16-02-2003 20:01									#1
	Help viewing wmv files Got spare money?

Hiya, I have downloaded a series of wmv files that are said to contain rare and exciting footage of my brother in a COLLEGE MARTIAL ARTS COMPETITION (and probably getting his arse thoroughly kicked in the process). However, none of my media players can open the visuals for the movie - all that happens is I get a load of sound and white noise.

Does anybody know whether wmvs need codecs like avis do? Or whether there's an update that allows me to view wmvs?

	16-02-2003 20:20									#2
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That's just Windows media video. However your version of Windows Media Player might be too old to play it. That's why I much rather people stick with standard formats.

	17-02-2003 01:23									#3
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quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger That's just Windows media video. However your version of Windows Media Player might be too old to play it. That's why I much rather people stick with standard formats.

If you have an out of date codec, WMP automatically connects and upgrades your codec unless you've changed that preference. You don't need to upgrade the whole damn WMP version to play, say, WMV9 files.

And this is a good thing -- it's this reason that WMV9 is unmatched these days. They can actually keep improving it because they're not relegated to a tortoise-paced "standards" body.

quote: Does anybody know whether wmvs need codecs like avis do? Or whether there's an update that allows me to view wmvs?

Which WMP do you use?

	17-02-2003 03:14									#4
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quote: You don't need to upgrade the whole damn WMP version to play, say, WMV9 files.

quote: Which WMP do you use?

Aren't you contradicting yourself here? If you don't have to upgrade your Media Player then what does it matter what version she has?

	17-02-2003 03:23									#5
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quote: Originally posted by Hueij Aren't you contradicting yourself here? If you don't have to upgrade your Media Player then what does it matter what version she has?

She might have changed the options of her WMP so that it doesn't automatically search for codecs.

	17-02-2003 03:25									#6
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quote: Originally posted by FrustratedPoet She might have changed the options of her WMP so that it doesn't automatically search for codecs.

Then all she has to do is reset the options, no matter what version.

	17-02-2003 03:42									#7
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quote: Originally posted by Hueij Then all she has to do is reset the options, no matter what version.

Well Hueij, where I come from it's hard to help people out with software when they can be using any of 9 versions of it. I like to know which one we're dealing with when troubleshooting.

Thanks for the input, though.

Prior to WMP6 or 7, it didn't do the autodownload thing, which is why I asked. Because then you can manually update the codecs.

	17-02-2003 04:13									#8
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Ah, didn't know that. But can't they stop getting out moere and more dfferent codecs? What's wrong with the ones we already have?

	17-02-2003 04:26									#9
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quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger That's just Windows media video. However your version of Windows Media Player might be too old to play it. That's why I much rather people stick with standard formats.

I agree, proprietary formats tend to be highly problematic for one reason for another.

	17-02-2003 04:39									#10
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

I downloaded The Big Sleep a couple of months ago (divx) and it had no sound. Took me about a week and just before I sent it to the recycle bin I found out I missed another codec

	17-02-2003 04:50									#11
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quote: Originally posted by monkspider I agree, proprietary formats tend to be highly problematic for one reason for another.

UR is talking out of his arse, one is not more problematic than another.

In some cases, it's more problematic to use an open standard than a proprietary standard. For an example of this, see MPEG4 vs WMV. WMV is gaining acceptance much faster than MPEG4, and because MPEG4 as a standard was actually finalized quite a while ago and just now starting to get out in the market, WMV is technologically superior and it's also cheaper, and easier to develop with.

Obviously UR has never had to deal with DivX, of which there are about 100 codec versions of it, compared to about 3 WMV/WMA codecs total.

	17-02-2003 05:17									#12
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Little hint, don't upgrade to wmp9, if possible just the codecs and maybe wmp8? I have 8 now, had to get rid of wmp9 with system restore.
Reason for this is that most of windows streaming media files that I have seen are just playable, but you cant search the stream. I mean you can't jump to say 20:00 from the start. I noticed this when I upgraded to XP from 98 and at the same time from far superior wmp6.4 to lowly wmp8. Fine, I found another player that can "search" (what is the actual word for this anyway?) the stream. But after I installed wmp9, even the other players couldn't search no more !!!

	17-02-2003 05:20									#13
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The word you're looking for is seek, and it simply depends on what the author of the file configured for if you can seek through a stream.

I do it all the time in the sites I use WMP9 for (C|Net, launch.com, Xbox.com, etc).

Did you install one of the WMP9 betas or the final version?

