Many people think that Windows Media Player is gradually losing its popularity, but this is not entirely true. There have been so many updates and additions to the player lately that you can completely customize it to your liking. While playing various types of files, you can change the player skin and install various add-ons. While the player has always been a core component of the Windows OS, Windows Media has become a really good one in the last few years. The latest, version 12, contains a number of interesting features that will certainly interest you. We will talk about these features and much more in this article.
Player update
If you have an older version of the player installed, we strongly recommend updating it. Windows Media is completely free and always available for download on the official Microsoft website.Automatic mode: Open Windows Media Player, press Alt, go to the Help menu, and click Check for Updates.
If you don't want to manually check for updates every time, you can turn on "automatic check". To do this, follow these steps:
Step 1
Open Windows Media Player, press the Alt key, expand the Tools menu, and open Settings.
Step 2
In the “Player” tab, specify how often the player checks for updates.
First start
When you launch Windows Media Player for the first time, you need to spend a few minutes setting up the player's initial settings. They consist of several steps:Step 1
The Windows Media Player installation wizard will appear, which at the first stage will ask you to choose which type of settings to use: recommended or custom. If you select recommended, the player will automatically set all the settings without your intervention. In this case, skip this section and move on to the next one.
If you want to configure the player yourself, select the "Custom Settings" option and click the "Next" button.
Step 2
The first to open is the Privacy Options dialog box. Check the boxes next to the items you really want to use and click Next.
Step 3
At this point, WMP will ask you if you want to add a shortcut to your desktop and Quick Launch, and will also ask you to mark it as the default. Set the required settings and click “Next”.
Step 5
At the final stage, the player will offer to set up an online store to access paid content. Select “Do not set up an online store” and click the “Finish” button.
Always remain anonymous online
When installed, Windows Media Player generates a unique ID for your computer. This identifier is used in many places, including on some web resources. Thanks to it, Windows Media Player can independently request information about media data and exchange service information. Although the developers claim that the player does not transmit any personal information, there are sometimes cases where they can track what you watch. If you do not want information about your player usage to be accidentally leaked online, disable this feature. For this:Step 1
Hold down the Alt key, then open the Tools menu and select Options.
Step 2
Go to the “Privacy” tab and uncheck the box next to “Send a unique code...”.
Update the codec
Once you have installed a new version of Windows Media Player, you will also need to install additional codecs to support certain file types. A codec is nothing more than an additional add-on for Windows Media Player that helps identify and play many file formats. We recommend installing the K-lite codec package. It alone is enough to enable support for almost all audio and video data formats. You can download it from the official website of the developer.It is also worth enabling the option to automatically download codecs by going to the player settings and in the “Player” tab, check the “Automatically download codecs” option.
Adding artwork and visuals to the player
Covers and visuals enhance your player's experience and allow you to customize the look and feel of your player. The only problem is that you can no longer download them from the official Microsoft website, so you will have to search for covers and visualizations on the Internet.Video video file format
— defines the structure of the video file. There are many formats for encoding and compressing video files, let's look at some of them or Almost all.
As of late 2008, there are three main video file formats: avi, mpg And mov.
Let's look at each in a little more detail.
ASF format(Active Streaming Format) - streaming format from Microsoft.
Commonly used video file extension is .asf.
ASF video files appear with the extensions .WMA or .WMV.
A.S.F. is a multimedia container, and does not contain instructions on how the data should be encoded, but only defines the structure of the data stream. In this regard, ASF replaces the AVI media container format.
microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/ru/format/asfspec.aspx
go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=31334 - ASF Specification
AVI format(Audio-Video Interleaved) developed by Microsoft for storing and playing videos, it is a container that can contain anything from MPEG1 to MPEG4.
It can contain four types of streams - Video, Audio, MIDI, Text.
Commonly used video file extension is .avi.
There can be only one video stream, and several audio streams.
AVI can contain only one stream - either video or audio.
AVI does not impose any restrictions on the type of codec used, neither for video nor for audio - they can be anything.
AVI video files can combine any video and audio codecs. AVI uses less compression than similar video file formats.
AVI video files can be played by various players, but the player must support the codec used to encode the video.
Questions often arise: who adopted the avi standard?
or avi standard who developed it. This RIFF media container was first used by Microsoft in 1992 - for reference.
