WMP6.4 vs. WMP7.1 - MS Extravaganza

[Corrado]

There's something I don't understand.
I have both Windows Media Player 6.4 and 7.1 on my PC (Windows ME) and they can play simultaneusly the same DivX video, so I made some comparison that left me with open questions on MS way to make software updates (maybe you can help me understanding):

1) They have different names (mplayer2.exe and wmplayer.exe), just to give problems with auto-launchers that check player versions...why?

2) 6.4 is much faster in switching between View-100% and fullscreen (7.1 has a couple of seconds with black screen before going fullscreen). Why?

3) They have the same video output quality, but only 6.4 allows you to set Playback Options for the DivX Decoder Filter (Brightness, contrast, saturation). Why? BTW, Saturation for wmp6.4 must be set to 60 (default is 50) to have the same output as wmp7.1. ???

4) 6.4 has working playback statistics, such as effective framerate, dropped frames, etc., while in 7.1 they never work (nothing to display all the time). Why?

5) The titles, credits, copyright, etc that I fill in when I save the AVI in Nandub are visible in the bottom section of WMP6.4 only, not in wmp7.1. Again, why?

6) WMP7.1 is not available for WinNT (that might be an advantage..:) )

7) The only point where 7.1 is better is Audio playback, although I don't know why. The audio (32-192kbs VBR MP3 inserted into the compressed AVI) sounds much worse in 6.4: lower volume (even at 100% for both players), bass channel less "deep", high tones like "dolby filtered" and less brilliant. Can I fix this, is there any reason?

Maybe you know some of the answers...?

Corrado

[chemmajik]

Maybe use the Radium codecs or mp3pro for your mp3 codecs...

[Corrado]

Originally posted by chemmajik
Maybe use the Radium codecs or mp3pro for your mp3 codecs...
I already do it, I think.

I've the Radium Codec - Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Codec (Pro) - installed in the system. I use Lame 3.89b to encode, what should I do to be sure that it uses the Radium codec? Is it possible or does Lame use its own compression routines?

Now that you made me think of it, I've got also another doubt: since there are also other MPEG-3 codecs installed (the Fraunhofer standard, for example), could it be that I've to change codec priority in control panel to be sure that the Radium is called as first? Why then WMP7.1 sounds different from WMP6.4, do they call different codecs during playback?

Corrado

[Corrado]

I put the Radium codec with priority 1 in the list of Audio codecs (control panel | Multimedia), but WMP6.4 still plays audio worse than WMP7.1. (btw, it's VBR MP3 audio, does Radium support it?)

The funny thing is that, if I ask for infos about the MPEG-3 codec filter, I get 3 different "about" boxes for the following cases:

1) Radium (Fraunhofer professional) codec in control panel
(Black on white Radium Logo - Version 1.2 Build 63i)

2) Fraunhofer standard in control panel
(Blue logo - can't read version at the moment)

3) WMP6.4 => View|Settings|MPEG-Layer3 Decoder
(Green Logo with IIS on it - Version 1.5 Build 50)

Both the logos and the version/build are different in the three cases, as you see.

I guess that the third codec (used by WMP6.4 but not visible in the control panel) is used during playback bacause it has the following line in the about box (not shown for the other two):

"Transform Filter for Microsoft DirectShow(tm)"

What does it mean? That WMP6.4 is using directShow for the MP3 playback and the codec is not one of the available ones in control panel?

Corrado

[diji1]

Hi,

Thats a lot of questions.

In my opinion you should just leave
wmp alone. Its heaps resource hungry
(cpu and ram) and its not optimised
for divx - which ok doesnt matter on a
high end system *as much*, but its still
nicer if apps use less resources.

I use bsplay - theres others of course.
BSplay has many, many otions, more than any
other player ive seen and its very
efficient.

Its in the doom9 download section with
the others :)

[Q-Ball]

Doesn't WMP7 have a sound enhancement engine built into in, which enhances the bass and gives the impression of more depth?

I think its got a stupid name like WOW! or something

:rolleyes:

[Corrado]

I found the following features in the MS site (just quoting the audio sections) for WMP7.1:

SRS WOW Effects
Windows Media Player 7.1 can improve the quality of any audio content, including both MP3 and Windows Media formatted files. Developed by SRS Labs, the SRS WOW technology integrated into Windows Media Player adds deep bass and dynamic range to put you in the middle of the music. The TruBass feature improves the bass or low frequencies, simulating the effect of having much larger speakers. This apparent widening of the "sound stage" makes the user think that the sound is coming from speakers that are farther apart. The result is a higher quality and fully immersive experience, allowing superb sound from any listening direction

Reference Standard MP3 Playback Engine
Windows Media Player 7.1, unlike some other jukeboxes, uses the reference-standard FHG MP3 codec from the inventors of the MP3 format. This codec delivers the best possible sound from your existing MP3 music collection.

The first point is what you said, but it seems just like the "3D" button on my cheap speakers (which I always keep unactive since it causes a lot of distorsion). I think I switched the WOW effect off in WMP7.1, ever since I installed it (I'll check this evening at home).

The second point seems to say that WMP7.1 uses the same FHG="FraunHofer Gesellschaft" decoder as WMP6.4 (I'd like to know the version, though).

Corrado

[chemmajik]

Well I'm looking at the save as for cool edit on radium codec pro, it allows VBR from 150-240, that enough or 320 CBR? To be honest I removed & deleted the standard mpeg3 that comes with windows so it is forced to use my codec, kept messing me up when encoding or capturing on choice. So if wmp uses the codec it uses radium, been working fine.

[ingoralfblum]

1) They have different names (mplayer2.exe and wmplayer.exe), just to give problems with auto-launchers that check player versions...why?
Be happy with that. This lets you still use the old media player.
2) 6.4 is much faster in switching between View-100% and fullscreen (7.1 has a couple of seconds with black screen before going fullscreen). Why?
I have no answer, but the 7.x versions have a generally slower UI response.
3) They have the same video output quality, but only 6.4 allows you to set Playback Options for the DivX Decoder Filter (Brightness, contrast, saturation). Why? BTW, Saturation for wmp6.4 must be set to 60 (default is 50) to have the same output as wmp7.1. ???
The only thing, that MediaPlayer 6 does, is to display the property pages of the individual filters. This was intentionally deactivated in 7.x because of stability problems. This is at least what you hear, when you ask on the MS newsgroups.
6.4 has working playback statistics, such as effective framerate, dropped frames, etc., while in 7.1 they never work (nothing to display all the time). Why?
?
The titles, credits, copyright, etc that I fill in when I save the AVI in Nandub are visible in the bottom section of WMP6.4 only, not in wmp7.1. Again, why?
Ask the developers.
6) WMP7.1 is not available for WinNT (that might be an advantage..:) )
Marketing. There must be a reason to use the newer operating systems.

Regards, Ingo

[^ogro^]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ingoralfblum
[B]
Marketing. There must be a reason to use the newer operating systems.

Regards, Ingo

Thats's ok