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kevs · May 9, 2005, 05:50 PM

I was at a friends house and he had a .wmv file playing real large on his widows machine. Nice and large and crisp. I think all I remember on my mac is small window. what the deal on that? thanks.

OptimusG4 · May 9, 2005, 06:01 PM

Because it's made by MS for MS?

f1000 · May 9, 2005, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by kevs

Why windows media looks so good on windows?

Maybe because it obscures the rest of the obnoxious GUI.

Chuckit · May 9, 2005, 06:05 PM

Is it the same file? Not all Windows Media files are the equal.

Art Vandelay · May 9, 2005, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

Is it the same file? Not all Windows Media files are the equal.

and not all Windows Media players are equal either

kevs · May 9, 2005, 09:36 PM

Well , I never see a movie come up large on my Mac, not one file.
NOt all window media players are same?? I don't have the same on all Macheads have?

adam1185 · May 9, 2005, 10:45 PM

Originally Posted by kevs

Well , I never see a movie come up large on my Mac, not one file.
NOt all window media players are same?? I don't have the same on all Macheads have?

Maybe he was just playing it in fullscreen, give that a try

ShotgunEd · May 10, 2005, 06:44 AM

Originally Posted by kevs

Well , I never see a movie come up large on my Mac, not one file.
NOt all window media players are same?? I don't have the same on all Macheads have?

Command-4 is the keystroke for full screen in WMP.

Not that you'd ever want to use that program.

Ever.

ghporter · May 10, 2005, 07:10 AM

There's also a huge variation in video cards available for PCs, so your friend may have something like a "Frankenstein 4GB with subspace processing" AGP card while your Mac has a "less ambitious" ATI or NVIDIA card with more reasonable RAM. And if you're using a VGA connection to your monitor while the other guy's using a DVI connection, that could show up as better quality video too.

I have to add to the "not all Windows Media Players are the same" item by saying that not all MP9 implementations are the same either. Sure, you get it from MS, but you can tweak that thing in all sorts of different directions, plus it makes some choices on its own that may or may not make a difference in playback quality. Make sure your player has been adjusted to take the most advantage of your hardware-and that your hardware is tweaked for its best video performance.

Further, saying "not all files are equal" is an understatement! I've watched a lot of WMVs that looked fine in a small window, but when viewed full screen, they looked like Dali had been taking acid and playing with my video card! Horrible! Be prepared for a huge variation in image quality from one file to another.

Chuckit · May 10, 2005, 08:33 AM

Originally Posted by kevs

Well , I never see a movie come up large on my Mac, not one file.

Then it sounds like you don't watch large Windows Media files. It's not like the Mac version will shrink a 1200 x 1000 movie down into a tiny box. Windows Media Player for Windows is unquestionably a better product, but it's not like the player has any control over the native resolution of a movie.

f1000 · May 10, 2005, 09:20 AM

I've noticed that the Mac version of the Windows Media Player has poor fullscreen playback. Maximum size looks noticeably better than fullscreen. Does fullscreen try to use (or not use) GPU anti-aliasing or something?

ghporter · May 10, 2005, 12:26 PM

The compression in WMVs is variable and can be set for the expected largest viewing size, so when you see a good playback in max size, but it looks like crap in full screen, the file was probably optimized for max size. You get artifacts, blur, and all sorts of other weirdness when you enlarge the playback beyond what it's set up for-and sometimes when you watch it in a smaller sized window, too!

turtle777 · May 10, 2005, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by kevs

I don't have the same on all Macheads have?

I agree fullheartedly !

On a related note: what are you trying to say ?

-t

Angus_D · May 10, 2005, 01:02 PM

While I'm not sure about the size thing, Windows Media Player for Mac is noticeably poorer at displaying content - it comes out fuzzier and blockier than on Windows. AFAICT this is simply because their implementation on the Mac side is fairly pants - they look much better under Flip4Mac.

porieux · 06:50 AM

...

f1000 · May 10, 2005, 09:40 PM

Originally Posted by ghporter

The compression in WMVs is variable and can be set for the expected largest viewing size, so when you see a good playback in max size, but it looks like crap in full screen, the file was probably optimized for max size. You get artifacts, blur, and all sorts of other weirdness when you enlarge the playback beyond what it's set up for-and sometimes when you watch it in a smaller sized window, too!

What I should have said was when I adjust the size to "Fit to Window" and then enlarge the window to the maximum possible, the video looks significantly better than if I had gone straight into full screen mode. There's a definite blockiness to full screen mode.

Maybe I'm seeing things.

kevs · May 11, 2005, 09:57 PM

Great comments. LOt of variables. I have a fairly new dual 1.8 G5.

Turtle:
I couldn't remember what I was trying to say, so I went back to reread my post and still don't know. Let me know if you figure it out.

Gee4orce · May 12, 2005, 03:11 AM

Just play a h.264 HD video on your Mac and be happy ! I recommend the Serenity trailer. Or Kingdom of Heaven - the detail is astonishing.

ghporter · May 12, 2005, 08:30 AM

Originally Posted by f1000

What I should have said was when I adjust the size to "Fit to Window" and then enlarge the window to the maximum possible, the video looks significantly better than if I had gone straight into full screen mode. There's a definite blockiness to full screen mode.

Maybe I'm seeing things.

You're probably seeing the Mac's video system doing its best when you size the window, but when you go to full screen that most likely uses a built in rendering algorithm that's not taking advantage of the video system's capablilities. (Note all the hedging-I use a PC to look at WMVs when I have to...)