Thread: Watch full-screen TV on the web

STEP 1

TO GET STARTED WITH Joost, launch your web browser, type the Address or Location bar and hit Enter. Before going to the bother of downloading and installing the software you might want to check the'What's On'section of the website to get an idea of the kind of programmes that are available. It's early days for the service and it does rely rather heavily on music videos. However, it's starting to gather a wider range offilm and TV programming. If the content takes your fancy then click the Download link to download the free Joost software (it works on both Macs and pes) to the Windows Desktop. When the file has downloaded, double-click it to begin installation.

STEP 2

ON THE FIRST SCREEN we'd suggest clicking to place a tick in the 'Advanced installer options' checkbox,as well as the one signifying your acceptance of the software's licence agreement, then click Next to move on. Follow the displayed prompts to complete installation. At the last stage, you might want to click to remove the tick from the'Run Joost on startup' checkbox:this will prevent Joost automatically connecting to the internet every time Windows is launched, which you may not want it to do. Leave'Run Joost now'ticked and then click Next to launch the program.

STEP 3

A MESSAGE MAY APPEAR saying that the Windows Firewall,or your own choice offirewall has blocked Joost from connecting to the internet. Go ahead and tell it to unblock Joost. A sign-in screen will appear: click the 'Get your Joost Name here' button to create a username and password and then use this to log in.Joost will now start in its preview mode, displaying some of the latest programmes that have been added to the service. Initially, Joost displays video in a window that is 800x600 pixels in size but this can be altered later if desired - we'll demonstrate how in Step.

STEP 4

THERE ARE A LOT of buttons and controls on the screen, but the best way to start is to click the Explore button on the left-hand side of the screen.This launches Joost's main programme library, where you can see what's on offer. Programmes on Joost are organised into 'channels'that are comparable to conventional TV channels. However, it's also possible to browse by category, such as 'drama' or'comedy; or simply enter the name of a programme into the search bar at the top ofthis window.

STEP 5

CLICK ON THE ENTERTAINMENT entry to see the list of channels available here. Each channel is represented by a small square icon. Use the slider control in the lower-right corner of the screen to increase the size of these icons to give a clearer view of what's on offer. As tempted as we are by the Bare Knuckle Boxing channel and the delights of Ripe TV, we've spotted an old favourite - The MonkeesTV show from the 1960s.



STEP 6

CLICK ON THE ICON for the Monkees channel and you'll see these previews for each of the available episodes. Notice the three little buttons that appear when passing the mouse pointer over each preview image.The Play button,of course, plays the episode, while the'i'button displays additional programme information. Clicking the' +' button adds the programme to your personal video playlist, for later viewing.You can see items in the playlist down in the lower left-hand corner of the screen.

STEP 7

THE VIDEO'S A BIT blurry - but that's primarily because this is pre¬digital recording from the early 1960s. Even so, it is still better quality than a lot of the tiny video clips you might see on sites such as Youtube.There are no controls visible on screen at the moment, so you can just sit back and watch the video in comfort. Click twice on the video image to make it zoom up to full-s<;:reen size. Click once on the image and the on-screen.

STEPS 8

THE ON-SCREEN CONTROLS look a bit confusing, but they're straightforward. Pressing the 'Monkees Channel' button at the top of the screen will show information about the Monkees Channel.The Explore button leads back to the main programme library.The playback controls at the bottom of the screen are used to pause and play this particular programme, as well as providing navigation controls that allow you to quickly select other programmes on this channel or move to another channel altogether. Click once on the image again to hide these controls.

STEP 9

THERE'S ONE OTHER BUTTON that we haven't looked at yet - My Joost, on the right-hand side of the screen. Click this and the Widget Manager will appear.widgets are little bits of software that add new features to Joost. For example, there's an instant-messaging widget that lets you chat online with other Joost users should you choose to, and a news ticker that displays news headlines on screen while a video is played. There's also an Advanced Settings option that lets you alter settings,such as applying passwords to prevent young children from watching Joost.

STEP 10

LIKE MOST TV STATIONS,Joost is funded by advertising (wall-to-wall ads for Will Smith's I Am Legend at the moment).There are full screen ads, as well as little 'cut-out' ads that are superimposed over the video image from time to time.You can't fast-forward past the ads,as you might with ordinary recorded TVads. Fortunately, most ads on Joost tend to appear right at the beginning of each programme, so they're a bit less obtrusive than the regular ad-breaks seen on terrestrial TV.