Old Video .MOV files with JPEG or MJPEG: needs WMP codec

Hi,

I got video files from a 10-year old (Olympus) camera transferred from my XP to my Win7 (with WMP12) 64-bit machine. The old video files don't seem to play in the WMP12 (Win7), they do play on the XP computer without any problem.

With MediaInfo I noticed the video file is a JPEG (or should I say MJPEG) compressed .MOV file. The info from MediaInfo follows here after.

On the website of the manufacturer of the camera (Olympus) I couldn't find any JPEG or MJPEG video codec for downloading. I was wondering if somebody could tell me what the 'best' and FREE codec(s) are for WMP12 playing (M)JPEG .MOV video files? Help would be much appreciated.

Alternatively, I could consider installing a Codec Pack like: Media Player, Windows 7, Cole2k Media, K-Lite Mega or any other large codec pack. However, I'd like to wait with installing those codec pack: I don't know what they'll do to the existing WMP codecs, and what kind of 'surprises' they may hold for later on.

Off course, if one of those codec packs would allow for the installation of a SINGLE codec (MJPEG for instance), then I could consider it. If anyone has knowledge of any codec pack that allows the installation of a single codec, then please let me know.

May thanks in advance,
Regards, Johan

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General

Complete name : E:\PB250024.MOV
Format : QuickTime
Format/Info : Original Apple specifications
File size : 1.09 MiB
Duration : 3s 267ms
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 2 811 Kbps
Movie name/More : OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Encoded date : UTC 2009-11-25 16:53:09
Tagged date : UTC 2009-11-25 16:53:09
Writing library : Olympus
Origin : Digital Camera

Video
ID : 1
Format : JPEG
Codec ID : jpeg
Duration : 3s 267ms
Bit rate mode : Variable
Bit rate : 2 705 Kbps
Width : 320 pixels
Height : 240 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 4:3
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 15.000 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:2
Bit depth : 8 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 2.348
Stream size : 1.05 MiB (96%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2009-11-25 16:53:09
Tagged date : UTC 2009-11-25 16:53:09

Audio
ID : 2
Format : PCM
Format settings, Endianness : Little
Format settings, Sign : Unsigned
Codec ID : raw
Duration : 3s 267ms
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 64.0 Kbps
Channel(s) : 1 channel
Sampling rate : 8 000 Hz
Bit depth : 8 bits
Stream size : 25.5 KiB (2%)
Language : English
Encoded date : UTC 2009-11-25 16:53:09
Tagged date : UTC 2009-11-25 16:53:09

Hi there
try and play these with VLC - download (free) from Videolan --this player will play almost every known video / audio codec.

VideoLAN - VLC: Official site - Free multimedia solutions for all OS!
Cheers
jimbo

Actually, I was hoping to avoid installing any other Media Player, just to avoid the clutter/overhead of apps and files on the computer, and restrict myself to a consistent environment of just one player: WMP and its library.
I'll still wait a bit and see if can find any (M)JPEG .MOV codec for WMP12.

I have to say it is annoying that Microsoft is not providing a list of codecs, or links to codecs, on their website. (Old) Video files with (M)JPEG compressing are widespread as those cheap camera's with video capabilities were popular up until a few years ago.

CU later, j

So I'm considering converting my old JPEG .MOV video files to another file format, and maybe to another (video and audio) compression algorithm (codec) too, if the latter is possible with freely available converters. Hence that I have a few questions.

1) What is the most widely (internationally) accepted, most widely compatible with any video player, and most 'open' video file format? Is that .MP4, or could the .MOV format --although proprietary, I believe-- be a better pick, or is there still another video file format out there which could be more future-proof/robust?

2) About the video compression, is H.264 the most widely used/accepted compression, or is there already another compression algorithm showing signs of being better future-proof?

3) The same question as previous but this time for the audio compression; which is the most standardized and the best audio compression with the least potential for making trouble in a few years time from now (by having become obsolete)?

4) Wat is the 'best' converter according to your experience/opinion. The notion of 'best' is very much susceptible for interpretation and I leave it up to you to fill in its definition. One of the meanings of 'best' could be, high quality output files which any player can play, high quality video image with minimum on image noise, high quality audio, ...

thanks
j