# Windows Codec problem **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-codec-problem/245769 "2004-05-18T14:56:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-codec-problem/245769/1 "2004-05-18T14:56:54Z")
I have a Canon G-3 digital camera that can take short movies. The movie files are avi format with the MJPEG codec. This codec is natively supported by Windows XP. Unfortunately, the codec keeps changing on my computer. For some period of time the movies play normally, but then some days (or weeks) later they will only play at high speed. Nothing in Media Player will change the play speed. Other movie players do exactly the same thing. Then some days (or weeks) later, it will be back to normal. Then back to high speed again. I suspect that some other avi files I play are altering the codec and others may be returning it to normal. Any suggestions on how to get control of this situation? ---
**Author:** ![daffyduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-codec-problem/245769/2 "2004-05-18T16:16:38Z")
I’ve seen this happen when games automatically turn up the hardware acceleration on your machine and don’t return it to normal when they quit. The next time it happens, check your hardware accleration settings and turn them off or down and see if it helps. Check also the hardware settings on your sound card. Yes, the sound card can affect movie playback. FWIW, avi and mpg are different formats. Only the avi format uses different codecs. ---
**Author:** ![Lagged2Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ac8455/32.png) [@Lagged2Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lagged2Death)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-codec-problem/245769/3 "2004-05-18T19:16:45Z")
> [@daffyduck](#): > > FWIW, avi and mpg are different formats. Only the avi format uses different codecs. I believe the MJPEG that **flex727** refers to is “Motion JPEG” - just a chain of JPEG images stuck into a file, something like an animated GIF. A different animal than MPG/MPEG. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-codec-problem/245769/4 "2004-05-18T21:15:19Z")
MJPEG is one of the fairly common Windows video codecs - I was recording some video footage today from a webcam CCTV system and ‘MJPEG Compressor’ was just another codec in the list of options. It may well be that it _is_ a stream of JPEgs or something, but it ends up packed in an .avi file, playable in Windows Media Player. (I’ll be keeping an eye on this thread, because I’m having exactly the same problem, with this and other codecs). ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-codec-problem/245769/5 "2004-05-20T01:36:22Z")
> [@Lagged2Death](#): > > I believe the MJPEG that **flex727** refers to is “Motion JPEG” - just a chain of JPEG images stuck into a file, something like an animated GIF. A different animal than MPG/MPEG. Correct. I’ve searched the web, USENET, Microsoft, and other places, and can’t find the solution to this problem anywhere. I’ve even tried downloading 3rd party MJPEG codecs and it’s still the same. Stupid little problem, but it keeps me from enjoying and sharing movies of my kids. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-codec-problem/245769/6 "2004-05-20T10:09:46Z")
I wonder if you could convert them to another format, I’m thinking maybe something like [VirtualDub](http://www.virtualdub.org) might be able to do that for you… ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2004, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-codec-problem/245769/7 "2004-05-21T11:55:42Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I wonder if you could convert them to another format, I’m thinking maybe something like [VirtualDub](http://www.virtualdub.org) might be able to do that for you… I use Windows Movie Maker to convert to WMV. Good for emailing (original is about 50 MB for 3 min) as it reduces by about 20x, but at significant reduction in quality.