So, I have been living with Vista WMC for awhile now, about 9 months. And when I mean living I mean  I use the digital TV tuner from the PC and it goes to my TV via HDMI out from my MB. This machine is in constanct use when me and my famliy are home, either surfing, streaming video, downloading movies and shows or just watching TV from the PC. I  allow Microsoft to apply all updates (I know scary) so everything should be up to date. 

 I am starting to think that I have some other issue with Internet TV Beta. most of the stuff availble either will not play or like NBC news video will be choppy, audio seems to be fine. Any help with this would be appreciated.

Here are the spec's to my build.

Windows Vista Home Premium
Case: Moneual MonCaso 932P HTPC Computer Case, 7"" Touchscreen, Remote Control, Silver[932P]
DVD: Sony AW-Q170A 18X Double Layer (8.5GB) DVD+-RW Dual Drive, Black [AW-Q170A-B2]
Memory: AMP-X PC2-6400 2GB (1GB x 2) DDR2 800MHz CL5 Dual Kit - 3AXT6400C5-2048K[3AXT6400C5-2048K]
Processor: Intel E4400 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, 800FSB, LGA775, 2MB, Retail, BX80557E4400[BX80557E4400]
Sound: Realtec Onboard MB
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3500630AS 400GB 7200RPM 16MB SATAII [ST3500630AS]
Tuner: VBOX Cat's Eye 164e Dual ATSC Terrestrial HDTV Receiver, PCI Express [DTA-164e]
Video: ATI 1250
Mainboard: Abit F-I90HD Intel Core 2 Duo Radeon X1250 HDMI A&V&GbE MATX[F-I90HD]
Power Supply: Seasonic S12-330 330W, Silent Power Supply, ATX [S12-330] 

Hi GLO,

I'm one of the Internet TV developers and I'd like to see if I can't narrow down the cause of the issue you are experiencing. First, what kind of Internet connection do you have? Most playback problems we have seen with Internet TV are caused by connections that either don't have enough throughput, or that have inconsistent throughput which cause the player to "starve".

Thanks,
Chris

I actually have this same problem - or something similar.  I had chalked it up to Internet TV being in Beta still, but maybe that is not the case.  In terms of internet connection, I have a 3Mbps+ cable connection from Comcast.  I never have any trouble with video on Youtube, Hulu, etc, or in any other part of Vista Media Center.  If posting my system specs would help I can.

WoW Chris thanks for the reply. My ISP is Time Warner Road Runner Services (High Speed). As of this reply my spead shows 2 MBPS. I also use HULU.com and it comes out REALY (I'm happy with that) clean. I  watched ABC's streaming of LOST (Last 3 seasons) with some issues but nothing like "Internet TV Beta".  When watching the Nightly News through the "Internet TV Beta" The picture will come up freeze as the audio continues.  Then the picture will change but freeze as the audio continues. The quality of  trailers looks really bad but play and othe things just won't play. I like the other reply to this thread chalked it up to it being beta but since it appears that no one else seems to be complaining I have something else going on.

(GLO and wardenwolf, this applies to both of you.)

Yeah, this sounds like it's probably connection-related. It might not be your immediate connection, but something between you and the server. The tough thing about cable is that it's a shared pipeline, so you can see widely varied performance depending on all sorts of factors. A consistent 1.5 Mb connection is really what Internet TV needs for a smooth playback experience at the highest bitrate. GLO, you mentioned that movie trailers look really bad, which tips me off that the server might have automatically selected a lower bitrate (our movie trailers look very good, even on large screens). I'm not sure what bitrate Hulu and ABC are using, but again there are a lot of factors that might account for the difference in your experiences. Let me dig up some more steps we can take to diagnose your issues and I'll post them in this thread.

Kind of related, but probably a different issue on my end. Recently, I have been trying to play Internet TV stuff, and I've gotten the message "The Video Requested is not available" instead. Is there any troubleshooting you can recommend?

Chris, thanks for the update. I would be curios if there is a way to monitor my bitrate. I wait for further instructions. and do a little digging my self. BTW I do not user wireless connection on ths machine it is plugged directoy into my router at 100mbps and from there plugged into the cable modem. My router is a linksys wireless-b model BEFW154.

makryger: does this happen for all videos or just a few?

It happens for all videos

GLO: sorry for the delay getting back to you. What happens if you play this URL in Windows Media Player? (File -> Open URL)

http://mceondemand.microsoft.com:80/ContinuousPlay.aspx?seed=f86bf0e9-77f0-4955-b1ff-228a37d744a1

If it plays well and at a high bitrate (you'll be able to tell if it's the low-bandwidth version), try playing the same clip in Internet TV (Movies -> In Theaters -> 'Hellboy II') and see whether the experience is the same.

Let me know how it goes.
  -- chris

i have a similar problem with the videos....  for some reason almost every video will have a single point where the video freezes.... about 10 secs in.... and then it will work perfectly fine for the rest of the video but it happens in the same spot on almost every video.

And I doubt its my internet connection because nothing else has a similar problem and i have an 8.0 mbit line.

Also any chance we might see some zooming options for the video content?  for some reason on my xbox extender the video doesnt fill up the screen on my projector.  its about 6 inches in on every side from the edge of my screen.  but the interface renders properly as does the info section at the bottom of the video with the description.... just the video is wrong.  its probably an overscan thing since my projector as no overscan but its the only thing that doesnt render right.... everything else does.

So if it's not the MSNBC "video not available" screen, then something is preventing the player from connecting to the MSN video server. Do you have any firewall hardware or software in place?

I have one wireless router, which the computer is connected to wired. I turned off the SPI firewall, but still nothing. I still get this screen with a blue spotlight shining down on the words "The video you requested is not available." I have the Windows Firewall running, but then again, its always been running, and this problem seemingly started randomly.

Maybe the port used by MMS (streaming media server) is being blocked. See if you can play the URL I posted for GLO above in Media Player.

I have been having the same issue since the internet TV was added. Mainly through hardwired 360/Extenders. I have a 10Mb download and a 1.5 upload. It is impossible to watch anything through this as it freezes about every 20sec or so. I know it is not my setup. HDTV to my extenders works without a hitch. Here is my specs

Velocity Micro 6600 Quadcore PC / Windows Vista Digital Cable Ready OS / 4GB Corsair RAM / 6 TB Storage Space / 2 ATI external cablecard tuners / 3 360 Extenders