IMAQ AVI Get Info reports incorrect resolution for DV VIdeo Decoder AVI files in XP

[hauer]

I just discovered a somewhat obscure solution to a strange issue I had with reading DV AVI files in LabVIEW (note that I only had this problem on XP Pro Tablet Edition SP2, not on desktop machines running XP Pro SP2).

Problem:
I have a 720 x 480 DV AVI file, but when I read this file into LabVIEW using the "Read AVI Example.vi" it is displayed with a resolution of 360 x 240, which is half the correct value.  I noticed that this is the resolution reported by the IMAQ AVI Get Info.vi.  Note that the Microsoft "DV Video Decoder" is used to play this video.  All other video players on my computer (Windows Media Player, Quicktime, Win DVD...) display the video in the proper full resolution (720 x 480), also using the DV Video Decoder.  To add to my confusion, I opened the video on a desktop XP computer with LabVIEW and Vision and it displayed the video at 720 x 480, so the issue was restricted to my laptop.

Solution:
I found this on the DivX forum at: http://forums.divx.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/441101651/m/759106591

In case the link dies, here are the instructions:

1. Install Microsoft DirectX 9 or later (I already had this installed).


2. Run an ancient version of Media Player (6.4) by selecting Run from the Start menu and entering:
   

   "C:\\Program Files\\Windows Media Player\\mplayer2.exe"

   
   then click OK to launch Media Player 6.4.


3. Drag and drop a DV AVI file onto Media Player 6.4 so that it begins to play. From the File menu choose Properties, then click the Advanced tab of the Properties window. Select the DV Video decoder and click the Properties button.


4. From the DV Video decoder properties window set full decoding resolution and enable Save as default, then click OK.

So far as I can tell, you can only access this property from within Media Player 6.4 and for some reason my tablet PC was set to play DV videos at half resolution (which only LabVIEW seemed to be affected by).  Anyhow, this actually worked for me and I wasn't able to find this anywhere on the NI forums so I thought it might help the next person who runs into this strange little DV-AVI quirk.

Michelle
LabVIEW 7.1.1 with Vision 7.1.1 on Windows XP Pro Tablet Edition (Toshiba M200)

[gregstoll]

Michelle -

Thanks for the information!  Hopefully this will help others who might have this issue.

Greg Stoll
IMAQ R&D
National Instruments