To watch videos on PLAY your computer should ideally meet the following system requirements:
•    An Internet connection with sufficient bandwidth. The videos on PLAY stream at roughly 500 kilobits per second (kbps)
•    Microsoft Windows 2000 or later, or Mac OS X v10.4 or later
•    A 1 gigahertz (GHz) processor
•    512 megabytes (MB) of RAM
•    A screen resolution of 1024 × 768 or higher
•    Windows Internet Explorer 6 or later, Firefox 3.0 or later (or Google Chrome)
•    JavaScript and cookies enabled
•    A 16-bit sound card

PLAY has been created to perform optimally with broadband internet connections. This service is designed to be received through higher bandwidth connections, of 1.1Mbps and above, for instance, ADSL. Dial-up connections are not fast enough to successfully watch PLAY streaming video.

If you have firewall software installed on your machine (e.g. Zone Alarm, Norton's and McAfee's Firewall) please ensure that PLAY has been added to the list of trusted programs within that software and/or within Parental Controls. Otherwise your firewall software may prevent PLAY from connecting to the Internet. Also, PLAY uses the standard network port of 1935 to stream Flash video, so please ensure that port 1935 is not blocked by your firewall or broadband router. For further information on the usage of port 1935 by Flash Media Server, visit the Adobe website.

PLAY work best with Adobe Flash Player 10+ to view the streaming video. You can download the latest version from the Adobe website.

PLAY video is streamed at 512kbps (inclusive of audio), therefore your internet connection needs to be consistently offering at least 600kbps. This service is specifically geared to be received through higher bandwidth connections, of 1.1Mbps and above, for instance, ADSL. There is also the potential for considerable variance in the delivery of your internet connection. If you are experiencing buffering issues, please check against these variables.

To test your download connection speed, visit Speedtest.net, and then follow the on-screen instructions. To increase the speed of your broadband connection, contact your Internet service Service providerProvider.

• Proximity to telephone junctions/substations (for ADSL connections)
• Simultaneous use of a modem/hub (eg. multiple processes & computers using the same base connection)
• Rates of internet traffic
• Multiple processes running on your machine
• Ensure you are running the latest version of Adobe Flash Player for your platform. Check your installed version here
• Reduce your screen resolution. PLAY is developed and tested at 1024x768
• Set the video bandwidth quality to low (click on the button in the bottom right hand side of the video window and select 'Quality... Low' in the menu)

If you're watching video via a wireless connection to your modem/router at home, you may experience a buffered (staggering) signal. This will resolve to a smooth reception unless the signal strength is too weak to receive the video stream. SOH video is streamed at 600kbps, so you'll need at least this connection speed to your computer to play video smoothly. If you're not particularly close to the modem, the transmission can be interrupted by walls, closed doors etc.

PLAY has been specifically created to provide high quality video that can be viewed on a computer, on a tablet (such as an Apple iPad) and on some mobile phones - without compromising on picture quality.
Does it work on all operating systems?
PLAY works on Mac, PC and Linux, any platform that supports Adobe Flash Player and/or MPEG4 video.
If you have ongoing issues viewing videos on PLAY please send  your feedback to us using the ‘Feedaback’ button on the top, right hand side of the page. We will endeavour to respond to your email within five working days.

We are in the process of encoding our video catalogue into MPEG4 video, in addition to Flash video, so it will be viewable on iPad and iphones iPhones – both of which don’t support Flash video. The good news is that all new video added to PLAY will be compatible with iPad and iPhone so as our catalogue of premium content builds it will be available across multiple devices. The full back-catalogue of PLAY video content is available to view on Mac and PC.

Videos will be published on a weekly basis as they are produced by our in-house production team. Some will be posted as soon as the day following a performance.

Sign up to the SOH Facebook page to be notified as new SOH video goes live on the PLAY website.

The easiest way is to use the search field on the top right hand side of the page. Simply type a search term relating to the content you wish to view. Or, you can browse through the various categories of content using the navigation on the page.  Either click on a Ggenre in the top navigation bar or select a Cchannel that best represents the content you’re after.  If you know the presenting company of the content you want to view, say Opera Australia, simply click on ‘Presenting Company’ to select the appropriate channel. 
How can I share the video I’m watching with friends?
There are many ways to quickly and easily share your favourite PLAY videos with friends. You can either click on the blue ‘Share’ button on the right hand side of the page or directly beneath the video window itself. You can also share your favourite videos with your friends on Facebook by clicking the ‘Recommend’ button.

PLAY is not geo-blocked, which means that you can access the videos from overseas.  However, from time to time it may be necessary to geo-block some video content due to content rights restrictions and requests from musicians and performers to limit the broadcast to Australian audiences. We apologise if this causes any inconvenience.

We are working hard to improve our video streaming infrastructure and will be increasing the amount of live streaming and on-demand video content over the next few months. Keep checking back to see what new content has been added to our catalogue and what live stream events are coming up.