The following video codecs are often used in AVI video files:
DivX codec www.divx.com
Cinepak codec www.cinepak.com
Codec Indeo www.ligos.com
Codec DV
Codec MJPEG
Uncompressed RGB or YUY2 codec
The following audio codecs are often used in AVI video files:
MP3 codec
Codec MS ADPCM (Microsoft Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation)
Codec PCM (Uncompressed Pulse Code Modulation)
DivX format(Digital video express) - Mpeg4 standard codec.
www.divx.com
FLV format(Flash Video) - video files used to transmit video over the Internet. Used by such services as YouTube, Google Video, RuTube, Tube.BY, Movie, Obivu, etc.
FLV video files can be viewed on most operating systems because it uses Adobe Flash and plugins for most browsers, and is supported by many video playback programs that work with DirectShow.
MOV format- Apple Quicktime, can contain any codec, CBR or VBR. They usually have the extension .QT or .MOV.
Because the MPEG4 Group has chosen QuickTime as the recommended format for MPEG4, their MOV video files come with the extension .MPG or .MP4.
MPG format(Moving Pictures Experts Group) - A video file that contains video encoded:
This standard allows video data to be encoded at a transmission rate of approximately 1.5 million bits per second (bps). This format was developed specifically for use on Video-CD and CD-i compact discs. Most implementations of the MPEG-1 standard provide playback with a resolution of 352x240 pixels and a speed of 30 frames per second (fps). When using this standard, the image quality obtained is slightly worse than that obtained using a conventional VCR.
Mpeg1 format— the standard was developed in 1992 taking into account the capabilities of 2-speed CD-ROMs and 486 computers.
Mpeg2 format— the standard was adopted in 1994. Primarily developed for digital transmission of broadcast-quality video. Used in DVD, digital TV and HDTV.
Mpeg3 format- for high-definition television (HDTV), but later became part of the Mpeg2 standard and is no longer mentioned separately.
Mpeg4(commonly spelled MP4) - the standard is designed for very low data streams for use in video phones, multimedia e-mail, electronic news publications, etc.
MPEG1-2 (MPG)– video and audio storage format with compression and data loss.
MPEG4 (MP4)– a film or video clip compressed in the MPEG-4 standard, usually used for sharing and transferring video files on the Internet,video phones, multimedia e-mail, electronic news publications, etc. This format uses separate compression for audio and video tracks.
MP4 is designed for very low data rates.
The MPEG-4 format is an International Standards Organization (ISO) standard that describes various aspects of multimedia presentation, including data creation, compression, and transmission.
www.iso.org/iso/prods-services/popstds/mpeg.html
Book.itep.ru/2/25/mpeg-4R.htm
However, although compression and containerization of data in a video file are described by two different independent parts of the MPEG-4 standard, many people incorrectly think that they are interchangeable. Thus, it is possible to only partially implement the requirements of the standard and still remain within its framework.
support.microsoft.com/kb/316992
According to the MPEG-4 standard, MPEG-4 video files contain video data compressed using MPEG-4 techniques and audio data compressed using Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) techniques.
Typically, these video files have the MP4 extension. Windows Media Player does not support playing these video files. To play MP4 video files using Windows Media Player, you must install an MPEG-4 decoder that is compatible with DirectShow. Such decoders are included in the Ligos LSX-MPEG Player and EnvivioTV packages.For more information about the Ligos LSX-MPEG Player, visit the Ligos website at the following address:
www.ligos.com
For more information about EnvivioTV, visit the Envivio website:
www.envivio.com/products/
MPEG 7 is not a continuation of Mpeg4, but a development by the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) for the Internet. The specialized language DDL (Description Definition Language) is used.
book.itep.ru/2/25/mpeg_7.htm
Note
Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPG, MPEG, M1V, MP2, MP3, MPA, MPE, MPV2, M3U)
The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) standards were developed by the expert group of the same name. It is an evolving set of audio and video compression standards.
Detailed description and specification of the standards of this group:
www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/
www.mpeg.org
RealVideo format created by RealNetworks.
RealVideo is used for live television broadcast on the Internet.
RealVideo has a small video file size and the lowest quality.
Extensions: RM, RA, RAM.
www.realnetworks.com
www.real.com
SWF- ShockWare Flash. SWF video files are created using the Macromedia Flash software product.
SWF is also called the Flash Player format.
RealVideo format is designed for storing vector graphics and animation clips that may contain sound.
