The Criterion Channel -- Technical Issues and Questions

[mfunk9786]

This is the thread to discuss technical questions and issues pertaining to The Criterion Channel. Please direct discussion regarding the Channel itself or the content within (including your impressions of films!) to The Criterion Channel -- Film and Content Discussion.

Please refer to the Help page on the Criterion Channel website before asking a question that might be easily addressed by their comprehensive FAQ. If it becomes necessary and we start seeing a preponderance of questions here that haven't been addressed on Criterion's FAQ, we will add a supplemental one to this lead post.

If you want to contact Criterion directly regarding a technical issue, e-mail support+criterionchannel@vhx.tv.

[bobbymilk]

I guess a lot does depend on what devices they support. Foregoing the "antiquated streaming device" options means foregoing their service in my case. And working well on them is another factor.

The big difference from two-three years ago is that TVs are built around phone platforms, so my new Sony I bought last year does not need any streaming device, because it’s running on android and I just download any app from the android store. That means making an app for Android reaches a far bigger audience.

Android and Android TV aren't the same thing though.
And I hope Fire TV will be one of the platforms they launch on.

[371229]

Yeah... we have a Sony TV with Android... and it sucks. We use our Roku if we want to stream anything.

[Michael Kerpan]

If you get VHX for Android -- can IT be "chromecast"?

[mfunk9786]

I'm almost certain it can be, I have to imagine almost anything on an Android phone can be Chromecast

[Michael Kerpan]

I'm almost certain it can be, I have to imagine almost anything on an Android phone can be Chromecast

I know almost everything can be mirrored -- but _real_ Chromecasting is more elegant.

[DeprongMori]

I’ve managed to get the Criterion Channel working on the VHX app on AppleTV. VHX’s whole login and password management are pretty opaque, but I do see my Criterion Channel (with “Mikey and Nicky”) alongside my Drafthouse Films digital copies.

[Lowry_Sam]

Anyone find a Roku option yet? I see Mikey & Nicky available on Shout TV with a Criterion cover, do they have a relationship? Could they be streaming the free movie of the week until Criterion gets its app up & running?

[paulm]

Anyone find a Roku option yet? I see Mikey & Nicky available on Shout TV with a Criterion cover, do they have a relationship? Could they be streaming the free movie of the week until Criterion gets its app up & running?

https://www.criterionchannel.com/help/a ... g-roku-vhx

And it looks like some/all digital rights (and maybe more?) for Mikey & Nicky are with the Westchester Films library which Shout owns. The other Westchester titles that Criterion has released physically and Shout has on their streaming channel use the Criterion cover as well, I believe.

[fdm]

Regarding Roku, streamed a bit of Mikey and Nicky, which I've not seen before. This was a 4K Roku Ultra (on a 1080p plasma), a combination which had frequently been problematic for me with FilmStruck. Seemed to play rather well (no video anomalies/glitches, no stuttering), though it seems like there were some compression issues, which I don't recall being so much the case on FilmStruck. Video was fairly artifacty and audio seemed to be somewhat lacking as well. Hope it gets better... (Will try a different device when I get a chance, assuming I can do that, to see if there's any difference.)

[Lowry_Sam]

This was a 4K Roku Ultra (on a 1080p plasma)...

Using which app? The TCM app? Despite the Criterion branding on Shout, it played a very low quality version & without the opening C animation. Speaking of which, are VHS tapes the new vinyl? Shout is simultaneously making VHS tape versions of some of its movies (simultaneously with standard def version also available) available in a VHS vault section of the app. I also noticed Amazon selling blu-rays in VHS packaging.

[fdm]

Using the Criterion Channel/VHX app. Maybe just a dry run for when they put some real high quality content up. Hope so.

[fdm]

I've not tried the Apple TV VHX app, so can't help you there, but yes Filmstruck on it just about always had issues with dropped frames. Roku Ultra had its own unique sets of video glitches. Roku 3 was ok. So now I wonder if Roku 3 will still be supported... When I get a chance, I'll check them all out with the VHX app and see how they compare.

[bad future]

I'm not sure if this is exactly what anyone else here experienced, but what I always encountered when watching FilmStruck in Safari (AND Firefox I'm pretty sure) was a brief judder, like a dropped or repeated frame, EXACTLY every 8 seconds. I timed it with a stopwatch many, many times. And then I accidentally stumbled upon a fix for it: if I had an Amazon Prime video open and paused in Safari, and then opened FilmStruck in another tab, it would play smoothly. I also discovered that opening Letterboxd in another tab would make the judder come back. Go figure.

No idea what caused it (talked with support off and on for months) and no idea why the Amazon thing worked -- maybe there was some component of Safari that both players utilized, and the Amazon video would set it to a smooth frame rate, which the FilmStruck player wouldn't do on its own?

Anyway, when FilmStruck finally updated their web player near the end, I thought the issue was resolved and I wouldn't have to do the Amazon trick anymore, but then I noticed a video stuttering at TEN second intervals. Not sure if it was a manifestation of the same old problem or just that film, but after that I kept up the Amazon habit for the rest of FilmStruck's days.

About to watch Mikey and Nicky -- I'll update if the same judder happens on this player, and if it does, I'll see if the Amazon fix works.

