Release Notes: RealPlayer 4.0 for Macintosh
Editing Preferences
You can customize RealPlayer by changing the settings in the Preferences window. The Preferences control various aspects of RealPlayer applications functionality such as the number of clips to remember, network information, and proxy information. These preferences apply to all applications using RealAudio technology.
General
Connection
Transport
Proxy
Advanced
General
The General tab in the Preferences window contains preferences for the number of clips saved on the Open Recent menu, Synchronized Multimedia support and BufferedPlay.
| Field |
Description |
| Recent Clips |
You can quickly replay clips by clicking Open Recent on the File menu. This setting controls how many clips are displayed in the Open Recent menu. |
| Synchronized Multimedia |
Some RealAudio and RealVideo clips contain synchronized multimedia events that display pages or images in your web browser. This setting controls whether RealPlayer applications enable these events. |
| BufferedPlay |
RealPlayer applications allow playback of higher quality clips on lower bandwidth connections. This setting controls how much of the clip is buffered before beginning playback.
- Click Buffer at least xx seconds before playing if you want the RealPlayer program to buffer a set amount of the clip before beginning to play.
- Click Buffer entire clip if you want the RealPlayer program to buffer the entire clip before beginning to play.
|
Connection
The Connection tab in the Preferences window contains information about your bandwidth, statistics, and server timeout.
| Field |
Description |
| Bandwidth |
RealPlayer applications automatically select which content can be delivered in real-time over your connection. This setting controls the bandwidth of the content selected. |
| Statistics |
RealPlayer applications maintain statistics on connection quality. These statistics help content providers improve the quality of their service. This setting controls whether statistics are sent to the content provider.
Note: RealPlayer does not send the content provider any information about your identity (your user name or e-mail address). |
| Network Timeout |
This setting controls how long RealPlayer applications wait to receive data before considering a network connection to have failed. Increase this value if you frequently receive timeout errors. |
Transport
The Transport tab in the Preferences window allows you to customize your network connection for RealPlayer.
The descriptions of these preferences assume a basic knowledge of Internet protocols and firewalls. For more information about firewalls, refer to our Firewall World Wide Web site.
| Field |
Description |
| Network Transport |
RealAudio and RealVideo clips can be transmitted to your computer via several different network transports. This setting controls how these network transports are selected. |
| Automatically select most efficient transport |
Use this setting if you are not aware of any problems that require you to specify a transport method. |
| Use specified transports |
Use this setting if your computer has problems using some network transports. (Consult your network administrator for the appropriate setting.)
Click the Change Settings button to access the Specify Transports window. |
| UDP Port |
Some networks have limited ports available for Internet applications. This setting controls which port RealPlayer applications use for receiving data. (Consult your network administrator for the appropriate setting.)
Note: This setting does not affect TCP packets which can only be received through Port 7070. |
Specify Transports Window
| Field |
Description |
| Attempt to use Mutlicast for live content |
Check this box to have RealPlayer attempt to use Mutlicast for live streams. You can enter a time limit to switch to UDP if no data is received. |
| Attempt to use UDP for static content | Check this box to have RealPlayer attempt to use UDP for static streams. You can enter a time limit to switch to TCP if no data is received. |
| Attempt to use TCP for all content |
Check this box to have RealPlayer use TCP for all streams. |
Proxy
A proxy is a server that acts as an intermediary between a company's protected LAN and the Internet. The proxy server insures that all data transmission between the Internet and a user on the LAN is authorized. RealPlayer can be configured to work with proxy servers by setting the proxy preferences. If you set the Proxy preferences, you must enter a RealPlayer Proxy and a HTTP Proxy.
Note: For more information about proxies and firewalls, refer to our Firewall World Wide Web site.
| Field |
Description |
| Use Proxy |
Click this box if RealPlayer applications should connect to the Server using a proxy; a check mark appears in the field. Otherwise, do not click this box.
Note: If you are behind a firewall and do not know the host name or port number of your proxy server, ask your firewall administrator. |
| RealPlayer Proxy |
Enter the domain name or IP address of the RealPlayer proxy server and port number that RealPlayer applications should use to communicate with the proxy server.
Note: For information on RealPlayer Proxy, read our Firewall page. |
| HTTP Proxy |
Enter the domain name or IP address of the HTTP proxy server and port number that RealPlayer applications should use to communicate with the proxy server. Check your World Wide Web browser's proxy configuration. |
| No Proxy |
If you have specified that RealPlayer applications should be connected to the Server using a proxy, you can specify certain local hosts (domain names or IP Addresses) with which you do not need to communicate using the proxy server. Enter these hosts in this field. This field is only available if you have enabled the Use Proxy option.
Your firewall administrator can provide you with this information, if appropriate. |
Advanced
Options on the Advanced tab of the Preferences window allow you to set the playback performance.
| Field |
Description |
| Playback Performance |
RealPlayer applications use this setting to optimize the performance of playback. Change this setting only if your computer seems sluggish or has problems while playing some content. |
