Wrong FourCC Code?

[Soulhunter]

Originally posted by DrinkOrDie

When I playback this DX50 file(from the divx website) in windows media player, it doesn't playback correctly. Looks all scrambled. Windows media player file properties says "DivX decoder filter" as the video compression. Makes sense since this is a divx file. but it looks horrible.

When I play the DX50 file using DivX player, it looks great. Is Divx player using DivX 4.12 codec to decode the file since I don't have DivX 5 codec? If Divx player is not using 4.12 codec, how is it decoding the file? Is it the Divx decoder filter? If so, why is windows media player having trouble using the filter?

Windows file properties claims Xvid compression for the file, yet windows media player file properties says "DivX decoder filter"

Why?

If you would send me your PC, I could figure it...

Or you could use GSpot to generate a list of all codecs you have installed !!!

Originally posted by DrinkOrDie

Furthermore, I am prompted to ask another question I've been asking for years now, but still don't understand:

What's the difference between a filter and a codec? I thought I knew. I went through this when I got rid of ffdshow.

Well, filter is very vague term...

A filter can decode, transform or alter a source !!!

And the word Codec is simply the short version for coder/decoder...

So its a package of a encoder (compressor) and decoder (decompressor) !!!

Originally posted by DrinkOrDie

I got rid of it as a way to playback Xvid files because I had so many problems with it. I then installed Xvid codec version 4 which I still have.

Uhm, something like XviD v4 does not exist...

I guess you use a old outdated XviD dev4 build ???

The latest XviD build is 1.1, you can find it here...

Btw, where do you get all this old stuff like DivX4 ???

The last time I used DivX4 was in the year 2001 iirc...


Bye

[DrinkOrDie]

Originally posted by Soulhunter
Ok, I have some more questions now...

- Have you tried to uninstall DivX4 ???

- Have you tried a different player ???

- Have you tried to install DivX5 ???


Bye

Answers:

Question 1 & 3 answer: No. I have not uninstalled the Divx4 codec. I do not want to uninstall the DivX4 codec. I find it superior in many ways, to DivX 5x when it comes to encoding my own divx avi's. That's why I reverted to DivX 4.12. I used to have Divx 5x. The issue which caused me to go back to divx 4.12 was not with playback. The issue that made me go with 4.12 was with encoding. It's much faster to encode, and comparible quality when compared with divx 5x encoding.

Question 2 answer: As I said before, Yes I have tried different players. I use DivX player 2.5.2 which plays the DX50 perfectly.

I decided to keep the divx player because it seemed to playback DivX files at better quality than WMP. (Something I don't understand, but I just went with it)

I also have BSPlayer 1.00 build 805. I have the two latter players because of certain advantages they have over Windows Media Player.

BSPlayer is not playing back the file properly. I get the same problem I had with WMP.

It's interesting to note that when a scene changes, the first frame is great, then starts looking scrambled until the next scene change. Also, VirtualDubMod can't even deal with the file at all. I get "error decompressing video frame.. an unknown error has occurred.. may be corrupt data..." etc.

[DrinkOrDie]

I guess I should restate the question. I meant to ask:

What is the difference between, let's say Divx decoder filter and Divx codec. I ask this because some files playback in WMP and say Divx Codec, others say Divx decoder filter.

You said "...something like XviD v4 does not exist"

I stated that I have Xvid 4 based on this screenshot WHICH I CANNOT SHOW YOU!! why can't I upload attachments anymore, it's pissing me off. Anyway I can't show you all my installed codecs even though I can see them through 3 different ways, none of which include gspot. It reads like this:

ID: Xvid / Name: Xvid Mpeg-4 / Version 4, 0 / Filename: C:\windows\system32\Xvid.dll.

Note the version. That's what I have.

Now I'm getting frustrated. And I understand your point of view. So many times I couldn't fix PC problems over the internet and I just wanted to get the PC in front of me.

I would like you to see all the information that I know you need but this thread is not letting me send screenshots. It's just not giving me the option. I may be forced to start a new one, maybe then I can send a picture.

[DrinkOrDie]

Well I'll be..

Still don't know what I did wrong but I'll figure it out later.

Here's a screenshot.

I would show you the directshow filters part but it takes up 6 screenshots

[Soulhunter]

Originally posted by DrinkOrDie

I guess I should restate the question. I meant to ask:

What is the difference between, let's say Divx decoder filter and Divx codec. I ask this because some files playback in WMP and say Divx Codec, others say Divx decoder filter.

Just for fun Ive installed DivX5 @ my PC...

Indeed, it seems to register two DivX decoders !?!

To tell the truth, I dont know why it uses two decoders...

