"PapaJohn" <papajohn@chartermi.net> wrote in message
news:eCwpzfSZIHA.5396@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Thanks... but you don't say why the codecs supplied with the operating
> system take a back seat to the 3rd party ones when they get installed.
> Seems that stronger operating system management of codecs would be a step
> toward resolving things, and would be an appropriate thing to expect from
> an operating system..

You're right, I did not discuss the filter merit system, which is available
for look up on MSDN. That's been around since I believe DirectShow first
existed back (previous to 1996?). Belligerant and bad filters are a *very*
recent phenonemon. The right people are aware of this issue. In the
interim, there's a variety of third party filter management systems
available.

The easiest correct solution is probably not to install random bad software
on a machine. ;-)

This area sucks. The right people are aware of it. It sucks because you
have bad filters being installed by incompetent installers. I was going to
make a comment about the Windows codec management system, but then I
realized that wasn't fair because there really hasn't been a good
(Microsoft) one ever. The right people are aware of this. Don't install
random codecs.

> And what WMP shows for the video codec isn't an idle question... I'd much
> prefer having WMP tell me what it's using than to have to check the file
> with GSpot or another utility and guess what WMP is using. And I'm using
> the pointer in WMP to tell me what Movie Maker is using, as the properties
> of the files in MM don't include the codec used.

IIRC, it's abstracted out - there's no "DirectShow::WhatCodecAmIUsing();"
method that I'm aware of. Patrick looked into this a while ago, I'll
mention it to him next time we have lunch together.

--
Speaking for myself only.
See http://zachd.com/pss/pss.html for some helpful WMP info.
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.