WMV Questions

Duderdude2 wrote on 2/17/2005, 1:48 PM
While not exactly related to Sony Vegas, I couldn't think of a better forum for these questions about WMVs.

Anyways, is Windows media player the only program that can play WMVs?

Can Apple computers watch WMVs?

Is WMV a better format to use than MPEG (as far as file size/quality ratio goes)?

If the movies are rendered as an WMV9, can only Windows media player v.9 watch them?

Finally, if I put a link to a WMV on my website, is there a way to force the user to download them as opposed to having the movie start playing immiediatly? In other words, can I have the broswer open the "Save As" box when clicking ont the link?

Comments

Liam_Vegas wrote on 2/17/2005, 2:19 PM
Anyways, is Windows media player the only program that can play WMVs?

Other players can play it. For instance - WinAmp

Can Apple computers watch WMVs?

Some can. Especially OS X. You can get Windows Media Player for the MAC (download from Microsoft)

Is WMV a better format to use than MPEG (as far as file size/quality ratio goes)?

My opinion is yes... for many reasons including size/quality. For total cross platform/old system compatability some people go with MPEG1 as pretty much anything can play it... but you have limited ability to adjust frame size/frame rate/quality etc etc.

If the movies are rendered as an WMV9, can only Windows media player v.9 watch them?

No. If you have an earlier version player it should automatically download a "wmv9" codec to allow you to view the video. In my experience that does not always work and some people end up getting the audio but no video.

Finally, if I put a link to a WMV on my website, is there a way to force the user to download them as opposed to having the movie start playing immiediatly? In other words, can I have the broswer open the "Save As" box when clicking ont the link?

Only way to do that is to ZIP the WMV file. That way they will be foreced to download. You are doing this NOT for extra compresssion (as you won't get much) but it does force the browser to prompt the user to download.
Duderdude2 wrote on 2/17/2005, 2:24 PM
Thanks Liam! You answered all of my questions!
Liam_Vegas wrote on 2/17/2005, 2:27 PM
Glad to help
riredale wrote on 2/18/2005, 11:59 AM
One thing I've thought about doing was including a link on my website for the actual codecs. For example, many people assume that the Windows 6.4 player can't handle wmv9. Not so.

You can get such codecs from Microsoft here.
Bill Ravens wrote on 2/18/2005, 12:04 PM
wmv is directX compliant, so, anything that can access directX components, can also play or record to them.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 2/18/2005, 12:40 PM
Just to be on the safe side, when I burn a vid to CD for people, I put a mpeg1 with audio layer 1 on there. I've NEVER had a computer reject that type of file (from Windows 95 to xp & Linux, even DOS has mpeg players). And, even though (technically) the spec says you can't go to certain res/bitrate, you still can. :)

But, in some instances WMV looks better (I've always thught the audio on WMV sucks though, compared to mpeg-1 at the same audio bitrate).
riredale wrote on 2/18/2005, 3:35 PM
Friar:

I'll take your word for your own experiences, but it's pretty well universally agreed that MPEG2 is much, much better than MPEG1, simply because it built upon everything that was learned from MPEG1 and is also more sophisticated. Similarly, wmv is univeresally agreed to be much, much better than MPEG2 for the same reasons. ("Better" in this context means "lower bitrate for equivalent image quality.") So it would stand to reason that wmv would be much, much, much, much better than MPEG1. Am I missing something?

As for audio performance, wma is also agreed to be significantly better than the codec used in MPEG1 (typically called "MPEG1-layer3" or mp3 for short). Microsoft claims that 64kb/sec wma sounds as good as 128kb/sec mp3; I'd say they're pretty close. So I don't understand why you could be having problems with wma audio.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 2/18/2005, 6:08 PM
I know mpeg-2 is better then 1 & WMV is better them mpeg-2, but mpeg-1 can be used on any computer (with no codec downloads- something paranoid people enjoy) & they look virtuatly the same (I just made a 40s clip in mpeg-1 & wmv9, look identical). mpeg-2 normally requires someone to pay for the codec use. Plus I don't use mp3 audio: that requires a codec. I use mpeg layer 1.

The major advantage to wma over mp3 is that it's copyprotectable, mp3 isn't. I've never heard a difference (and if I can't hear a difference then it's not important which technically sounds better)

WMV is smaller then mpeg-1 at the same settings however. That plays a factor, sometimes. :)