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New York, 8:00 AM
Thu Dec 10
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of fuchikoma fuchikoma
    03/26/09

    In reply to Windows 7 Might Block Third-Party Video Codecs
    As long as you can install and use these codecs in Windows, it makes no difference to me. I haven't used WMP since 6.3. I just need it to work in Media Player Classic, VirtualDub, and XviD4PSP mainly.


    But if I can't use ffdshow in those in Win 7... forget it. It's no longer useful as an OS to me.

     Reply
    fuchikoma was starred fuchikoma was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    03/26/09

    In reply to Windows 7 Might Block Third-Party Video Codecs
    Microsoft wouldn't be so stupid as to actually block codecs. Blocking third-party formats would be a big Fuck-You to users overall. I think (and hope) that this is just a niggle in the beta build, not something that will reflect on the final product.


    If this turns out to be some method of protecting users from potentially hazardous codecs, I say forget it. There's no need to nanny people in such a fashion.

     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of Dave Lindsay Dave Lindsay
    03/26/09

    In reply to Windows 7 Might Block Third-Party Video Codecs
    I don't know what the reasoning behind this is but I wonder how much this actually impacts anyone or how much it's media-FUD.


    Boohoo, when I play a video back it uses a built in codec that works and I can't alternately choose to render it with a third party codec that does exactly the same thing...? Can someone explain to me why I should care? What compelling reason is there for me to say "I want to view h.264s with a third party codec that I install instead of the built in one"?


    This isn't forcing a user to use IE over Firefox, where there may be a clear user preference or reason to provide options.


    I have no knowledge or information about this, but I wonder if baking certain codecs right in is part of a performance movement... If it were a requirement to be able to decode h.264 video on a low end netbook I could see all corners being cut to boost performance, even at the cost of some flexibility.

     Reply
    Dave Lindsay was starred Dave Lindsay was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    03/26/09

    @Dave Lindsay: This sounds more like how a PMP works. That design principle shouldn't be applied to a full-blown computer system.
     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of closhedbb closhedbb
    03/26/09

    In reply to Windows 7 Might Block Third-Party Video Codecs
    Looks like Microsoft is starting to look and act like Mac...
     Reply
    closhedbb was starred closhedbb was unstarred
    Image of Kaiser-Machead Kaiser-Machead
    03/26/09

    @closhedbb: Except Mac doesn't behave this way. It doesn't come with every codec under the sun, but I can install plugins to get .flvs to play on Quicktime, and I can play .avi video from Front Row.
     Reply
    Kaiser-Machead was starred Kaiser-Machead was unstarred
    Image of nutbastard nutbastard
    03/26/09

    In reply to Windows 7 Might Block Third-Party Video Codecs
    sorry MS, I wouldn't trade VLC for anything. Namely, because nothing else is as good, period.
     Reply
    nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred
    Image of nutbastard nutbastard
    03/26/09

    @nutbastard (Everyone come to snowmodo!!!):


    RTFA fail. on myself. ouch.

     Reply
    nutbastard was starred nutbastard was unstarred
    Image of OrenDolabella OrenDolabella
    11/20/08

    In reply to Giz Explains: Every Video Format You Need to Know
    "(All of the MPEG codecs we talk about, btw, will have an associated layer, since the video section is only part of the full standard, which includes audio and other stuff. MPEG-1 Layer 3, you probably know, is MP3.) "

    You've got the wrong terminology there buddy. Part 2 of the MPEG-1 specification is indeed for video and part 3 is for audio, but part 3 and layer 3 are not the same. The MPEG-1 Part 3 audio specification includes three layers of audio formats, layers 1, 2 and 3 – each one building upon the other. Thus, layer 3 includes all the elements of layers 1 and 2 plus some new stuff. This is actually a bit inefficient because of the layering, but it was ultimately decided to implement the specification in this manner to allow for the greatest compatibility. The OGG audio codec is actually very similar to MP3, just without the layer 1 and 2 compatibility – hence it is marginally better than MP3.
     Reply
    OrenDolabella was starred OrenDolabella was unstarred
    Image of matt buchanan matt buchanan
    11/20/08

