DVD+MP3 XPack ReadMe

InterVideo XPack (DVD and MP3)

October 2001

Thank you for purchasing the InterVideo XPacks. These plug-ins add great-sounding MP3 encoding and theater-quality movie playback to Windows Media Player for Windows XP. These capabilities are provided by adding InterVideo encoders and decoders (codecs) to Windows Media Player using its ‘plug-in’ architecture. The codecs used in the XPacks have been proven in InterVideo’s WinDVD and WinRip products.

With more than 14 million shipped, WinDVD is the world’s most popular software DVD player. It is shipped as the standard DVD player by major computer and peripheral manufacturers world-wide.

WinRip is a full-featured music management product that includes the proprietary ability to ‘inject’ data (lyrics and web links) into MP3 music files. For more details on WinDVD, WinRip and InterVideo's other multimedia software products, visit us at www.intervideo.com.

To install the XPacks, launch the installer and follow the directions. You will need the serial number and other information that was emailed to you when you purchased the software. The XPack installer will properly configure the DVD decoders and MP3 encoder to work with Windows Media Player for Windows XP. At the end of the installation, the XPack Setup program will be launched so you can fine-tune your DVD and MP3 settings if you like. You can also run this application at any time from the 'InterVideo XPack' program group in the Start menu.

MP3 Encoding Settings

The recording Bit Rate is the main factor in determining the quality of your recorded music. The more bits of data you use to represent each second of music, the more accurately the music can be reproduced and the better it will sound. Think of recording with a high Bit Rate like painting with a fine paintbrush - you can capture all the details. With a low Bit Rate (a wide brush) you will get the general idea but not all the details. Of course, nothing in life is free. Using a high Bit Rate makes the recorded files larger, so you can fit fewer on your hard disk or portable player. So you want to be able to easily adjust this important setting for your MP3 files.

The InterVideo MP3 encoder can encode music at 8 different Bit Rates ranging from 96 Kbps (96,000 bits per second) to 320 Kbps. 128 Kbps is generally considered to be 'CD Quality' sound, and is the most widely-used setting. Since the slider in Windows Media Player only allows four Bit Rate settings, you can use the XPack Setup application to choose which four Bit Rates will be selectable in Windows Media Player.

In Windows Media Player, the Copy Music tab of the Options dialog has a control to set the Bit Rate. This control is the 'Copy music at this quality:' slider as shown in the image below.

This slider has four settings, ranging from 'Smallest Size' to 'Best Quality'. At installation, the defaults for these four settings are 96, 128, 192, and 320 Kbps. However, you can change the these Bit Rates to better meet your needs.

To change the Bit Rate assignments, in the XPack Setup application, select the MP3 tab to display the following dialog.

The dialog shows the Windows Media Player slider for reference. Use the four vertical sliders below it to assign the Bit Rate for each position. Note that the Bit Rates must be assigned in increasing order (left to right), and each slider will not move past the position of the adjacent sliders.

In addition to the Bit Rate, the XPack MP3 encoder has two other features to improve audio quality. Each setting is controlled by a checkbox in the dialog and is described in more detail below.

Joint Stereo Selecting this option takes advantage of the fact that most music has a strong mono component (for example, the lead singer recorded in both the left and right channels) to optimize the encoding process. The default setting for Joint Stereo is ON, but with some unusual material you may get better results with it turned off.

Variable Bit Rate (VBR) This feature allows the Bit Rate to vary depending on the demands of the music, using more bits when needed to maintain quality and fewer when it is not needed. The average Bit Rate (which determines the size of the recorded file) will be the same as or below the Bit Rate selected with the quality slider in Windows Media Player. Some MP3 players (both PC and portable devices) may have difficulty playing files recorded with VBR, or may display the recorded bit rate or track time incorrectly. Therefore, the default setting for VBR is OFF.

Note on these settings: Because it is difficult to recognize the conditions or types of music that may favor one or more of these settings, trust your ears and use the settings that sound best to you on your music.

After you have changed any settings, either click the Apply button to save the changes without closing the application, or click OK to save the changes and close. The Apply button is convenient if you want to leave the XPack Setup program open while working in Windows Media Player.

DVD Playback Settings

If necessary, click the DVD tab to show the following panel:

There is one setting for DVD playback – DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA). Checking this box instructs the video decoder to take advantage of any hardware acceleration that may be present on your video card. This reduces the load on the processor, and can result in improved video performance.

Since most PCs have processors that are more than fast enough for DVD playback, this option defaults to OFF (un-checked). If, after turning on DXVA, you experience any problems with movie playback, we recommend that you check with your video card maker to be sure you have the most up-to-date (and DXVA-compatible) drivers. If you cannot resolve the problem this way, it is best to turn DXVA off.

You may also find that there is a video quality difference between DXVA and the software video decoding in the DVD XPack, with the advanced software decoding in the XPack providing better video quality.

System Requirements and Compatibility

· Requires Windows XP and Windows Media Player 8 or newer. Not compatible with earlier Windows operating systems.

· Intel-compatible 400 MHz or faster CPU required.

· 64MB memory.

Support

For customer support, visit InterVideo at www.intervideo.com or email support@intervideo.com.

InterVideo, Incorporated

47350 Fremont Blvd.

Fremont, CA 94538

Legal Notices

InterVideo, WinDVD and the InterVideo logo are registered trademarks, and 'MP3 XPack', 'DVD XPack', XPack, and WinRip are trademarks of InterVideo, Inc. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks and 'Windows Media' is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Dolby, ‘Pro Logic’ and the double-D symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories.

MP3 Layer-3 audio coding technology licensed by Fraunhofer Institu Integrierte Schaltungen. http://www.iis.fhg.de/audio

Revised: October 12, 2001