These guides describes how to watch and play VCD, SVCD, DVD or DivX on your computer and also how to use the TV-Out that many videocards has nowadays. Use the links above here to navigate.

How to play a VCD, MPEG1

in Windows
You can play VCDs with Windows Media Player, insert the VCD and locate the dat file in the MPEGAV folder and open it. With some really good player like PowerDVD or Cinematograph it's just to insert the VCD and hit play and it will autoplay the VCD. Use a low resolution, like 640x480, on the monitor when watching a VCD to get best quality.If you have problems playing VCDs on your computer read this.

in Mac
Play VCDs with MacVCD, it does also support MacOS X.

in Linux
Play VCDs with MpegTV Player or Videolan.

How to play a SVCD, MPEG2

in Windows
To play a SVCD you need a software DVD Player, open the .MPG file in the MPEG2 or MPEGAV folder with any player like PowerDVD or WinDVD(WinDVD autoplays and support SVCD menus also). To play MPEG2 with Windows Media Player you need a software DVD Player installed.

in Mac
Play SVCDs with ?. For MacOS X checkout Videolan.

in Linux
Play SVCDs with Videolan.

How to play a DVD, MPEG2

in Windows
To play a DVD you need a software DVD Player, then it is just to insert the DVD and hit Play using any player like PowerDVD or WinDVD. And You NEED a DVD-ROM to be able to read DVDs on Your computer.
To play MPEG2 with Windows Media Player you need a software DVD Player installed.
To play a copied/ripped DVD from you HD you should have also copied the .ifo from the DVD to where you copied the vobs and then it's possible to play the DVD as usual with the Cinematograph DVD Player, just open the .ifo and you can acces all menus,audio tracks and subtitles. It is also possible to use WinDVD, rip the entire DVD folder VIDEO_TS with for example Smartripper to a folder called VIDEO_TS on any harddrive root like F:\VIDEO_TS. Then start WinDVD and select F: as the DVD Drive.

in Mac
Play DVDs with Apple DVD Player. For MacOS X checkout Videolan.

in Linux
Play DVDs with Videolan.

How to play a AVI, DivX

in Windows
To play DivX or AVI you first need to install the DivX codecs, you find the DivX codec under ther Tools page. Then you should be able to play the video with Windows Media Player. It's also possible that you need to install the Kristal Studio Pack Codecs, also availabe under the Tools page. If you still have problem try then to "fix" the DivX, beceause the DivX can have been broken while you downloaded it, read here how to fix a DivX/AVI.

in Mac
Play DivX with DivX Player. For MacOS X checkout DivOSX

in Linux
Play DivX with MPlayer.

How to watch movies on your TV with the computer

To watch VCDs,SVCDs and DVDs it's best to buy a stand alone DVD Player but you can also watch them from your computer to the TV with a TV-Out device. Many videocards today have TV-Out but the quality isn't superb. One of the best TV-Outs has the Matrox G400 cards. Or you can get a MPEG-Card like Hollywood + or Creative DXR3. The quality of MPEG-Cards video playback is compared with stand alone DVD Players. But remember that MPEG-cards only defaults play MPEG/MPEG2/VCD/DVD, to play DivXs and MOV you must have a very fast computer and special player, read more here.

Another method to watch movies from your computer is to use a 'VGA to PAL/NTSC Scan converter'. These converters have a VGA pass through so the signal can be watched both on a PC monitor and on a TV. There are many such products available (in the US. I am not sure about other countries) Below is a list of scan converters for your information. A. Scan Converter:

I. ADS Technologies http://www.adstech.com 1. TV Elite XGA 2. TV Superscan 2
II. Aitech International http://www.aitech.com/retail.htm 1. Pocket Scan Converter 2000 2. MultiPro 2000 with Mouse Remote
III. Antec http://www.antec-inc.com/product/tv_pc_converter/pro_tv.html 1. TVator Remote II 2. TVator EXEC
IV. Avermedia http://www.avermedia.com/products/presentation.html 1. AVerKey iMicro 2. AVerKey3 Plus 3. AVerKey300 Gold 4. AVerKey500 Pro
V. Focus Enhancements http://www.focusinfo.com/ 1. TView Gold 2. TView Gold PCI 3. TView Micro XGA 4. TView Silver

From what I have read in the newsgroups, is that the scan converter gets a better quality to your TV than a TV-out video card does.


Common TV-Out Problems

Black and White picture
If you have connected with a SVHS-cable be sure that your TV support SVHS, if not then get a composite-cable. And be sure that you have selected correct system, like PAL or NTSC on the Videocard/MPEG-Card.

Small picture on the TV with big black borders
If you have TNT/TNT2/GEFORCE/GEFORCE2 then get TVTool to fix that problem.

Can I play DivX/nAVI/ASF/SMR on my Hollywood + / DXR3 / Stand alone DVD Player?
No

How to connect from the computer to the TV

Connect the cables as the picture shows(the picture show a Hollywood + card but you could connect almost the same with all tvout-cards). The only cable that follows with the card is the short S-vhs to RCA-cable.

If you have a TV with S-VHS you can use a S-VHS cable directly from the TV-Out without using any converters.

(hollywood +)







VCD or SVCD playing problem

If you have problem playing VCDs or SVCDs try these:

First try with to play with both Windows Media Player 6.4+ and another player like WinDVD.

If that doesn't work check this:

In order to play VideoCD's on a PC (or even copy the dat files from a VideoCD in the CDROM drive to the PC's disk) you have to have the virtual device driver SCSI1HLP.VXD in Window's \SYSTEM\IOSUBSYS directory; otherwise, the file structure will not be recognized by Windows. My file was there but some program had changed it's extension. After renaming and rebooting, my VideoCD's now run without a hitch. Read more here.