The Digital Surgery (computer questions/problems here)

[laser]

I have 2 options, .h264 or .h264+. I've switched one camera to ,h264+ to see if it makes any difference. Is there no simple .h264 player that I can install?

H.264+ was developed by Hikvision. You can try their players (VSPlayer_x64 or VSPlayer_x86):
https://www.hikvision.com/europe/support/tools/hitools/

[joashchee]

Not sure if this is a good suggestion, but perhaps you could record a short clip and attach it here as a sample so that people can test with their possible solutions? at least it can help validate what works with your specific source. (I might be able to help, being something of a digital media geek that dabbles)

[Big Boy]

Thank you joashchee, but the forum doesn't support such attachments.

[joashchee]

Or, if it's not going to be a security issue, the make and model of the camera? The internet might provide the required tech spec, manual, and hopefully video output specs to clue us in on what it's outputting.

[Big Boy]

I have 2 options, .h264 or .h264+. I've switched one camera to ,h264+ to see if it makes any difference. Is there no simple .h264 player that I can install?

H.264+ was developed by Hikvision. You can try their players (VSPlayer_x64 or VSPlayer_x86):
https://www.hikvision.com/europe/support/tools/hitools/

I tried that laser, and it somehow led me to download VSPlayer, which supports .h264 files. I've tried 6, and all come up as an invalid format

Thanks for trying.

[Big Boy]

Or, if it's not going to be a security issue, the make and model of the camera? The internet might provide the required tech spec, manual, and hopefully video output specs to clue us in on what it's outputting.

VStar CS662

[laser]

.. I've tried 6, and all come up as an invalid format

Not to worry. I checked the barebone "Z" player available at the support site of your camera (https://www.vstarcam.com/software-download)
https://doraemon.camera666.com/videoplayer.zip
Hint: you may have to disable the crappy Win Defender to succeed. Use this solution
https://www.sordum.org/9480/defender-control-v2-0/

It certainly can play raw h264 files, like the sample file I got from
https://software-download.name/sample-h ... -video.zip

[joashchee]

I was sourcing around for online sample files as well, just to ensure that we can test your VLC's all set up well for it. I used the following site's :

https://samplelib.com/sample-mp4.html

And my VLC was able playback and get the media's info as such :

Screenshot 2022-02-02 at 9.09.51 AM.png (441.62 KiB) Viewed 359 times

Maybe our next big clue might be to get some software / media tool that will be able to give us your camera's current output file's media info.

You could test your VLC's setup with the sample files to see if it plays those without tweaking. If it does, it will be pointing more to the camera's output then, being possibly not as standard as it claims.

[Big Boy]

Thank you for that, it is the problem, and the reason none of the suggested company software downloads work. I have tried all sorts to download them. I've tried daily with no success. I'd assumed the company's software options were no longer available. The company's after sales support have been chocolate fireguards with zero response. A bit of interaction with you, and I understand what the problem is.

Now the embarrassing bit - I don't have a clue how Defender works. I've just spent the last 30 minutes mooching around, and have given up/got out of there for fear of breaking something.

I think a trip to Mr Don is probably my safest option - he'll either get the proper software down, or I'm sure he'll have a .h264 player that he can load.

[joashchee]

Here's one option that could kill two birds with one stone:

http://www.codecguide.com/download_k-li ... k_full.htm

A media codec package that packs as much support for playback and even encoding in one installation. Hopefully it'll solve everything in one go. And if not, it does come with this nifty media info tool that will allow us to dissect the video source file, dig in deeper to see what exactly is inside it... so that we can resolve the playback issue.

Screenshot 2022-02-02 at 9.25.00 AM.png (173.15 KiB) Viewed 351 times

[Big Boy]

Here's one option that could kill two birds with one stone:

http://www.codecguide.com/download_k-li ... k_full.htm

Yes, I considered that one, thank you. Even started downloading, but the download was taking forever - forecast 4 days +. When I saw the download forecast, combined with 4Mb in about 30 minutes, I cancelled the download.

[joashchee]

Yes, I considered that one, thank you. Even started downloading, but the download was taking forever - forecast 4 days +. When I saw the download forecast, combined with 4Mb in about 30 minutes, I cancelled the download.

Wow! Is there the norm when it comes to internet download speeds, and speeds in general? Might be one more thing I will need to consider if/when settling down in Hua Hin *sweatdrops*

[HHTel]

I shouldn't worry about speeds in general. Download speeds here are better than many countries in the west. I generally get around 800 mbps both upload and download.

A 2 hour movie most of the time is complete in 3 - 5 mins.

Speeds through bitcomet and with a VPN vary up to 50 mbps for movie downloads.

There is the odd exception though but quite rare.

[sateeb]

/\ Ditto

[Big Boy]

Yes, my normal upload/download times are generally very fast. However, this beast was going to take forever.