Originally posted by DrinkOrDie

I stated that I have Xvid 4 based on this screenshot WHICH I CANNOT SHOW YOU!! why can't I upload attachments anymore, it's pissing me off.

You dont need this attachment function...

Simply upload ya picture here and post the link !!!


Bye

[Soulhunter]

Originally posted by DrinkOrDie

I stated that I have Xvid 4 based on this screenshot...

After taking a look @ your screenshot...

Yes, its v4 of the decoder not of the codec !!!

Try if installing the newest version of XviD helps...


EDIT:

Make sure that DIVX & DX50 decoding is enabled !!!




Bye

[Soulhunter]

Maybe you should do a small experiment !?!

Delete this files after making a backup of them...

- XviD.ax

- DivX.ax

- DXDec.ax

- DivXc32.ax

- DivXc32f.ax

- All that looks similar (ie. DX4.ax)

Now install the latest ffdshow build...

Try to play your files with MPlayer2 !!!

MPlayer2 can be found here...

-> C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\mplayer2.exe

If it doesnt work, you can uninstall ffdshow and recover the dll's...


Bye

[DrinkOrDie]

To answer your question, I got DivX 3.11 Alpha, DivX 4.12, and my version of Xvid through Peer-To-Peer.

Just for the sake of wrapping this up, I uninstalled ALL versions of DivX and Xvid. Then I installed fddshow from the link provided earlier in this thread. I went ahead and let it install supported codecs, etc.

Now the DX50 alexander.avi plays perfectly with WMP 10.

However, this is what I get when I try to open the file with virtualdubmod. Crap!

[DrinkOrDie]

You see why I ask the question. What's the friggen difference between a directshow filter like ffdshow and a video for windows codec?

Now that I have just ffdshow, all xvid and divx files play fine in WMP, but I cannot open any of them in virtualdubmod. This won't do. I need to be able to work with them in virtualdubmod, and to encode divx and xvid.

Back to the drawing board.

Here's what I have for codecs now.

[DrinkOrDie]

So I left ffdshow installed. Then I installed the latest Xvid. Now I can open all Xvid and Divx files in Virtualdub.

However, when I open a divx file in vdub and check the file properties, I'm right back where I started.

See the screenshot.

[Soulhunter]

Originally posted by DrinkOrDie
You see why I ask the question. What's the friggen difference between a directshow filter like ffdshow and a video for windows codec?

Ah, I think I figured out whats your problem...

You need a VFW decompressor for VDub !!!

Just read the stuff below...

Originally posted by DrinkOrDie
So I left ffdshow installed. Then I installed the latest Xvid. Now I can open all Xvid and Divx files in Virtualdub.

However, when I open a divx file in vdub and check the file properties, I'm right back where I started.

Think you have only two possibilitys now...

- Keep XviD to decompress the DivX files

- Delete XviD and install DivX5 to do this


Bye

[DrinkOrDie]

Yep. I kept ffdshow because it seems to be working great for playing back all divx and xvid files.

In order to work with them in vdub, I installed DivX 3.11 alpha and then DivX 5 VFW codecs. The result is that all DX50 files now decode with divx 5 codec in vdub. BTW, all versions including the old ones are available on the divx website.

But, I can't stand encoding with Divx 5, so I got rid of it and installed Divx 4.12. So, I really don't have any choice. All DX50 files will use the Xvid decompressor in Vdub.

I did come out better however, now that ffdshow is used by my players to open those files. Seems quite nice quality for all types of divx and xvid.

Anyway, thanks for all your help. I'm outta here.

[setarip]

To DrinkOrDie

"Well setarip, I wish I could lay the question to rest but I don't have the file any more. I deleted it shortly after I started this thread. It was a movie I wanted to check out before buying the DVD. I got the DVD and discarded the file. I tried to get the file again just to find out about the header, but I can't connect to "the network"."

Thanks for the response. Your maturity is appreciated...

[DrinkOrDie]

I posted somewhere else a related problem. I now use ffdshow to decode Xvid, divx, and other mpeg4 encoded avi's. It does an excellent job.

For encoding, I rely on the xvid codec, not going through ffdshow.

For some reason, Media Player 2 cannot playback Xvid OR Divx5 files. Same problem that AVI preview by A.J. has. Cannot view partially downloaded dat file until I have the whole file, then ffdshow decodes beautifully.

Any ideas how to fix that? Why does Media Player 2 (mplayer2.exe) not playback mpeg4 files unless the file extention is a windows mpeg4 extention (WMV for example).

Filters in use are the appropriate ones in WMP2, including ffdshow. Everything seems to be in order but the video portion has major problems like flashing, blocks, wrong colors, etc.