Halfmad Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 Today 3 teachers have all grabbed me with the same problem - they can't play DVDs on their IWBs (what a waste.) Anyway as it turns out it's generally DVDs that use the Inter Actual Player, which whinges about resolution/colour then stops. Windows media player simply won't load the film, no idea why as I have put on a couple of codec packs in the hope of finding one that it'll like. As with Inter actual player it whinges about a DVD decoder and talks about changing my hardware acceleration! I can get DVDs to play through VLC player without any problems but it's hardly the best interface for a teacher to use - it's not very intuitive, but it is free! Anyone have any suggestions for what to use? I've always disliked powerDVD/WinDVD etc and as we'd have to buy these I'm guessing the teachers wouldn't be too happy with them either. Buying separate DVD players is not an option.
Halfmad Posted June 20, 2007 Author Posted June 20, 2007 tried it, no idea why but won't play them either. Just got the latest version of VLC which I'll probably just tell them to use. works a treat, just wish it had a nicer interface edit: just downloaded the WMP11 skin for VLC which is pretty nice!
contink Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 tried it, no idea why but won't play them either. Just got the latest version of VLC which I'll probably just tell them to use. works a treat, just wish it had a nicer interface edit: just downloaded the WMP11 skin for VLC which is pretty nice! I'd check that you're using Media Player Classic and not just skim reading that suggestion from Chris. http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/
MkII Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 you have to fiddle with overlays to get WMP to show on screen. WMP is very poor at decoding tho' - powerDVD/WinDVD are a lot smoother.
Anti Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 For personal use, I install the k-lite codec pack, and have never had any problems: http://www.codecguide.com/download_kl.htm I don't know how it would serve a school network / laptops.
mrtechsystems Posted June 20, 2007 Posted June 20, 2007 I had this problem towards the last week of term I use PowerDVD or Windows Media Player making sure I used the IWB as the primary default screen in the Control Panel > Display > Advanced Tab Good to be back posting :-)
tarquel Posted June 21, 2007 Posted June 21, 2007 Media Player Classic here also [where PowerDVD hasnt come with the computer / DVD drive]. Plays nearly everything thrown at it. Nath.
starscream Posted June 21, 2007 Posted June 21, 2007 I love VLC, it's small and no nonesense, plays everything. You just have to tell people to open the disc rather than let it play auto. It doesn't install codecs either I think, self contained.
DSapseid Posted June 22, 2007 Posted June 22, 2007 Power DVD here on all the IWB machines and laptops. A batch file installs it on the first logon after a rebuild.
Halfmad Posted June 24, 2007 Author Posted June 24, 2007 tried it, no idea why but won't play them either. Just got the latest version of VLC which I'll probably just tell them to use. works a treat, just wish it had a nicer interface edit: just downloaded the WMP11 skin for VLC which is pretty nice! I'd check that you're using Media Player Classic and not just skim reading that suggestion from Chris. http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/ I know what Media player classic is mate and no it still doesn't work
Guest richard Posted June 24, 2007 Posted June 24, 2007 tried it, no idea why but won't play them either. Just got the latest version of VLC which I'll probably just tell them to use. works a treat, just wish it had a nicer interface edit: just downloaded the WMP11 skin for VLC which is pretty nice! I'd check that you're using Media Player Classic and not just skim reading that suggestion from Chris. http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/ I know what Media player classic is mate and no it still doesn't work Its a skin that you can apply to VLC to make it look better.
roland Posted June 24, 2007 Posted June 24, 2007 I have had the most success with PowerDVD, seem to put in all the codecs that I need. I got greedy and installed VistaCodecs (as an MSI) and it very kindly installed a QuickTime equivalent with seemed to break many (read ALL) of the educations games which use quicktime. Still have not got to the bottom of it all, so getting ready to deploy new image and reading this post, to see what others are using. - tx Roly
Geoff Posted June 24, 2007 Posted June 24, 2007 All our machines are preloaded with the free copy of powerDVD shipped with all the cdroms, and so dont actually cost us anything. Be careful there. Sometimes it's home/personal use only.
ranj Posted June 29, 2007 Posted June 29, 2007 VLC is the way, bit more unorthordox to use, but its free and hey its play most format. You cannot go wrong with VLC.
timbo343 Posted June 29, 2007 Posted June 29, 2007 VLC is the way, bit more unorthordox to use, but its free and hey its play most format. You cannot go wrong with VLC. We use powerDVD around some parts of the school but am going to start rolling out VLC, a mate at uni had it on his laptop and to be honest, you cant go wrong with it.
Guest richard Posted June 30, 2007 Posted June 30, 2007 I have just installed VLC on my Mac Mini as it is the only thing that I can find that will play .wmv files on it
logonui Posted July 2, 2007 Posted July 2, 2007 Power DVD does exactly what it needs to do and we get a license with most laptops we buy anyway
Homer Posted August 13, 2009 Posted August 13, 2009 my question is has anybody had issues with sound? using smartboard usb speakers? we use the klite codec pack here, but when a teacher plays back a dvd using MPC the background audio/music is loud, while dialogue is very quiet. we have played around with lots of settings but cannot fix it, and the only way is to use vlc. logical option, use vlc, but my manager doesn't like vlc so we can't use it. does anybody have any ideas?! cheers
mac_shinobi Posted August 13, 2009 Posted August 13, 2009 what about the latest revision which is called cinema Media Player Classic – Home Cinema - Video Player
mac_shinobi Posted August 13, 2009 Posted August 13, 2009 I have just installed VLC on my Mac Mini as it is the only thing that I can find that will play .wmv files on it flip 4 mac Telestream Flip4Mac WMV - Overview
Arthur Posted August 13, 2009 Posted August 13, 2009 we use the klite codec pack here, but when a teacher plays back a dvd using MPC the background audio/music is loud, while dialogue is very quiet. we have played around with lots of settings but cannot fix it, and the only way is to use vlc. IME, codec packs are never a good idea as they almost always cause playback problems (like the one you are describing) and generally mess up DirectShow-based media players like Media Player Classic and Windows Media Player. A much better option would be to install just the codecs you need e.g. ffdshow & Haali Media Splitter or use a media player with codecs built in, such as Media Player Classic - Home Cinema, VLC or KMPlayer. The K-Lite codec pack for example contains multiple MPEG-4 ASP codecs (Xvid, DivX), multiple MPEG-2 codecs (Gabest's and Cyberlink's - the latter of which would be illegal to use if you don't already have a license for PowerDVD) and so on. http://www.howtogeek.com/wiki/Why_Codec_Packs_Are_Bad http://forum.inmatrix.com/index.php?showtopic=107
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now