Personally I don't think I could go back to WMP8, I'm too used to all of the nifty stuff like InstantOn.

	17-02-2003 05:26									#14
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quote: The word you're looking for is seek, and it simply depends on what the author of the file configured for if you can seek through a stream.

Thanks, I have no idea how I forgot that. But the point is most of the files are unseekable, and the player helps them to be that way, not codecs. I noticed this when comparing 6.4 with other players, 98 had had many newer versions of wmp for a long time when I upgraded to XP, but I kept 6.4 till the very end because It could seek the files that were not meant to be seeked.

	17-02-2003 05:29									#15
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Some files are set not to be seekable because they're intended to be advertisements, and much like when you're watching TV advertisements, you're not supposed to be able to fastforward them unless you've got a TiVo or a VCR taping them.

I certainly wouldn't agree that "most" are unseekable, the only unseekable files I've encountered are advertisements on Gamespot.com and CNet.com.

	17-02-2003 05:34									#16
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Many movies are unseekable But Bsplayer helps, unless you have wmp9... then nothing helps!!!

	17-02-2003 08:37									#17
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quote: Originally posted by Asher UR is talking out of his arse, one is not more problematic than another.

Ah, our local Wintel fanboy makes yet another bald assertion.

The are several problems with a proprietary format. First of all, you are locked to a single vendor. Which means MS can change any and all terms on the usage without prior notice, say, charging you $ to view recordings. Secondly, nobody knows whether the format is any good, lacking objective comparision. People can't just look at the algorithm and say, okay, but this is bondheaded stuff here.

quote: Originally posted by Asher In some cases, it's more problematic to use an open standard than a proprietary standard. For an example of this, see MPEG4 vs WMV. WMV is gaining acceptance much faster than MPEG4, and because MPEG4 as a standard was actually finalized quite a while ago and just now starting to get out in the market, WMV is technologically superior and it's also cheaper, and easier to develop with.

1. There is no proprietary standard. It is a contradiction.
2. Where evidence is there that WMV is gaining faster acceptance than MPEG4?
3. Suppose (2) is true, how does it connect to your first statement in the quote above?
4. What evidence is there that WMV is "technologically superior" than MPEG4?

quote: Originally posted by Asher Obviously UR has never had to deal with DivX, of which there are about 100 codec versions of it, compared to about 3 WMV/WMA codecs total.

In what sense is DivX an open standard?

	17-02-2003 08:46									#18
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quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger Ah, our local Wintel fanboy makes yet another bald assertion. The are several problems with a proprietary format. First of all, you are locked to a single vendor. Which means MS can change any and all terms on the usage without prior notice, say, charging you $ to view recordings.

Is there a rule that prevents the MPEG consortium from doing the exact same thing? No, there's not. Do you think these posts through before you post them?

quote: Secondly, nobody knows whether the format is any good, lacking objective comparision. People can't just look at the algorithm and say, okay, but this is bondheaded stuff here.

Um...have you ever considered actually comparing them? Like a blind listening test, blind viewing test, etc? You know, the ones where WMA stomps MP3 and WMV stomps MPEG4, those kind of tests...

quote: 1. There is no proprietary standard. It is a contradiction.

Not true at all. Java2 1.4.1 is a proprietary standard. It just depends on if you want to play with semantics or how it works in the real world.

quote: 2. Where evidence is there that WMV is gaining faster acceptance than MPEG4?

Here's an article on it: http://www.commsdesign.com/news/tec...EG20020920S0026

quote: 3. Suppose (2) is true, how does it connect to your first statement in the quote above?

Because the MPEG4 acceptance has been severely hampered by indecisive (and rather high) licensing fees and the overhead of an incredibly slow consortium implmenting it...

quote: 4. What evidence is there that WMV is "technologically superior" than MPEG4?

Do your own comparisons. Compare 1Mbit/sec WMV to 1Mbit/sec MPEG4. Compare 100Kbits/sec WMV to 100Kbits/sec MPEG4.

quote: In what sense is DivX an open standard?

In that it's open source.

	17-02-2003 08:54									#19
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Here's one comparison I've found of MPEG4 vs WMV7 (and WMV9 is way way better): http://dveffects.com/pages/codecs.html

ExtremeTech did a comparison here: http://www.extremetech.com/article2...3,116905,00.asp

WMV8 (again, WMV9 is better) received "Very Good" in both the Still Image Quality and Motion Quality categories. MPEG4 got "Good" in both.

	17-02-2003 09:40									#20
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Gosh, thanks for the tips. I'm going to get the sought update and then post again if I have any further problems.