Coastal has made digital copies of many of its video tapes to give you the opportunity to preview them online. These are full-length, unedited versions, just like the video tapes. A "streaming" file allows you to watch it without waiting for the programme to fully download. The programme is not being stored on your computer, just sent to you for viewing.

We have posted our Terms & Conditions online for viewing, and our Copyright Information can be found there as well.

To view our streaming previews you'll need Windows Media™ Player software, Internet Explorer™ (Netscape™ users see below) with Cookies enabled, and a broadband connection (cable modem, DSL or corporate network.)

No. The Windows Media™ Player software and Internet Explorer™ are both free, and there is no charge for viewing our previews!

To download Internet Explorer™ click here and follow the installation instructions

UPDATE: Before you try to install the player, try clicking on a test stream first – you may have the player already. If you cannot see the clip, please click here.

Coastal strives to provide the highest quality experience for all our visitors. However, currently over 80% of our visitors use Internet Explorer. Based on this information, we have optimised our site for Internet Explorer, while trying to maintain functionality for our Netscape users where ever possible. At the moment we are aware of a few concerns our Netscape users have. Most of these have to do with the ability to register for our online video previews (a one-time process) but does not affect the video previews themselves.

The following information applies to ONLINE PREVIEWS only. If you have any other problems using Netscape, please email the webmaster.

If you cannot see the entire registration window, and you do not have a scroll bar to move down the registration page, you are most likely using NETSCAPE™ as your browser. See the next question for solutions to this problem.

If you are using certain versions of Netscape™ you may have difficulty registering and navigating the streaming previews because of a well documented bug in earlier versions of Netscape™. In light of this bug and our traffic tendencies we have optimised this process for Internet Explorer™. Please upgrade to Netscape 7.x to correct this problem.

The streaming previews do not install any information on your computer. The information will cache temporarily, but you will not be taking up space on your hard drive.

These numbers represent the file sizes of the streams, which impacts the quality of the image. The higher the number, the better the image quality, but the larger the file. Even though the previews are not being stored on your hard drive, the larger file sizes mean you'll need higher speeds of Internet access to be able to view them.

If you are accessing our site from a company network, you are passing through your company firewall. A firewall is a security measure, much like a moat around a fort, designed to keep potentially damaging information away from your network. A firewall also serves to control what people inside the network are able to access on the outside.

If you are having difficulty viewing our streams, or even downloading the necessary tools, we suggest you speak with your IT department. Coastal will not be able to help you resolve such problems.

"Cookies" refers to a small file that web sites routinely "install" on the computers of people who visit their sites. They do so to be able to recognise a returning visitor.

Coastal utilises "cookies" to recognise you when you visit to avoid asking you to "login" each time you return. While you are welcome to login and not rely on cookies, you may experience difficulties (or even be unable to register) with our online streaming previews.

If you do NOT (or WILL not) have cookies enabled, you may be unable to preview successfully. However, all other aspects of our website should function properly.

IN SOME CASES this MAY be fixed by upgrading to the latest version of Windows Media Player (if possible).

We only recommend this ONCE YOU HAVE TRIED THE PROCEDURES IN THE HELP DOCUMENTATION (Microsoft Windows format). Otherwise, we suggest contacting your IT department for further help.

I have the most up-to-date player, but when I view online previews I get no audio (OR VIDEO). NEW

We have been getting reports of the Windows Media™ Player version 9 (9 Series) having problems with playing the audio portion of our streams. In the vast majority of these cases the video plays, but the audio does not play. Or there is no VIDEO.

This is due to the player mis-identifying or unsuccesfully downloading the codec used during the encoding process. If you can uninstall version 9 and revert to the previous version for your operating system please do so (8 for Windows XP, 6.4 for Windows NT/95, 7.1 for all other versions of Windows). If you are unable, or unwilling to do this, please try contacting Microsoft for support in this area.

You may be familiar with "downloading" a file. If you are, you realise that it can take several minutes to a few hours to actually download. The beauty of streaming is that the file is sent to your computer much like it is being downloaded, but as soon as enough of the file is ready, it will begin playing for you. So, the minute or two it takes to begin playing is just the process of getting the file to your machine.

Why do the programmes start and stop at times once they've begun playing?

On faster connections, such as a T1 line or cable modem, such stopping and starting is minimised. If a stream starts playing and then stops or sounds choppy, it simply means the stream is having difficulty getting through to your machine. Be patient and you will see the complete programme. When playback seems to pause, you are not missing any content.

NO! The Coastal tapes do not look like a streaming file! Our tapes are of the highest quality and are guaranteed. The reason a stream looks grainy or jerky at times is due to the nature of the video compression technology used for streaming.

Download Coastal's Online Preview help documentation (Microsoft Windows format) and coordinate with your IT staff if needed.