|
| A screen projects images from Xbox’s
new game FIFA World Cup Germany 2006 as Microsoft Japan’s
Xbox division general manager Takashi Sensui speaks
in Tokyo recently. Microsoft said Xbox 360 game console
users will have more than three times as many game titles
available by December. The move is seen as preparation
for an upcoming battle with Sony’s PlayStation
3. (Reuters) |
An
odd thing happened the other day. I had just reinstalled
my operating system (Windows 2000) and some of my video
files just wouldn?t play on Microsoft?s own Windows Media
Player.
The files had ?.mpg? extension
and had worked fine with both Windows Media Player 9 (the
most advanced version of the player for Windows 2000) and
Windows Media Player 9 (the default player included with
the operating system) before the OS reinstall.
But now they only threw up error
messages.
Quite a bit of Googling and tech
forum hunting later, a simple and lightweight (only 213
kb) piece of software helped locate the cause of the problem,
and more importantly, a solution.
Gspot (www.headbands. com/gspot)
not only identifies the video format of a file, but also
manages to come up with the name of the video codec required
to play the file.
A video codec is a software module
that enables compression of video. Since raw video takes
up a lot of space, for delivery over Internet, it is always
compressed into some format or another.
In this case, Gspot analysed the
files and reported that they had been marked with the wrong
extension. In fact, the ?.mpg? files were actually Windows
Media Video files that should have been marked ?.wmv?.
Due to the presence of standalone
codecs that might have been installed at some point, Windows
Media Player 9 had been able to play them. But a fresh installation
brought things into perspective.
So for acute video-related ailments,
try Gspot or other troubleshooters like VideoInspector
(http://www.kcsoft wares.com/?vtb), MediaInfo
(http://mediainfo.sourceforge. net/), and AVICodec
(http:// avicodec.duby.info/).
The business of video formats
is rather tricky with several formats, encoding techniques
and tools in use and several media players to play them.
Here are some common file formats you will encounter while
trawling through the Internet:
Windows Media Video (.wmv),
Advanced Systems Format (.asf), Audio Video Interleave (.avi):
Windows Media Player 9 (www.micro soft.com/windows/windowsm
edia/player/9series/default.as px) can handle all of
these. Older versions of the player, like 6.4, can also
do the trick, but only after installing necessary codecs
from the Internet.
(Quick tip: after you instal Windows
Media Player 9 on Windows 2000, you won?t find any trace
of the earlier version, 6.4. To access the old player, click
on Start and then Run. In the dialogue box, type ?mplayer2?).
Another option is the Media Player
Classic (http:// sourceforge.net/projects/guliv erkli/).
Real Video (.rm): You?ll
need Real Player (www.real. com) for this proprietary
format from Real and for playing Real Audio files (.ra).
Or, try Real Alternative (www.free-codecs.com/download/Real_Alternative.htm)
QuickTime video (.mov):
Apple?s proprietary format. It plays with the QuickTime
player (www.apple.com/quick time/download), which
is bundled with the iTunes software (www.apple. com/itunes).
Non-Apple fans can try the QuickTime alternative from www.
free-codecs.com/download/Qu ickTime_Alternative.htm.
DivX (.divx): Fast gaining
popularity for compressing entire movies into one CD without
compromising much on quality. You?ll need the DivX player
from www.divx. com to play these files. |
