SVCD is too tall and thin in Windows Media Player

[nhope]

When I play an SVCD in Windows Media Player it is too tall and thin. Assuming I haven’t got my SVCD encoding wrong, is there any way to play it back at 4:3? If not then is there a program (preferably free or cheap) that will let me do that?

[RHODK]

Windows media player can't replay SVCD-mpeg2's. WinDVD is a good one.
Regards, RHO

[nhope]

Thanks for the info. I should have said that I had already downloaded a small freeware MPEG-2 codec (directed to by www.vcdhelp.com) which allows WMP to play MPEG-2 files including MPEG-2. But as I said, SVCD MPEG-2 is too tall and thin. As WinDVD is not free, I wonder if there is any way to play SVCD's for free at the correct aspect ratio so that I can tell my customers how to do it. Having just bought one of my SVCD's they will not want to pay to play it. cheers.

[philippas]

Download the bicubic DirectShow filter from doom9's page. The bicubic resize filter can crop,resize and choose the aspect ratio that you want in media player for any format (mpg,avi,mpg-2 e.t.c).

[segv]

The SVCD spec requires the resolution to be 480x576 (for PAL), resulting in long and thin picture when playing through WMP. You need a player that recognises the SVCD format and knows to stretch the picture horizontally. Both WinDVD and the PowerDVD XP recognise the SVCD format.

Regards
segv

[Kandor]

Actually if you have a mpeg2 decompressor installed you could use BSplayer and that one is for free and it will resize the video for you.

[ppera2]

Install MainConcept DV codec and it will play fine in WM player and even better in BSplayer. For playback you don't need to register.

http://www.mainconcept.de (Europe)
http://www.mainconcept.com (USA) .

[wmansir]

You can also use the old 6.4 version of WMP, which is bundled with later versions of WMP (on all versions 9x,ME,2k,XP). Look for the executable "program files\windows media player\mplayer2.exe", this should play the svcd mpeg at the correct aspect ratio.

This should not require you to install any additional software.

[nhope]

Thanks for all the feedback. Here's what happened...

DirectShow bicubic resize filter: Downloaded this but couldn't suss out what to do at all. Complicated. Sorry.

BSPlayer: Sorry but inferior to WMP and other players when like-for-like codecs are in play. Very stuttery indeed.

Indeed WMP 6.4: Indeed this was there, but still no joy with my original MPEG-2 codec.

MainConcept codec: This seems to be principally a DV codec. It might work but it installed itself as the DV codec for Premiere, which is something I don't want to happen as I'm happy with the MS codec.

However I did install the Elecard MPEG-2 codec (shareware) and this allows me to play at the correct aspect ratio in either WMP 6.4 or Elecard's own player :-) Shame about the annoying screen logo top right though :-( btw unregistering the Elecard filters can be a bit tricky if you decide you don't want it as your MPEG-2 codec any more.

[smiller667]

If you are desparate for a free solution, look for sthsdvd55.zip ... it is the free Herosoft player from China. Sure, it is not perfect to say the least, but you might give it a try ...