How to play KSPUS multimedia files

Disclaimer

Author of this document fully realize that there is more then one way of doing "the right thing". To avoid unnecessary arguments and discussions I state strongly - in this document I only present things that work at least sometimes. Over the time this document will be expanded with the information we gather together. If you want to ask questions, please use this forum from guestbook on KSP US web site.

Last edited - 02/06/2010

Supported environments

Solutions presented here were only tested under Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP2, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2003 SP2 (both 32 bits and 64 bits). If you do not have those - do not bother to read any further. If you do not know what you have - run WinVer from the command line and read the results. If you do not know what command line is - do not read any further until you do.

Where to get software

All required software is free. It is checked for viruses regularly and you can use links below to safely download it. In some cases in order to get extended functionality (for example to watch real DVDs or Windows Media Files) you may need to buy extra components. I will explain it in more details later, but usually it happens not because suggested software costs something, but because DVD Forum require licensing fees per player and when you where buying your computer fees were not included. By the way the same is true for MP3.

Prepare your computer

Ideally you should start with clean system (just installed one is fine). All of software suggested here is based on Microsoft Windows DirectX or more precisely on its DirectShow part. Properly used it can do anything and everything but it is extremely complex and convoluted environment. Parts of it are not documented clearly and even documented ones are not that easy to understand. This can not be overstated - it is very easy to screw-up your multimedia environment. It is nearly impossible (short of full reinstallation) to put it in back order. Keep your computer clean - do not use "universal" codec packs (K-Lite Mega Codec Pack, Nimo Codec Pack, All in 1 to name a few). Those packs throw multiple components from multiple authors together into single installation package, often without proper knowledge of ingredients. "Universal" packs are almost never tested for compatibility (indeed it will be very difficult to test something which has so much different pieces put together). If you previously installed something like that - remove it.

Make sure that you have latest drivers for your video and audio hardware. It also helps to know that your hardware is working. Due to huge variety of hardware combinations I can not give you universal advice here, but you can always ask for additional information.

Latest Microsoft Windows Media Player should be present and being able to run on your computer - in our case it will be Microsoft Windows Media Player 10 (or 11 - depends on your OS version).

You should already have at least DirectX 9.0c (DirectX 10 is even better and DirectX 11 is better still), but to check this you can always run DxDiag from the command line. If you have DirectX 9 - make sure that it is updated! You need at least DirectX End-User Runtime version 9.27.1734 (9/8/2009).

Installation procedure

Install ffdshow for 32 bits or 64 bits. Most of default installation settings are pretty good - you can use "FFDShow" for all supported formats (that includes video DivX, XVid, H264 and for all audio formats). Depending on the operating system and the state of your computer this may or may not require reboot.

Install Media Player Classic HomeCinema for 32 bits or 64 bits.

This is it - by now you should be able to view and hear anything from KSPUS web site and much more. If something does not work - ask questions on the forum and I will incorporate more information into this document eventually making it better.

Movie with FFDShow is not as good as with DivX(XVid)

Both DivX and XVid decoders have some amount of picture post processing enabled by default. FFDShow does not. In order to enable post processing run "FFDSShow Video Decoder Config" from the CCCP and enable Postprocessing filter. I am currently using "Automatic quality control" with processing method set to "mplayer" with "Accurate deblocking" and "Luminance" selected. In order to emulate "Film Effect" you should enable "Noise" filter. I am using "mplayer noise" with "pattern" selected. Play with settings (use "only right half" check box on top of the page - it makes changes apparent) and let me know what you like - I will post it here.

I do not want to use FFDShow to watch my movies

You may prefer to use "proper" decoding filters at least for DivX and XVid (sometimes it gives you better results) - just install them if you want. Here is latest stable 32 bits XVid and here is latest stable 64 bits XVid if you need it. When installing avoid selecting extra components. Do not install any players, toolbars, calculators and other junk. You only need decoding DirectX filters. After installation use "Settings" program from CCCP to make sure that FFDShow filters does not handle those types. Alternatively you could run "FFDShow Video Decoder Config" - select "Codecs" page and make sure that appropriate format is disabled.

