Some more thoughts on Windows 7 Codecs...

OK, so if I haven't talked about Windows 7 codecs enough already....

I have been reading around and it seems more and more people are running into problems with VC-1 playback in WMP. VC-1 mkvs encounter stuttering since hardware acceleration is not being utilized for VC-1, and VC-1 ts/m2ts only give you audio and no video. It really is a shame that for all the steps Microsoft took to make W7 natively support a larger number of formats there is still a gaping hole with VC-1. I have been fortunate enough to get a workaround I document working flawlessly for me, but I know others have not been as successful. Here are the few ideas I can think of to get around the VC-1 issues.

• Try the Codec workaround I documented here


• Use a 3rd party player such as MPC HC (if you use Media Browser or MyMovies you can specify a 3rd party player to be used for certain video files)


• Encode any VC-1 movie to AVC (using Ripbot264). You can adjust the settings to maintain as much of the original quality if that is a concern (I think setting CQ to 18 will get you close).


• Use a codec pack like Sharks. Shark has added a tab to his Settings Application called "SWAP" which has options to Use FFDShow for VC1 and also to disable WMF. Since I already have my systems squared away I am not going to tinker around and try another codec solution, so I cannot confirm that Sharks solution would work. If I did install a codec pack on my PC/HTPC though Sharks codec pack would be my only choice..

Media Browser 2.1.3 Review

One of my favorites programs to use with my HTPC is Media Browser. A few weeks ago the developers released the next version codenamed Phoenix. I have been using the new version for the past few weeks and so far I am very happy with it. Setting up Virtual Folders is very easy and helps me manage my media collection in a way that makes sense to myself and my wife. The only function so far that has been flaky has been the Apple Trailers plugin. I don't think this is as much a problem of Media Browser as it is Apple (many other programs that use an Apple plugin are experiencing problems as well).

Currently all versions of Media Browser are free, but that is expected to change soon (possibly as early as the next release in December). I have zero details about what the pay structure will be, but here are the questions I am looking to have answered:

1. Will it be a one time fee or recurring (one time fee much preferred)?
2. Cost (obviously)
3. Will there be a trial period?
4. Will there be just one version or a lite (free) and advanced (paid) version, similar to MyMovies?
5. What happens to the people using the current free version?
6. Will the cost cover multiple household PCs (I think I have heard yes)?

You can check out my entire review of Media Browser Phoenix here. See below for a couple of screenshots .

Windows 7 Codecs - Some Thoughts

One of the big benefits of W7 over Vista is that more formats are natively supported which would hopefully reduce/remove the need for installing additional codecs. In about 90% of the cases this is probably true, but unfortunately as I found out there were still some gaping holes (mkv playback still requires installing Haali and VC-1 ts/m2ts was not supported). Fortunately I came across Renethx's guide over an AVSForum on how to get past this (which I documented). For whatever reason though some people have had issues getting this to work, and I have noticed that this setup appears to be very temperamental. I was able to successfully set up 3 x32 W7 machines and 1 x64 W7 machine, and all was going well. About a week ago I tried playing one of my VC-1 ts files on my desktop PC and only got audio, no video. Somehow my codec setup had gotten screwed up. Even though Graphstudio showed that MPC Video Dec was assigned to VC-1, the fact that I was getting zero audio was a clear indication that WMP was using the default Windows filter. I tried to think back to anything I may have changed on my system and remembered that I had just installed QT Alternative to get native Quicktime support in WMP. I wasn't positive if this caused the problem (I uninstalled QT Alternative and still no luck) but fortunately I had a backup of my system right before I uninstalled QT Alt. I restored this backup and just like that my codec setup was working again.

So the moral of the story, if it ain't broke don't fix it. My setup had been working flawlessly so there was no reason for me to try and mess around with it. More importantly, whenever you start messing around with codecs/filters, make sure you have an image of your system that you can restore if something doesn't go right. Fortunately my WHS backs up my system nightly so I was covered.

Myka 250 Review

A few weeks ago I received the Myka 250 to review. After two weeks of use I felt I had used it enough to out my review together. Overall I was very happy with the device. The case fan was very quiet and the unit itself ran cool. I had no problems playing any of the video content (from avis to Blu Ray ts/mkv) over smb or http, and not once did I have the unit lock up on me. The "My Myka" feature which allows for content to be delivered/manage specific to the unit is a very interesting feature and one that does offer a lot of promise. Probably the biggest negatives would be the bright green leds in the front of the case and lack of bitstreaming (I can't honestly say I can tell the difference between DTS-MA and DTS core but my A/V setup is set to take advantage of this so might as well use it).

