FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

What's new in version 2.58?
  • Support of AVI multiple audio streams. Select the stream with the -UAx parameter.
  • Switch between stereo, left channel and right channel during playback using the "L" key.
  • Added support for these video codecs:
       WMV1 Windows Media Video V7
       WMV2 Windows Media Video V8
       WMV3 VC-1 Main Profile
       WVC1 VC-1 Advanced Profile
       KMVC Karl Morton's Video Codec
       TSCC TechSmith Camtasia Screen Capture-Codec
       ZMBV DosBox Capture Codec

    QuickView supports hardware scaling and color space conversion with various graphics chips to increase quality and performance. Which ones exactly?
    For a complete list look here.

    I don't have enough money to register.
    Supporting QuickView Pro by paying a small fee is the only way to keep the shareware project alive. If you can't afford the usual fee then send what you can or what it's worth for you. You can pay any sum through PayPal, send any sum as cash or remit any sum. There is no reason to send nothing instead. Do not beg for free registrations. Detailed support can only be given to registered users. Register QuickView Pro now.
    Another possibility to support the work is to use this link to Amazon to buy books, DVDs, music CDs and software there.

    What are the minimum requirements for DivX playback?
    This question cannot be answered generally. A Pentium II-300 might already give satisfying results if the other hardware components (especially graphics card) are fast enough. If you can live with frame drops and/or no fullscreen, grayscale, lower sound quality you can already try the DivX video playback on a Pentium 166.

    I can't hear sound with some DivX videos.
    This might be because the sound is encoded with an audio codec that is currently unsupported. Check what audio codec the video uses by using File Info (F3). If you either get the message "unsupported" or "unknown" then this sound codec is currently unsupported. Also note that incompletely downloaded videos (QuickView Pro is used to preview the videos) are played without sound in some cases. By the way, Windows Media Player refuses to play these videos at all.

    I'm getting an "Unsupported Video Codec" message. Can support for the codec be added to QuickView?
    All AVI and MOV codecs where either the specs are available or which could be licensed are supported. Only if you are getting the "contact the author" message please let me know. Maybe a support for this codec is possible.

    What about the support of other sound codecs like AC3 or Voxware MetaSound?
    AC3 cannot be supported because of copyright and patent reasons.
    Voxware MetaSound can currently not be supported because its algorithm is unkown.

    I can't get the sound support to work at all. The system info (F2 in the menu) says it hasn't detected a sound card.
    Please check the sound card detection program first. It will look for Sound Blaster compatible sound chips and drivers respectively. Most of today's AC97 sound chips require a driver under DOS and "Legacy Audio Device" enabled in the BIOS to make it Sound Blaster compatible. Have a look at the Sound cards under MS-DOS page (in German). It explains what drivers are necessary and offers them for download for some sound chips.
    Drivers for the various Sound Blaster products from Creative Labs can be downloaded from here.
    QuickView now supports external sound drivers for an increasing number of sound chips. For details look here.

    I get clicking noises after a few minutes of video playback with my ESS sound card.
    Some ESS cards seem to have problems with 16 bit sound. Use the -W4 parameter in that case to enable Sound Blaster Pro compatibility with 8 bits.

    QuickView Pro for DOS shows long file names if it is run under Windows. Is it possible to see long file names also under plain DOS?
    Yes, you have to install a driver that emulates long file names under DOS. A good one is DOSLFN by Henrik Haftmann.

    I have downloaded the QuickView Pro zip file but I can't install the program under Windows.
    QuickView Pro for DOS is a DOS program. It does work under Windows 95/98/ME though. You don't have to install it, just uncompress it some directory using Winzip for example.

    Does QuickView Pro for DOS run under Windows XP and NT?
    Only with limitations. You must open a DOS full screen session. Some video drivers have bugs with the VESA support. If you only see color garbage or a black screen (because the monitor doesn't synchronize any more) then use a fixed screen resolution that works either by using the -Rx parameter (look at qv.txt for details) or by choosing the resolution in the menu with the "+" key. Example: QV -R2 will use 640x480 as screen resolution which works with many graphics chips. Sound however is still a problem under Windows XP and NT. You can try VDMSound, a soundcard emulator for MS Windows NT/2000 DOS boxes. The DOSBox project might also be worth to check.

    I have an ATI RAGE PRO graphics card. Images look distorted in any higher resolution than 320x200. Videos are only affected if hardware acceleration is not used.
    This problem is caused by a buggy ATI driver which only has effect on VESA modes. Its Windows installer was named "w98rpro4122632.exe", the version number (can be checked under Windows in your Display Settings at Special) is 4.12.2632. Either install a different driver or use hardware acceleration only.

    There is a QuickView Pro for Linux version. Does this mean that the development of the DOS version will be stopped?
    No, not at all. Both, the DOS and the Linux version share the same code and will be developed together. The code is portable so that it could work under all 32 bit x86 operating systems (except for the OS and hardware specific code of course).

    Will you release a DVD player for DOS?
    No, the license fees for DVD are prohibitly high and without this license it would be illegal.

    Why is QuickView so fast and so small?
    All major decoding and screen handling parts are pure Assembler.

    I need video playback for my DOS game or presentation software. AVI, MOV and MPEG are the most common video formats on PCs. Is the AVI, MOV or MPEG playback part licensable?
    All QuickView parts including AVI, MOV, MPEG and FLI playback are licensable, either as a stand alone EXE file or as a library (for Watcom C/C++, Turbo C/C++, Borland Pascal and TMT Pascal). The price depends on the number of copies you need. Please contact the author with a detailed description of your needs.

    Is the source code of QuickView available?
    Usually not. There are libraries ready that I can modify for your needs.

    Do you do custom programming?
    Yes. Please contact the author with a detailed description of your needs.

    Contact the author Wolfgang Hesseler

    Back to the QuickView main page

    Last updated on 1st March 2007 webmaster@multimediaware.com