Netflix: one step closer to a global TV network
Netflix announced yesterday that it launches it services globally yesterday offering it to more than 190 countries adding 130 new countries in the process. While that is still not all countries of the world, China is for instance not among the list, the move increases the company's availability significantly.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings calls it the launch of a "new global Internet TV network" and that's certainly true up to a point considering that Netflix original series will be made available simultaneously on launch worldwide.
The situation is different where licensed shows and content is concerned though. Shows may not be available at all in certain regions where Netflix is available, or may be delayed instead.
If you check this comparison listing of movies and shows available on Netflix UK and US for example, you will notice that there are big differences between the two offerings.
Netflix subscribers from the US have access to 6991 shows and movies (not counting multiple episodes of the same show) while UK subscribers to only 3621 movies and shows.
And things are equally unequal when you compare the availability in other countries Netflix is available in.
This is likely not Netflix's fault at all, but due to how content from traditional TV and movie companies is licensed.
Actually, one of the main reasons for companies like Amazon or Netflix to increase the production of original series and movies is that they have full control over those shows and can make them available to subscribers from all over the world at the same time without having to worry about licensing limitations.
Netflix plans to release 31 "new and returning original series, and two dozen original feature films and documentaries" in 2016. Among them highly rated shows such as Marvel's Daredevil, Narcos or Marco Polo. Beyond 2106, there is a high probability that the company will increase its efforts even further not only to distinguish itself from competing services, but also to reduce the reliance on traditional TV and movie deals.
Netflix subscribers can use VPN services or DNS services to access Netflix content in other regions the service is available in. Customers from the UK can increase the number of shows and movies available by a factor of 2 almost, but even US customers benefit from these type of services as some shows and movies are not available to them either.
It is interesting to note that Netflix accounts work in all countries, and that is the main reason why VPN and DNS services are such a popular option for subscribers as they can access content from the US, UK, Japan or Germany using a single account.
Now You: Are you subscribed to an online streaming service? If so, which?
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?