You can see my full review here:

http://www.mediasmartserver.net/2009/10/28/review-myka-250/

MyMovies 3 Release To General Public Tomorrow (Oct 22)

MyMovies 3, the popular movie collection management and playback tool for WMC, is set to be released to the public tomorrow (Oct 22). I have been testing the pre release for the past few weeks and a few days ago got a chance to test out the official release. Overall I think it is a huge improvement over MM2, a much cleaner UI with more options and some subtle by nice features. You can read my full writeup here and see a few screenshots below.

Media Browser 2.1.3 Released

Jon over at theHTPC.net has just reported that the next release of Media Browser (dubbed Phoenix) is now out for general consumption. My guess this is the last release before we move to the paid model. I have been using one of the svn builds and am very excited to see this released. Stay tuned for my writeup in the coming days

CHANGES:

Added: Parental Controls Facility

• Can control media based on metadata rating, or conversely block everything
• PINEntry, added support to match diamond theme when user has diamond theme enabled.
• Option to unlock entire library on first PIN entry this is consistent with most other PC systems but can be turned off.

Added: Support for music plugin.
Added: Retrieval of runtime data from mediainfo.dll if no Metadata present.
Added: Ability to disable weather on EHS, by entering a blank weather location.
Added: Mouse friendly tweaks to tame mouse enter/exit from scrolling data all over the place.
Added: Descriptions for options in Config page.
Added: Tiered Backdrop support (not extender friendly).
Added: option AlwaysShowDetails (Default true) will always show the details page for all content (Episodes or Movies)
Changed: Priority of aspect ratio to take metadata if there over mediainfo.
Updated: Runtime data now stored in minutes to mitigate re-calculations.
Updated: The default poster size to rectangle instead of square (220x330).
Updated: EHS, Recently Added now scrolls back to page 1 when transitioning between folders.
Updated: Information control to support recurring messages for 'X' cycles.
Updated: Cleanup for media delete mechanism (only movies and episodes support deletion at this time).
Updated: Seasons and Episodes inherit parental rating from their Series.
Updated: Diamond Theme v0.2 Revamp

• Diamond supports Episode View combined with 'advanced commands' + 'enable delete' allows for episode deletion.
• Diamond - new mini-mode for movies and episodes details page.
• Changed Title to automatically scroll across screen if text is longer than display area.
• Diamond added information bar to all views.
• Due to popular demand changed diamond bottom fade from white to black.
• Diamond compatible with custom fonts.
• Coverflow: Radically improved spacing which now allows for large covers without spacing issues (within reason).
• Movie/Episode Details, Command Buttons no longer overlap poster preview.
• Modified media info icons.
• Diamond details view added scrollable overview.
• Fixed date display for titles with no dates.

Removed: Classic Theme taken out of Media Browser it is no longer supported.

BUG FIXES

Fixed: Standard filters so they now display images correctly (visible in genres).
Fixed: Play All,queue and random.
Fixed: Remember index-by state.
Fixed: Auto enter single directory option.
Fixed: MediaInfoProvider Video Codec
Fixed: Issue where AAnThe were not being ignored during sorting.
Fixed: Vanilla season count mistakenly defaults to 0
Fixed: Crash that would occur in folder validation when a folder has been moved
Fixed: Patched autoscroller code from sending negative sizes.
Fixed: Episode sorting now correctly sorts items.
Fixed: Adjusted positioning of elements on config page
Fixed: Incorrect Breadcrumbs for actor(s)/genre(s)/director(s).
Fixed: Data duplication of actors for individual episodes.

You may download Phoenix here: http://code.google.com/p/videobrowser/downloads/list

Check out our new community site here: http://community.mediabrowser.tv/topics ... =published

List of the items resolved in phoenix: http://community.mediabrowser.tv/topics ... stone_id=1

Netflix/InternetTV Integrated Into 7MC - Adobe Flash Included

Microsoft snuck in a nice little surprise this morning when I was browsing through Windows Media Center, the addition of Netflix and InternetTV to Windows 7. Also, Adobe Flash Player gets installed with InternetTV which does open up some interesting possibilities down the road...

You can see a few more screenshots and a brief writeup here.