To view RealVideo, Flash Player and modern browsers are used. You cannot edit SWF video files.
www.half-serious.com/swf/format/
Adobe.com/devnet/swf/
www.adobe.com/devnet/swf/pdf/swf_file_format_spec_v10.pdf
Xvid(previously XviD) is a video compression library of the Mpeg4 standard.
Xvid is the main competitor to the DivX Pro codec (Xvid is DivX backwards). Unlike the DivX codec, which is proprietary software developed by DivX, Inc., Xvid is free software licensed under the GNU General Public License.
www.xvid.org
WMV format(Windows Media Video) - Video file recorded in Windows Media format.
Windows Media Video (WMV) files are Advanced Systems Format (ASF) files containing audio, video, or mixed recordings packaged using the Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Windows Media Video (WMV) codecs.
Using a separate extension allows you to install several players on your computer and use some of them to play video files with the WMV extension.
*.3gp(short for English) 3
rd g generation (mobile) p hone - third generation (mobile) phones);
video files for 3rd generation mobile phones. Some modern mobile phones (not necessarily 3G) have the ability to record and view audio and video in .3GP format.
This format is a simplified version of ISO 14496-1 Media Format, which is similar to the MOV used by QuickTime.
3gp saves video as Mpeg4 or H.263. Audio is saved in AMR-NB or AAC-LC formats.
Ready-made video clips in 3gp format are small in size compared to other video formats, but this is reflected in the quality.
www.3gp.com
www.3gpp.org
www.3gpp.org
Video file formats
Now let's look at the file formats that Windows Movie Maker supports.
You can import:
- video formats: asf, avi, m1v, mp2, mp2v, mpe, mpeg, mpg, mpv2, wm and wmv
- audiofoformats:aif, aifc, aiff, asf, au, mp2, mp3, mpa, snd, wav and wma
- Pictures:bmp, dib, emf, gif, jfif, jpe, jpeg, jpg, png, tif, tiff and wmf
But you can output it either in WMV format or in uncompressed form.
Common video file extensions:
AVI(Audio-Video Interleaved) is an extension for a huge number of video files, but is not a format or codec. This container, developed by Microsoft, which can store 4 types of streams - video, audio, text and midi.
This container can contain video of any format from mpeg1 to mpeg-4, sounds of different formats, and any combination of codecs is possible.
WMV(Windows Media Video) is a format from Microsoft, and it is in this format that you will receive a video made using Movie Maker.
MOV- Apple Macintosh QuickTime format, can also contain graphics, animation, and 3D in addition to video. Most often, QuickTime Player is needed to play this format.
MKV- (Matryoshka or Matroska) is also a container that can contain video, audio, subtitles, menus, etc. It is open source, not very widespread yet, but very promising.
3gp- videos for third generation mobile phones are small in size and low quality.
Let's look at the video formats that are used in Internet:
FLV(Flash Video) is a video format for posting and transmitting on the Internet, used by such platforms for posting video clips as YouTube, RuTube, Tube.BY, Google Video, Movie and many others.
SWF(Shockwave Flash) is an extension of animation created in the Adobe Flash program, as well as video in Flash format, played by browsers using Flash Player. Flash movies are also widely distributed on the Internet.
This means that the FLV extension is a flash video, and the SWF extension is a flash movie.
RM, RA, RAM- extensions of the RealVideo format from RealNetworks, which is used for television broadcasting on the Internet. It has a small file size and low quality, but allows you to watch, for example, a TV news release on the website of a certain television company.
Let's look at the main extensions that relate to DVD:
VOB(Versioned Object Base) is a container extension that can contain multiple video (MPEG-2 format) and audio streams, as well as movie menus and subtitles. These are the main files on a movie DVD.
IFO- files on a DVD disc containing information about the film, menu, order of launching VOB files, necessary, for example, for a DVD player, i.e. service files. Created during the conversion or authoring process, i.e. burning a DVD.
m2v, m2p- video extensions in MPEG-2 format. I won’t go into depth, I’ll just say that such a video is needed for authoring, i.e. creating VOB files and burning DVDs.
Of course, not all existing formats are listed here, but only those that are often encountered.
So, our task is to create a video or video film, which means we must clearly understand what video format we have and what we need as an output.
Nowadays, many media players are emerging for the Windows-based platform. In fact, some of them look very nice but have limited functionality, while others are full-featured but lack pretty interfaces. Thus, it is difficult for users to choose a suitable media player with support for all media formats that you want to play easily and with high quality. Here you will find the best solution.
