video titles aren't showing up, you may have discovered a bug. Send us a support request through PlayOn Settings (Start > All Programs > PlayOn > PlayOn Settings) and we'll try to diagnose the issue.

Video playback is pausing and buffering all the time. Why?

This is most likely due to a networking problem or an underpowered PC. With networking, there are two main areas where things can go wrong. The first is your broadband connection. In other words, how fast of a "pipe" do you have to the World Wide Web. You can find out how fast your external network connection is by using tools like Speedtest.net or Speakeasy. The second, and more common issue, is how your home network (or LAN, for "local area network") is set up. If your networked entertainment device (gaming console/set-top box) as well as your home PC are both on wireless 802.11g, you will have a throughput problem. Your network just can't handle the bandwidth of pulling a video from the Internet to your PC, and at the same time push a realtime transcoded stream from your PC to your device. Although 802.11g is rated as running at a maximum of 54 Mbps, it is very common for data rates to be significantly lower, due to interference or other problems. We highly recommend that you have at least one of the devices (your console or your PC) be on a wired connection, or to be using wireless 802.11n. If your network seems to be in order, and the video is still choppy, you may be running with an underpowered PC, either with a slow CPU or not enough RAM. See the minimum requirements for PlayOn to make sure.

Why do I sometimes get weird error messages on my device when I try to play a clip, like "Data is corrupted"?

This can occur for lots of reasons. The most common reason is a timeout on the device -- where the device gets impatient waiting for the video stream from PlayOn. Try to select the same video again, if possible, and see if it successfully loads. If you see that the CPU on your PC shows activity by MediaMallServer.exe, then PlayOn is most likely successfully processing the video in the background, regardless of whether your device is able to start viewing it. You may also be experiencing a service outage for a given content provider -- you should verify whether videos from other sites work or not. Security software can also cause this error, as it may block PlayOn for certain sites, but not others. It's always a good idea to check the user forum to see if someone else has posted a similar issue. Or, send us a support request using PlayOn Settings (Start > All Programs > PlayOn > PlayOn Settings). We provide free support for all installations.

Why can't PlayOn show a "loading" graphic while waiting for the video to start?

This is one of the most common suggestions we receive. Unfortunately, it's essentially impossible. PlayOn needs to send one single and contiguous video stream to the device for each play. This means that the resolution and stream parameters of the source video must be known beforehand -- which is something that is not available until PlayOn actually starts downloading the stream to begin with. By that time, transcoding starts immediately anyway, and the video can be served. We encourage all our users to write to Microsoft, Sony, and the other manufacturers of DLNA devices to change their buffering logic to accommodate servers like PlayOn that are streaming realtime transcoded videos!

Why are the edges of my video cropped off on the TV?

This is almost certainly due to "overscan", where your TV automatically crops off the edges of the video to ensure that the video fills up the entire screen. It's there for historical reasons from the old days of analog television signals. Most digital televisions allow the user to manually configure or override overscan settings, so that the full video can be displayed without cropping. If you see that for example the "hulu" watermark is cropped at the edge of your television screen, it means that your TV is incorrectly assuming the video contains overscan edges, and is compensating when it shouldn't. It's not due to a limitation in how the video is rendered by PlayOn. If you can't adjust your television's overscan settings, try a different video performance setting in PlayOn Settings, to see if you notice a difference (a higher setting will send a higher resolution video, and your TV may handle each video resolution differently with respect to overscan).

How do I configure my antivirus/firewall software to work with PlayOn?

In your security software configuration settings, you must give full local and online network access to the PlayOn server executable. On normal installations, this can be found at C:\Program Files\MediaMall\MediaMallServer.exe. In our development labs, we use AVG and Windows Firewall. These consistently work fine for us, so we can highly recommend them, also because they don't degrade PC performance as much as many other third-party security packages. If you're having trouble configuring your security software to work with PlayOn, consult the forum.

Why doesn't fast forwarding work?

This is a tricky problem. Online realtime streams can only of course be downloaded as fast as your broadband connection and the content provider allows, so it's impossible to fast forward beyond the latest downloaded (and transcoded) point in the media. It's analogous to watching a live broadcast with a DVR -- pausing and rewinding work fine, but fast forwarding can never go beyond "right now". Additionally, many of the devices aren't set up very well to handle when the intermediary end of the media stream is reached. In these cases, they may just give up, and exit playback with an obscure error, instead of waiting and buffering. In any case, we are working on solutions and improvements to this issue, but it's technically very challenging.

Why is my PC CPU high even after I stop watching a video?

First, it's important to understand why your PC CPU is high in the first place with PlayOn: realtime transcoding requires serious horsepower! Whenever you watch a video on your device, your PC churns along, downloading the video and converting it to a format that your device is able to play. If you stop playback on your device, no clear signal is sent to the PC, so PlayOn cannot detect whether you have only temporarily paused or stopped. In order to have the option of returning to playback, PlayOn needs to continue processing the video in the background. You can however in PlayOn Settings toggle whether videos will always be processed fully to completion, or give up after 5 minutes of device inactivity.

Why are the video titles on my Xbox 360 always in literal alphabetical order?

This is a "feature" of the Xbox 360. Even if we tell it, "Here is the list of videos, and it's in the correct order already!", it will still resort things alphabetically. If it is really driving you crazy, we suggest you contact Microsoft and the Xbox team, and ask them to offer a solution or workaround.

Why does my PS3 show "There are no tracks" for all folders?

That's because you're in the Music section of the PS3 instead of the Video section! Don't worry -- it's a common mistake.

I can't uninstall or upgrade PlayOn. What should I do?

Sometimes, the Microsoft Windows Installer gets into a bad state, and requires a little cleanup to get things back in place. If you are unable to uninstall or upgrade PlayOn, you may want to try to use the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility from Microsoft.

None of these things solved my problem. Now what?

We wish technical support was always easy! But the reality is that there are always hiccups. If you still don't know why PlayOn is not working for you, spend a little time reading our online user forum. Make sure you read all the "sticky" posts at the top, especially HOW TO GET HELP (READ THIS FIRST!). There may also be other "Known Issue" or "Fixed" posts that address the problem you're seeing.

Also make sure you are able to watch the given video through Internet Explorer. If it doesn't work in IE, it won't work in PlayOn either.

If the forum still isn't doing the trick for you, send us a support request in PlayOn Settings. We do our best to help everyone, both during the trial period, as well as for those with a purchased license.