3 Services to search the catalog of TV show and movie streaming providers
If you want to watch a movie or TV show at home, either on your computer, another device or your television, then you have quite a few options to do just that.
One method that has risen in popularity in recent time is to stream media. Provided that the Internet connection is fast enough to handle the stream, it is one of the most convenient methods to access TV shows or movies almost immediately.
There are downsides though that users may encounter. One downside is that there is not a single service that is offering access to all TV shows or movies that are available.
This means that you have to check various sites and services to find out if the show or movie you are interested in is available, and for how much.
There is Netflix, Amazon and Hulu Plus for example, TV station websites and sites like iTunes, all with a different catalog of media and different prices.
The sheer number of available options has fueled the rise of search engines for streaming media. You find three options listed below that you can use to find out where to watch a show or movie.
1. Where to watch
Supported sites: Amazon, iTunes, Netflix, Hulu, Crackle, Flixster, Paramount Movies, Bravo Now, CNBC Full Episodes, E! Now, Esquire TV Now, Oxygen Now, Sprout Now, Syfy Now, ABC, ABC Family, Disney Movies Anywhere, Vudu, Xbox Video, Sundance Now, SnagFilms, Fandor, Wolfe on Demand, Target Ticket, Movies On Demand, Reelhouse, IndieFlix
This is a recent addition created by the MPAA that is only covering the US market. The service displays a selection of movies, television series and additional media such as behind the scenes footage on its start page.
You can use the search engine to find shows or movies by name, director or actor. Results are sorted into groups such as movies or TV shows.
A click on a show displays a short description, some of the main actors and information which supported services offer streaming access to the show.
Most services are listed with price information. The only exception to this are subscription-based services as no price is listed for these.
A click on a price redirects to the service's website where you can make a purchase or sign in to start the streaming.
The only other option provided by the service is to set TV alerts that notify you when new episodes become available.
2. Can I Stream.it?
Supported sites: Netflix, Amazon, Hulu Plus, Crackle, YouTube, Epix, Xfinity Streampix, Snagfilms, iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, Sony Entertainment Network, Ticket.
Can I Stream.it supports a variety of options including streaming, digital rental but also digital purchases and disc purchases or rentals.
You can browse popular movies or TV shows on the frontpage of the service or enter a search term to find shows or movies of interest.
If you search for TV shows, you get a list of all seasons and episodes of that show including names and short summaries. It seems that searches for entire seasons are not supported by Can I Stream.it as you can only click on the availability button next to each episode.
Pricing information are listed for some services but not for subscription-based services.
3. Go Watch It
Supported sites: Neflix, Redbox, Amazon, iTunes, Movies on Demand, Youtube, Google Play.
The service is limited to movies. It lists popular movies and curated movie lists on the front. You find a marvel movies list there for example and several other curated lists that may be of interest. Many of the movies listed on the frontpage are still in theaters or have not started at all.
Search suggestions are displayed when you use the search which is helpful.
Go Watch It displays the price for some of the available options but not for others. This means that you will have to click through to compare the price of all listed services.
Now You: Do you stream movies or TV? Which services are you using for that?
Why not make use of the mplayer.conf?
Huh, I have never even seen this “font cache” pane; videos play at once for me, using VLC & XP SP3.
Mike, in theory this should have only been displayed once to you, at the very first video that you played with VLC. The time this window is displayed depends largely on the number of fonts in your font directory.
huh, I lucked out for a change?? Amazing!!
Apparently VLC keeps this info through version updates, but I didn’t see this message after a fresh OS install about 8 weeks ago, & a new VLC.
yes, yes, i have the same problem. sometimes, VLC crashes when it is playing .mov file.
Error:
Buidling font Cache pop-up
Solution:
Open VLC player.
On Menu Bar:
Tools
Preferences
(at bottom – left side)
Show settings — ALL
Open: Video
Click: Subtitles/OSD (This is now highlited, not opened)
Text rendering module – change this to “Dummy font renderer function”
Save
Exit
Re-open – done.
Progam will no longer look outside self for fonts
Source – WorthyTricks.co.cc
Great tip, thanks a lot Kishore.
@Kishore, I’ll try your tips, but does this mean it will no longer show subtitles either?
I do use subtitles, but the fontcache dialog box pops up (almost) everytime I play a file.
Could this be related to the fonts I have installed? Or if I add/remove fonts to my system?
I’ll try to do a fresh install also, if your tips does no work. I’ll post back here later…
/thanks
/j
@ Javier, The trick i posted will show up subtitles too. If not,
@ Javier, The trick i posted will show up subtitles too. If not,Dont worry, VLC is currently sorting out this issue and the next version will be out soon.
No probs @ Martin !! Its my pleasure
Try running LC with administrator privileges. That seemed to fix it for me
I am using SMplayer 0.8.6 (64-bit) (Portable Edition) on Windows 7 x64. Even with the -nofontconfig parameter in place SMplayer still scans the fonts. Also, I have enabled normal subtitles and it is still scanning fonts before playing a video. Also, it does this every time the player opens a video after a system restart (only the fist video played).
Does that mean that only instrumental versions of songs will be available for non-paying users?