Blu-Ray Disc (BD), Blu-Ray ISO, and Blu-Ray Folder (BDMV Folder) on all popular Windows systems such as Windows XP (SP2 or later), Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. Moreover, as an all-in-one media player, it can amazingly DVD, VideoCD, MOV, MKV, AVI, FLV, WMV, MP4, MPEG, RMVB, MP3, WMA, AAC, AC3, etc. To achieve a combination of ease of use and advanced technology, Windows Blu-Ray Player can play all types of media with resolutions up to 1080p and DTS HD Master Audio.
Step 1: Download Windows Blu-ray Player
Install and launch Windows Media Player.
Software that can be easily downloaded and installed on a Windows-based computer. After installation, you can launch it by double-clicking its icon on your desktop.
Smart installations
You can make some presets before playing Blu-ray, DVD, or other video formats: Tools -> Preferences
Step 2:Play Blu-ray Disc or DVD on Windows OS
Insert the Blu-Ray Disc or DVD into the optical drive. After a couple of seconds of loading, it will automatically play the BD or DVD. This will first take you to the disc menu where you can make some settings.
Step 3: Start enjoying the movie
If you click on the play button, you can directly enter the main title and start enjoying the movie.
You can enjoy Blu-ray or DVD ISO with fantastic audiovisual quality using Windows Blu-ray Player.
Standard mode
Full screen mode
Video file formats determine the structure of the video, i.e. reflect exactly how the file is stored on any storage medium. Currently, there are a huge number of different video file formats, and understanding their features can sometimes be quite difficult. In addition, users often confuse the concepts of “codec”, “container”, “video standard” and replace one with another.
In this article, we will try to understand what video formats there are, what their differences are, and what format is best to convert videos to.
Video codecs
To compress digital multimedia files, special programs are used - codecs. This is a kind of formula that determines how you can “package” video content. Codecs also perform the reverse decoding operation, in which case they are called decoders.
The most popular video codecs are the following: DivX, XviD, H.261, H.263, H.264, etc. Any operating system initially contains a certain set of codecs, but, as a rule, they are not enough to play certain video file formats.
Video containers
Codecs convert data into a special file called a container. A container is a special shell in which information encrypted using codecs is stored. Essentially, media containers are video file formats that contain data about their internal structure. The first media container was created in 1985.
The container can store information of different quality, in particular, images, audio, video and subtitles. Different types of containers determine the volume and quality of information that can be stored in it, but do not affect the methods of data encoding.
Format conversion
In practice, there are a huge number of cases when it is necessary to convert video from one format to another. The main problem is that different devices impose special requirements on the quality of the downloaded video, in particular on its format. In this situation, special programs come to the rescue - converters, which allow you to convert the video into the desired format. For example, convenient - VideoMASTER.
AVI
Audio-Video Interleaved- one of the most common media containers for Windows operating systems. This format can contain four types of information: video, audio, text and midi. This container can contain video of various formats from MPEG-1 to MPEG-4.
AVI has a large number of varieties in internal structure and can be played on smartphones, communicators and other devices. The AVI media container does not impose any restrictions on the type of codec used.
WMV
Windows Media Video is a digital video format created and controlled by Microsoft. WMV files can contain audio and video data packaged using the Windows Media Audio (WMA) and Windows Media Video (WMV) codecs.
MOV and QT
QuickTime File Format- this format was developed by Apple for QuickTime media player. To play such files, you must have a QuickTime player or players with MOV codecs already installed. The format may contain video, animation, graphics, 3D. This format supports any audio and video codecs.
A.S.F.
Advanced Streaming Format- streaming format from Microsoft. Based on MPEG-4 and used to transmit low- and medium-bitrate video to the Internet. ASF is a multimedia container that supports almost all video codecs.
MPEG
Moving Pictures Experts Group- video files containing video encoded using the Mpeg1, Mpeg2, Mpeg3, Mpeg4 standards. MPEG technology uses streaming video compression, in which not each frame is processed individually, but changes in video fragments are analyzed and redundant information is removed. MPEG-1 is a format for storing audio and video data on multimedia media.
The MPEG-4 format is commonly used for exchanging and transmitting video files on the Internet, video telephony, electronic news publications, etc. This format uses separate compression for audio and video tracks. MPEG-4 is designed for very low data rates.
Conclusion
We have listed only the most basic video file formats that are used in practice. When choosing a particular format, proceed from where this file will be played, and use video converters to convert video from one format to another.
