Re: Video Woes in Windows XP - Info found that I want to share

From: Adam Crowley (adam_at_schmadam-dot-co-dot-uk)
Date: 10/03/04 

Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2004 21:02:42 +0100

Think of it this way...

Quicktime (MOV) and AVI are file types. They contain frames of video and
audio synchronised together at a rate specified when you encode. The video
part can be uncompressed or compressed with a codec; if the latter then the
codec must be on the playback machine in order to decode the video
correctly. To be of any practical use most AVIs or Quicktime files will
need to be compressed because uncompressed video files are very large and
require enormous resources to play back at the correct frame rate.

MPEG is another file type which is only available in a compressed form,
because the video is handled differently (unnecessary to go into detail
here). There are many encoders available to create MPEG files and some are
better than others but, unlike AVI or Quicktime codecs, the files they
create are a standard format that can be decoded by any MPEG decoder (see 3
below).

Some limitations:
1) Unlike most AVI or Quicktime codecs there are limitations to frame size -
both dimensions must be multiples of 16 because the video is encoded in
square sections.
2) Some MPEG decoders are unstable when decoding files that are not encoded
at the industry standard frame sizes of 352x240 (NTSC) or 352x288 (PAL) or
when the bit rate is specified at an unusually high rate (normally
1150kbps).
3) There are several different MPEG types. Ignoring MPEG4, which just
confuses matters, there are MPEG1 (VCD format) and MPEG2 (as used in DVDs).
Most machines should play MPEG1 files with no problem (using the
aforementioned mciqtz32.dll) but in my experience many need a 3rd party
decoder to play MPEG2 files, particularly in PowerPoint.

I hope that clears up some of the confusion that sometimes surrounds MPEGs
and codecs.

So my thoughts on your problem would be either that your MPEG clips are
MPEG2 and your laptop does not have the required decoder to play MPEG2
files, or maybe Real Player or an older version of Quicktime (5 or earlier)
has hijacked your multimedia playback.

I'll shut up now.

"D. Phillips" <foo@pobox.com> wrote in message
news:JyW7d.2285$Vm1.1620@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> Thanks! I hadn't run across that information before.
>
> But I am running out of ideas as to why these things just WONT play on
> this laptop. They won't play in mplay32.exe. In fact that actually crash
> this application without any error messages (it just quits out).
>
> Using the media FAQ that is floating around out there I've go through
> the registry entries and they are all good. So codecs is my last straw
> (should have been my first, but....)
>
> This is the only one missing off the list that was provided in the FAQ.
>
> I will get a chance to test my theory tomorrow. At this point, if this
> works I will be shocked (especially armed with the new info). If it
> doesn't anyone have any ideas?
>
>
> Tom, I did need to go searching for the codec elsewhere then Ligos'
> website. I did notice that they only offer 5.2 for a fee now (sorry I
> hadn't mentioned that but thanks for providing the link).
>
> Thanks,
> Donna
>
>
> Adam Crowley wrote:
>
> > That's information worth knowing...thanks.
> > I'd be interested to know if the Indeo install cures your problem,
because
> > there's no reason why it should. MPEGs are decoded in Windows XP by the
> > MPEG driver mciqtz32.dll and we must be careful to draw a distinction
> > between AVIs that use codecs and MPEG which is a distinct file type and
> > works by different rules. For example you say that your MPEGs are Ligos
> > encoded - this does not mean that your system needs a Ligos codec to
play
> > them, just that Ligos was used to create a standard MPEG1 format video.
> >
> > "D. Phillips" <foo@pobox.com> wrote in message
> > news:ec922505.0410030425.713e4317@posting.google.com...
> >
> >>First off, I'll apologize if this gets double posted. I tried to post
> >>previously and I am uncertain if it worked....
> >>
> >>I had been experiencing some video woes with mpgs in Power Point. The
> >>presentation worked on every PC I put it on except a brand new HP
> >>Laptop. Using the FAQ for media I checked the codecs and found that I
> >>was missing indeo....
> >>
> >>Curious about this, I found this on Ligos website:
> >>http://www.ligos.com/indeo.htm
> >>
> >>With the September 2002 update to Windows XP (known as Service Pack
> >>1), Microsoft suspended distribution of the Indeo codecs as a base
> >>part of its operating system. This only affects users with new PCs
> >>that are shipping with Windows XP Service Pack 1, or clean installs of
> >>Windows XP SP1 on an older system. Unfortunately, a number of game and
> >>multimedia titles require Indeo to be installed on the OS in order to
> >>function. Please review our Indeo Support page for more detailed
> >>information about the Indeo codec, and Windows Service Packs 1 and 2.
> >>
> >>It is a brand new laptop, installed with Windows XP (SP 1). Unlike
> >>every OTHER PC that this has been tried on which is an original
> >>install of XP w/ the SP 1 upgrade. I am hoping this saves some of you
> >>with newer machines some grief. It's been frustrating!
> >>
> >>So I went and downloaded Indeo 5.1 (Ligos charges for 5.2).
> >>I have YET to test the theory that an indeo codec install will fix my
> >>problem on the laptop, but I do know the mpg are Ligos encoded.
> >>
> >>Hope this helps!
> >>
> >>-Donna
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

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