By popular demand (disclaimer):
How to watch German Television over the Internet
(it is now also available for US Television)
1. Download the (free) VLC Media Player and Install
Since the TV files are large (they average from 250 Megabytes to 1.5 Gigabytes - some up to 3 GB), use of the Windows Media Player (“Big Bertha”) is not advised: video and audio easily get out of synchronization, due to the large memory footprint, and system resource use by the Microsoft product. The (free) DivX codec is required for WinMediaPlayer.
Download Link to the VLC Player:
http://www.download.com/VLC-Media-Player/3000-13632_4-10717934.html?tag=lst-0-1
or www.download.com search for "VLC Media Player"
After successful download, run the installer.
2. Go to Online TV Recorder and Select the Programs you want to watch
The online resource at www.OnlineTVRecorder.com (OTR) is free of charge. Register (one time only), log in, and then select 'Record' > EPG Schedule to go through the current schedule and mark the shows you would like to record. Program schedule is available typically for 1 week in advance, so you need to visit regularly. You can also define ‘Wishlists’ for automatic recording of your favorite programs.
3. Download Your Recordings
When the program has run on TV in Germany, the recording is available a few hours later, and can be downloaded. It is recommended to use a download manager (FDM = “Free Download Manager” is available for free download from the OTR site - it will automatically re-connect and continue the download, if your Internet connection drops, and established multiple, simultaneous downloads in sections, to speed up the transfer). A high-speed Internet connection (DSL minimum), and a fairly large local hard drive is highly recommended - you are moving a lot of data (average: 650 Megabyte! per show; varies between 350 MB to 1.5 GB, depending on the length of the program).
Downloading is optional directly from OTR, or from Mirror Servers. Since the service is free, and download traffic is expensive, there is usually a waiting line (queue) to download; however, if you donate a small amount of money (in Euros; PayPal is your best and most secure option), 'points' can be spent to bypass the waiting line instantly.
Tip: It is typically easier to download from a mirror server. The download menu has a tab "Mirror", showing which mirror server hosts the file as well. www.Mirror-Verbund.com typically has the most files, and supports multiple downloads with 24-hour validity of download links. Their service is also free, but with small donations allows for bypass of waiting lines as well (highly recommended). Donating small funds to this mirror service is the most effective, compared to spreading donations to multiple mirror sites (and keeping track of them).
Tip: a recent add-on to OTR is the “HomeLoad” Feature. Check it out! A viable alternative to mirror servers, and a convenient feature to operate the downloads remotely.
4. Decode Your Recordings
Due to copyright restrictions, only files which have been previously tagged by the user for recording, can and must be decoded. The Decoder is available for download & installation under the "Decode" tab on OTR. Requires one-time installation of the decoder on your computer.
Download and install the decoder (one time install), and run to decode files one-by-one, or in batch (user selection) after you download the individual shows / programs.
The decoder is available for all Windows platforms, Apple Mac’s, and Linux.
5. Watch German TV!
Open the file you want to watch from within VLC Media Player.
When it starts playing, right-click on the picture and select "Full Screen Mode".
Tip: if you connect the “Sound Out” (Headphones / Speaker) of your computer to your stereo system, and install/use a computer video card with a “TV-Out” port (RGB composite out / S-VHS) and connect this to the “Video In” port of your sound system, you can feed the signal to your regular TV (flat-panel or NTSC CRT TV): thus watching original German Television on your regular US TV equipment.
You get to watch really cool stuff, such as:
Freddies Transmissions is in no way affiliated with any of the above described resources. We simply share this simple “How-To” summary for our customer-base, for whom we fix many German vehicles (Porsche / Rolls-Royce / Audi / Volkswagen / Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and others) - it is easier to read the instructions, get the links - and it is available 24x7 here on our web site.
The Largest Automotive Repair Web Site
with over 25,000 Pictures and our own YouTube Channel
... we invented Repair Blogging SM/TM - Tel: +1 (972) 488-3733
See Our Transmission Rebuild Process in Full Detail
© FixEuro.com
by RLC - a Delaware Corporation
Created, Developed & Maintained by:
Translate - 52 Languages!
This website is verified by Google.
This Merchant (FixEuro.com) is approved and authenticated by Google for Checkout.
Notice: Visitors are being tracked by Google Analytics.
