Free DVD Decoder? | The Coffeehouse

jsampsonPC
SampsonBlog.com SampsonVideos.com

I bought my laptop forever ago, and it has a DVD Burner/Reader. Unfortunately though, I cannot actually PLAY DVD's due to not having a decoder...without having to go out and buy one, is there a free solution on the web?

ZippyV
Fired Up

mplayer classic. You can find it on www.sourceforge.net

CannotResolveSymbol
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ZippyV wrote:
mplayer classic. You can find it on www.sourceforge.net

Will it play DVDs without a decoder already installed?

Pace
In The Mix...

VLC!

I havent found a file it wouldnt play yet Tongue Out

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

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Pace wrote:
VLC!

I havent found a file it wouldnt play yet

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Augh... that's what I meant.

(where'd VNC come from... must be in a remote access mood or something.)

CannotResolveSymbol
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Only one is ~~VNC~~ VLC. It's really slow, though, so I don't know if it will work for you.

ZippyV
Fired Up

CannotResolveSymbol wrote:

ZippyV wrote: mplayer classic. You can find it on www.sourceforge.net

Will it play DVDs without a decoder already installed?

Yup

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

ZippyV wrote:

CannotResolveSymbol wrote:

ZippyV wrote: mplayer classic. You can find it on www.sourceforge.net

Will it play DVDs without a decoder already installed?

Yup

With MPEG2 decoders, things get a little strange. My GPU already has hardware MPEG2 decoding, so why do I need to purchase a software decoder? How exactly does this work?

And why doesn't Windows XP include a DVD decoder as it ships? Does Windows Vista even?

BTW, ~~VCL~~ VLC's DVD decoder isn't legal in the USA as they didn't pay the license fees the DVD Forum

Pace
In The Mix...

true... but it still plays every file that you throw at it Wink

gets a thumbs up from me Cool

jsampsonPC
SampsonBlog.com SampsonVideos.com

Hells yah! VideoLAN pulled through . . . works like a charm.
Thanks guys!

maritza

PLEASE HELP I DONT NOW HOW TO INSTALL THE DECODER ..........................................................................

AndyC

W3bbo wrote:

And why doesn't Windows XP include a DVD decoder as it ships? Does Windows Vista even?

XP doesn't because Microsoft didn't want to license a codec (DVD drives weren't common when XP launched, so it was an unnecessary burden to pass on to consumers).

Vista Ultimate does and so does Home Premium I think.

Massif
aim stupidly high, expect to fail often.

Heck you can create DVDs in Vista, watching them is a mere trifle.

corona_coder
Only Proprietary software vendors deal in absolutes.

Try watching a DVD from the 1990's on Windows Vista. bet the pictures all fuzzy.

Massif
aim stupidly high, expect to fail often.

corona_coder wrote:
Try watching a DVD from the 1990's on Windows Vista. bet the pictures all fuzzy.

Excuse me while I laugh at you.

Minh
WOOH! WOOH!

W3bbo wrote:

With MPEG2 decoders, things get a little strange. My GPU already has hardware MPEG2 decoding, so why do I need to purchase a software decoder? How exactly does this work?

I believe commercial DVDs are MPEG2s, but they are encoded w/ a scheme called CSS. And CSS is licensed to hardware manufacterers & software makers (it's why WinXP didn't come w/ one & you have to buy for $20).

W3bbo wrote:

And why doesn't Windows XP include a DVD decoder as it ships? Does Windows Vista even?

I know Vista Ultimate plays DVDs out-of-the-box with Media Center so, yeah, I guess they ponied up.

Red5
Systems Manager Curmudgen

corona_coder wrote:
Try watching a DVD from the 1990's on Windows Vista. bet the pictures all fuzzy.

Welcome back Mr. Helper.

CannotResolveSymbol
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corona_coder wrote:
Try watching a DVD from the 1990's on Windows Vista. bet the pictures all fuzzy.

Try watching a DVD from the 1990's on Linux. Bet it doesn't work at all without violating the DMCA and stealing Macrovision's intellectual property (CSS).

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

CannotResolveSymbol wrote:

corona_coder wrote:Try watching a DVD from the 1990's on Windows Vista. bet the pictures all fuzzy.

Try watching a DVD from the 1990's on Linux. Bet it doesn't work at all without violating the DMCA and stealing Macrovision's intellectual property (CSS).

It isn't stealing in any way, shape, or form if it was reverse-engineered (which it was).

And why should we care about one of the most anti-consumer corporations out there? Macrovision is like.... the MAFIAA's bum-chum.

Shaunta

which site did u find it on?

GoddersUK
I CAN has cheezburger and you CAN'T has stop me!

W3bbo wrote:
It isn't stealing in any way, shape, or form if it was reverse-engineered (which it was).

Which usualy breaches the liscence agreement of the original software...

So that doesn't make it any more legal.

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

GoddersUK wrote:
Which usualy breaches the liscence agreement of the original software...

So that doesn't make it any more legal.

Reverse Engineering is a legally protected right, a license agreement cannot legally stipulate that you can't reverse engineer something.[1]

Even so, Copyright infringement is a civil offense, and not a criminal offense (as theft/stealing is), according to your interpretation of the law, this can be considered "less less-legal than stealing".

[1]Indeed, even Microsoft's taken notice. Compare a Microsoft EULA from the early 90s with one from today, the wording around the words "reverse engineering" is different and more permissive:

Microsoft Legal Dept. wrote:

4. LIMITATIONS ON REVERSE ENGINEERING,
DECOMPILATION, AND DISASSEMBLY. You may
not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the
Software, except and only to the extent that such activity
is expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding
this limitation.

...the thing is, Reverse Engineering is explicitly permitted in practically every nation on earth. This EULA passage is there just to scare people into submission.

And personally, I don't think Microsoft cares much for RE, Visual Studio comes with a Disassembler, and Reflector opens up Microsoft's assemblies by default anyway.

cheong

W3bbo wrote:

...the thing is, Reverse Engineering is explicitly permitted in practically every nation on earth. This EULA passage is there just to scare people into submission.

With the exception to RE copy-protection mechanisms, I think. Tongue Out

rukind

XP Codec Pack 2.3.7

Includes Media Player Classic

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Ashi217

In reply to W3bbo

#Nov 9th, 2006 @ 7:22 AM

Nothing free is legal- expecially off the internet. Otherwise Windows would just let you download the decoder