HD Playback Confusion (Kamen Rider A to Z)

[variablefire]

First to note, I usually don't have any problems playing back HD files. This is why this confused me so much.

So I got Kamen Rider A-Z, the Blu-ray version. I'm playing it in WMP like usual when it starts to pixelate during certain scenes with special effects, particularly at the scene 40min 30 seconds in. Frustrated, I use VLC, no problem with the file there. I recheck that I've got the latest CCCP, fddshow, xvid, check. I think about changing some settings but I've got very little idea on what to change. Oh, the MPC that comes with CCCP actually plays it worse than WMP, showing a gray screen most of the time (no audio problem though).

Then I tried changing the file extension from mp4 to mkv and it works fine.

I'm not complaining or anything, but if anyone could explain to me why this works and what I was doing wrong before it'd be appreciated. Thank you

[Phoenix512]

One, we don't suggest using WMP for playback of HD files. Two, your problem might be that you didn't download it properly which a CRC check would tell you that. Three, XVID isn't the codec used for HD but h264. And fourth, changing the extension shouldn't have an effect unless you muxed the mp4 into a mkv.

When you did change the extension, what player did you use?

[variablefire]

Already checked download, it's the proper file. Sorry didn't mention that. When I changed the extension I used WMP again and it played fine. I generally don't like using VLC unless I absolutely have to.

[XIII]

to playback h.264 you need haali media spliter (free) or coreavc (paid) codec,
Use a decent player with this such as MPC-HC

If you dont want to use MPC-HC or VLC, you can use GOM, this is generally a better player all round than VLC

WMP isnt built to handle h.264 natively and is a bit rubbish at rendering at times (as you have seen), it may work better with the newer versions and when combined with a proper h.264 decoder over anything bundled in by Microsoft.

As for changing the extension to mkv, this shouldnt have done anything, since they are two different containers with nothing in common

[variablefire]

Thanks for the help. I forgot trying MPC with the correct file extension. Actually, I think I know now why changing the extension made it playable in WMP, changing the extension caused WMP to launch and use Haali but with the correct file extension it tries to decode it by itself.