MP4 Plays Audio But Not Video
 

I usually watch vids via other players. I was looking thru the filetypes in Winamp and saw that MP4 was listed, so thought I would play an mp4 video with it. Well I am getting the audio fine. However, with other files (e.g. avi, mpg, ...) the video windows pops open automatically when play begins but in this case it does not. When I manually open the video window it is blank except for the Nullsoft logo. The view info :

Audio:
MPEG-4 AAC LC
160 kbps

Video:
H.264 High@3
936 kbps
720x400

more info : OS Win7 Home Prem. - Winamp V5.601

-thnx

There is no h.264 decoder in the free version of Winamp. You need to upgrade to Pro or redirect MP4 to Directshow in Winamp.

Thnx - How do i do this? I have the free version.

See http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=32719

The codec tweaking program I refer to there is at
http://www.codecguide.com/windows7_p...er_tweaker.htm

This link refers to a 11 year old single reply topic regarding command line functions and refers to a dead link.

Grrr my apologies, the URL was clipped, should have been:
http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?t=327192

Thnx - that thread says the following :

"Close Winamp and open the codec tweaking program I referred you to in the other thread. You want to have alternative codecs for H.264 MP4V VC1 and AAC available. You may not need them all for the specific files you want to play now, but I think you will eventually."

I d/l and opened that program but that thread does not say what to do next. Maybe that 'other thread' has instructions but there is no link to it.

thank you for staying with me on this.

In Windows 7 even if you have the required Directshow codecs installed they may not be accessable to Winamp because the OS directs everything to the Media Foundation codecs.

The tweaking program will, under the Preferred Decoders button. show what codecs are available for each format and give you the option to select one other than the Microsoft default.

On my system for example under H.264 it lists:
Microsoft
ffdshow
ffdshow(DXVA)

I have ffdshow(DXVA) selected. I think you will need overrides available for H.264 and AAC as a minimum for Winamp to play most MP4/MKV files.

thank you CJ_Man, you the man! The MP4 file plays great now! Thnx!!!

Now, you happen to mention 'MKV' files. Well, I have some of those and tried them with Winamp. This time the video is there and looks great, but the audio has a lot of noise/distortion, though the dialogue is somewhat comprehensible.

Audio :

ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 45mn 28s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 448 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 146 MiB (26%)
Language : English

any ideas on a fix? -thnx!

That's Dolby AC3. Does your codec pack have an AC3 filter included? If so then I don't know why the sound would be distorted.

i do not know. can i assume it does, seeing as how it plays fine in wmp, vlc and mpc? if i cannot assume so, how would i check for this?

If it's playing fine in WMP then you have the codec. While the video is playing go File - View File Info and post what is shown under Currently Used Filters.

DirectVobSub (forced auto-loading version)
fddshow Audio Decoder
fddshow Video Decoder

Hmmm. Somewhere in Start menu, probably under the name of the codec pack you are using, there should be an entry for ffdshow audio decoders. Under the Codecs section AC3 should be set to liba52 and DTS to libdts.

If that is the case already then I haven't a clue why the sound is screwed up sorry.

Yes, that is the case. Thank you for your help.