v2.52 beta
 
Note: No installer is available for v2.52 beta.

Simply download either GSpot252b01.rar or GSpot252b01.zip  (they are equivalent) and uncompress the archive to the folder of your choice. This will result in four files. Just double click on "gspot.exe" to run it.

       
Download Now: Win2K/XP:   GSpot252b01.rar  (v2.52 ß01 Build 040915) [183 KB]
      GSpot252b01.zip  (v2.52 ß01 Build 040915) [213 KB]
  Win9x/ME:   see note below
       
       
More Info Textual   mini-FAQ
  Visual   latest screenshot
       
 
Date Date Build Notes
v2.52 b01 15 Sept 2004 040915 Reworked parts of the MPEG-4 parsing routine. It was failing to even identify some files as MPEG-4 altogether, and when it did it sometimes provided erroneous information (the BVOP indicator in particular).
12 Sept 2004 040912 ¤ Fixed exception violation ("crash") issues exhibited by, in particular, v2.51b2, which often overran an internal data buffer. The current version has been "road-tested" with over 2000 media files1
¤ Added 16:9 anamorphic support (for target and/or source) in the resizing information function. Also added ability to select different target sizes for "AVI" (i.e. 1:1 PAR) targets.
¤ Reorganized the GUI layout. See screenshot.
¤ Added support for parsing information from the optional MPEG-2 "sequence display extension". When available, the "display" height and width are shown, as well as the color space mapping matrix (which may be useful only to a few video techno-geek users out there ;)
¤ Added support for identifying so-called "packed bitstreams", an MPEG-4 construct sometimes used DivX 5.x and other MPEG-4 streams contained in an AVI file. The information is displayed as text in the "container" section; additionally a new indicator labeled "NVOP", as these constructs are informally called, with the other MPEG-4 indicators.
¤ Finally "restored" the ability to find the details of the codecs and other filters, as well as the mediatypes involved, when the "MS" (Microsoft DirectShow) render function is used (see Figure 1 below). The word "restored" is in reference to the fact that older v2.21 had similar capability, albeit more limited than the information now available in this version.
.1 No exception violations occurred while examining any of the test files, nor on the render tests performed on a subset of them, except for this outstanding issue: an exception appears to occur upon exiting GSpot, if 1) a "GSpot video render" test was previously performed, and 2) the test was successful, and 3) the test involved a VFW type codec. The exception is caused by an invalid pointer supplied by the O/S, so it's not a simple fix; the issue is currently being evaluated.
 
 
Date Date Build Notes
v2.51 b02 28 Aug 2004 040828 ¤ Fixed GUI resize issue with H.264 indicator.
¤ Fixed resource leak associated w GSpot render.
¤ Fixed attempt to analyze split audio with no audio present, which corrupted some other values & could result in an app crash later.
27 Aug 2004 040827 ¤ Rewrote the MPEG-2 parsing routines for the interlace & pull-down functions. The previous version had significant design flaws, causing it to display erroneous results.
¤ Added native recognition of H.264 video streams and an associated "indicator light". Should recognize H.264 in an AVI (e.g. VideoSoft), in an MPEG-2 Program Stream (e.g. MainConcept), or raw (e.g. ITU reference encoder)
¤ "open with" and drag 'n drop should work on Win98 again
v2.51 b01 19 Aug 2004 040819 Fixed flaky "cell-tip" behavior
18 Aug 2004 040818 Released
.
  v2.5 history is here
 
 
Figure 1. Ability to find details about of the codecs and other filters used when the "MS" (Microsoft DirectShow) render function is used, as well as details about the mediatypes involved. Accomplished by choosing "Details" from a context ("right-click ") menu.  
 
 
  Win9x/ME 

Below is an rough summary of which functionality should be expected to work properly on Win9x / ME:

  
 
Functionality Support
   
Determine type of video / audio codec required Yes
Ascertain whether that codec is installed No
View other characteristics of the file (framerate, bitrate, etc.) Yes
List installed system codecs Yes
View/Edit associated media types and merit (priority) values No
Have GSpot attempt to render the audio and/or video No
Have MS DirectShow attempt to render the audio/video Yes
 
 
 
  On Deck  ( not  done yet )  
  ¤ Documentation about merit and mediatype editing.  
  Done 16:9 anamorphic support for the resizing information function.  
  ¤ More accurate MPEG information (see above).  
  ¤ MPEG transport stream, MP4, and Matroska container support.  
  ¤ Improved GSpot rendering algorithms.  
  ¤ Ability to remove bad registry entries, even if "unregister" is unavailable due to absence of original file.