[TMDaines]

I'm not sure if this is exactly what anyone else here experienced, but what I always encountered when watching FilmStruck in Safari (AND Firefox I'm pretty sure) was a brief judder, like a dropped or repeated frame, EXACTLY every 8 seconds. I timed it with a stopwatch many, many times. And then I accidentally stumbled upon a fix for it: if I had an Amazon Prime video open and paused in Safari, and then opened FilmStruck in another tab, it would play smoothly. I also discovered that opening Letterboxd in another tab would make the judder come back. Go figure.

No idea what caused it (talked with support off and on for months) and no idea why the Amazon thing worked -- maybe there was some component of Safari that both players utilized, and the Amazon video would set it to a smooth frame rate, which the FilmStruck player wouldn't do on its own?

Anyway, when FilmStruck finally updated their web player near the end, I thought the issue was resolved and I wouldn't have to do the Amazon trick anymore, but then I noticed a video stuttering at TEN second intervals. Not sure if it was a manifestation of the same old problem or just that film, but after that I kept up the Amazon habit for the rest of FilmStruck's days.

About to watch Mikey and Nicky -- I'll update if the same judder happens on this player, and if it does, I'll see if the Amazon fix works.

Try changing your monitor to 60p. I regularly get stuttering on my TV is my HTPC has changed to 24p or 25p for a film, and not switched back to 60p before I stream iPlayer in Chrome or something.

[ftsoh]

Please please please include subtitles at least in the main feature.

There’s a subtitle section in the VHx faq, so it’s probably there already, at least on a computer, but it might not be very accessible on other devices yet.

Odds are that one of the next movie of the week will probably be non English, so most of us will get to find out how subtitles work on vhx very soon

Yes I saw the subtitle option on VHX but nothing shows up for Mickey and Nickey. I am afraid it will only be available for non-English films. Worse, maybe English dialog in non-English films will not be subtitled either. They already did this in a few of their releases.

[kekid]

I received the e-mail. I can watch the film on my macBook, However, I would like to watch it on my TV using AppleTV. Not by mirroring the computer screen to the TV, but by directly accessing the material on the TV (as I was able to do with the Filmstruck app). I searched for the Criterion Channel app on my Apple TV but could not find it. Is the only way to see Criterion Channel through AppleTV by mirroring what is on the computer screen? That is not good, because the quality is not the same as what I get by using the app directly on the TV. Is it something we expect to get when the channel is officially launched?

[Glowingwabbit]

I received the e-mail. I can watch the film on my macBook, However, I would like to watch it on my TV using AppleTV. Not by mirroring the computer screen to the TV, but by directly accessing the material on the TV (as I was able to do with the Filmstruck app). I searched for the Criterion Channel app on my Apple TV but could not find it. Is the only way to see Criterion Channel through AppleTV by mirroring what is on the computer screen? That is not good, because the quality is not the same as what I get by using the app directly on the TV. Is it something we expect to get when the channel is officially launched?

This is just an early bonus. It says on the site that it will be available on various platforms (AppleTV included) when it officially launches.

[Noiradelic]

They're currently using the VHX (Vimeo OTT) app. It's available for Apple TV, but zeroism posted this above:

Please note, regarding the Apple TV VHX app, due to some shifts in focus, we stopped releasing updates to the VHX app some time ago.

While it’s still generally possible to view purchases and subscriptions through it, you may encounter a bug or limitation. Since we won’t be making updates or improvements, I’m afraid any existing or new bugs that may appear in the future won’t be fixed. However, once the Criterion Channel launches on April 8th, a new Criterion Channel Apple TV app will be available (along with new Amazon Fire, Roku, iOS, and Android apps on or around that time).

[TraverseTown]

Yeah, I'm not very pleased so far. Watched Mikey & Nicky with no issues with my MacBook connected to my TV via HDMI. Now it won't stream at all unless I unplug it from my TV. I'm afraid I don't understand the restriction.

[OldBobbyPeru]

People shouldn't judge or leap to conclusions about the channel based on this Movie of the Week on the Vimeo OTT app. This is NOT what the Criterion Channel will be based on at all--they are developing their own stand alone app, and the movie of the week is just a thank you to the charter subscribers, delivered on a temporary streaming platform.

FWIW, I've watched both of the movies using the Vimeo OTT app on the Apple TV without problems. It also plays in my Windows 7 Chrome browser.

[HitchcockLang]

Tried watching Chungking Express today via VHX Roku app. It started to load the video and then halfway through loading dumped me back to the info page for Chungking Express with the “watch trailer” option oddly removed. Any attempt to watch had the same result. I tried watching my Act of Killing digital copy and it worked like a charm so it’s not VHX itself.

[sinemadelisikiz]

Exact same issue here. VHX Roku app even has the extras for Chungking Express listed, but it didn't matter, because I wasn't able to get anything to play in the Criterion Channel section.

[DaBargainHunta]

Same issue here with Chungking Express and its extras on The Criterion Channel.

On the VHX Roku app, I get a brief loading screen before being booted back to the menu.

On my web browser, I get an inaccurate screen that says, "Sorry, this video cannot be played while your device is connected to this external monitor" (it isn't).

Mikey and Nicky played flawlessly on the Roku VHX app last week.

I really hope they fix this issue. According to other forums, it's because of a restrictive DRM switch that recently got flipped on, which is incompatible with VHX and apparently most browsers.

[sparklemotion]

Same issue for me with Chungking Express and its extras. Nothing will play for me on my Roku VHX app or on my iPad. It says retrieving, but then just stops. Frustrating.