    @OrenDolabella: No they're not. The layer/part mixup was an editing error. I swear I had it right originally!
     Reply
    matt buchanan was starred matt buchanan was unstarred
    Image of scarbrtj scarbrtj
    11/20/08

    In reply to Giz Explains: Every Video Format You Need to Know
    All the Blu-ray AVC, VC-1, and MPEG-2 codecs are wrapped inside MPEG-2 transport stream containers (.m2ts). The HDDVD VC-1 and AVC codes were wrapped inside .EVO containers.
     Reply
    scarbrtj was starred scarbrtj was unstarred
    Image of Curves Curves
    11/20/08

    In reply to Giz Explains: Every Video Format You Need to Know
    I just want to find a free converter from AVI to MP4 since AVIs are too big to e mail and I am too lazy to look.
     Reply
    Curves was starred Curves was unstarred
    Image of TechSurfer TechSurfer
    11/20/08

    @Curves: free converter on what OS?
     Reply
    TechSurfer was starred TechSurfer was unstarred
    Image of Curves Curves
    11/20/08

    @TechSurfer: I am a self confessed WinXP lover. I am seeking help and the fanbois are trying to convert (pervert) me, but so far, I am still a PC.
     Reply
    Curves was starred Curves was unstarred
    Image of Jrsy Devil's Advocate® Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
    11/20/08

    @Curves: 'PC' as in...


    Pretty Cool

    Poetically Curvacious

    Perfectly Capable

    Perversely Corrupt

    Pleasant Company


    I could go on but I'm sure you've heard, or read enough already.... ;)

     Reply
    Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was starred Jrsy Devil's Advocate® was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    11/20/08

    @Curves: You can use Media Encoder 9 to create WMVs.
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of Geisrud Geisrud
    11/20/08

    In reply to Giz Explains: Every Video Format You Need to Know
    Luv me some giz 'splains goodness.
     Reply
    Geisrud was starred Geisrud was unstarred
    Image of combat chuck combat chuck
    11/20/08

    In reply to Giz Explains: Every Video Format You Need to Know
    Mmm... pancakes.
     Reply
    combat chuck was starred combat chuck was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    11/20/08

    @combat chuck: Now this I can agree on!
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
    Image of teexcue teexcue
    11/20/08

    In reply to Giz Explains: Every Video Format You Need to Know
    Can we please stop using the mkv container? It's the most resource hungry format I've ever encountered. Thus, it ends up taking ~100min to convert an hour of HD video to play on the Apple TV. And Boxes can't even handle mkv files.
     Reply
    teexcue was starred teexcue was unstarred
    Image of scarbrtj scarbrtj
    11/20/08

    @teexcue:
    MKV has nothing to do with your encoding/transcoding times. It's just a wrapper, or container. What governs your computational time is what's inside that wrapper. Admittedly, most MKV files on the web contain heavily compressed H264 video streams, which are very resource-intensive. But, that's not MKV's fault. If the MKV file were to contain an equivalently long and resolutioned MPEG-2 stream, it would be much faster to convert.
     Reply
    scarbrtj was starred scarbrtj was unstarred
    Image of dc-united dc-united
    11/20/08

    In reply to Giz Explains: Every Video Format You Need to Know
    Nice article. Great summary.
     Reply
    dc-united was starred dc-united was unstarred
    Image of EBone EBone
    11/20/08

    @dc-united: Agreed. Nice article.
     Reply
    EBone was starred EBone was unstarred
    Image of xsecretfiles2 xsecretfiles2
    11/20/08

    In reply to Giz Explains: Every Video Format You Need to Know
    I love my .avi files!
     Reply
    xsecretfiles2 was starred xsecretfiles2 was unstarred
    Image of Eruanno Eruanno
    11/20/08

    @xsecretfiles2: I love my .mkv files, because that means I can turn off those annoying subtitles without having to have a separate file.


    Also, they are usually at a better quality than those shabby .avi's (of course, all my .mkv's usually say 720p so that's probably why xD)


    Oh, also. VLC laughs at those codecs! In a smug, french way. No-ho-ho-ho!

     Reply
    Eruanno was starred Eruanno was unstarred
    Image of ripfire ripfire
    11/20/08

    @Eruanno: How would a container format affect quality? Did you not read the article?
     Reply
    ripfire was starred ripfire was unstarred
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