How to use AC3/DTS hardware

If you have external audio hardware, capable of AC3 and/or DTS decoding (home theater receiver is a good example) and your audio card has SPDIF output and you properly connected them and you would like to make use of all your money spent - go to "FFDShow Audio Decoder Config", select "Codecs" page and choose SPDIF for AC3 and DTS formats. You may need to enable "Digital output" in your soundcard driver. Note, that if you are using AC3 filter configuration will be slightly different. There is "SPDIF" tab in its configuration and you want to make sure that formats your external hardware supports are passed through.

Picture quality on my "normal" TV is much worse then on my computer

Unfortunately "conventional" TV unit is not a computer monitor. I am not talking about new flat screen panels, LCD screens or HD units - they are essentially computers in their own rights and the story is completely different here. However you can improve picture quality for old technology TV, but this is rather difficult and time consuming process. First of all - most of video cards with TV-Out capabilities manufactured in the last 2-3 years are much more capable then your TV unit. Buying expensive video card would not give you anything - simple ATI Rageon 9600 with 128MB sold for less then $60 on the street is more then capable of supporting even HD TV with excellent quality. First thing you should do - maximize quality of your PC-to-TV connection. Use the best connection available: S-Video is better then Composite (2-RCA) connection and Component (3-RCA) connection is much better then S-Video. Do not save money buying chip video cables! If you have DVI capable ATI video card and your TV unit has component input you may be able to use smart device sold by ATI which converts DVI output into Component TV output - this is by far the best and most flexible option. Always make sure that you are using latest video driver (this may backfire - sometimes card manufacturers release strangely optimized drivers, so after you done with your system - try to stick with driver you have for as long as you can). In Zoom Player's "Advanced Options->Filter Control->Standard Media Playback" select the most advanced Video Renderer your computer will support. Go to "Advanced Options->Color Control" and select "Use Color Interface". Make sure that everything works. Now the most difficult part. You have to select settings in your video driver (resolution, size, sync, e.t.c.) which will give you maximum video quality. There are some third party programs which may assist you. I am using PowerStrip. Keep in mind that regular TV unit is not even capable of showing full VGA 640 by 480 resolution! TV chip in your video card will always do down conversion and based on chip and driver parameters picture quality may change dramatically. There is a huge space for experimentation here. Zoom Player has built-in patterns for optimizing you TV-Out (Shift+P). Make sure that you are using player in in "Full Screen" mode. Remember, that on TV size of the picture depends on it's brightness - white picture is always bigger then black one. To compensate for this you should allow some overscan. After your video driver parameters are set you can reduce overscan by using Zoom Player "Video Presets" - simply by reducing your video area. Play with "Color Controls". Usually TV optimization will require many experiments and may take several attempts to get it right. It is recommended to keep paper log of what you do - in case you want to go back or reproduce your settings later. If you need more information (especially about terms) - read this article. Its largely accurate, but a bit outdated.

My new LCD (Plasma) TV has HDMI input, but my computer only has DVI output

Buy yourself DVI-to-HDMI cable. Both DVI and HDMI are using the same protocol but different connectors. I am not sure how content protection will affect this statement in the future, but for now it is true.

I connected my new LCD (Plasma) TV to computer but there is no signal or picture is unacceptably distorted.

Remember that your computer and your TV have different "standard" resolutions and aspects ratios. Your computer monitor is most likely 4/3 and your new TV is almost certainly 16/9. When TV does not support output resolution it may decide to scale it somehow or it may report unsupported resolution - particular details depend on your TV model. You have to make sure that computer output has 16/9 aspect ratio and you must select resolution properly supported by your TV. For example, your TV fully supports 720p - 720 lines of vertical resolution. Using 16/9 aspect ratio we see that horizontal resolution should be 1280 - 1280x720. Use your computer's driver to set highest possible resolution with 16/9 aspect ratio supported by your TV. How to do that - depends on the video card you are using and it's driver. Always make sure that you have latest driver version - both NVidia and ATI directly support HDTV modes in latest drivers.

I have both TV and monitor connected to my computer and I now can not make video play where I want it.

By disconnecting your computer monitor and leaving your TV connected you can always make sure that video plays on TV screen. In you need more then that - take a look at this FAQ - it discusses all aspects of multi monitor usage.