How to find & post file specs with Mediainfo

[chris57]

What is MediaInfo?
MediaInfo supplies technical and tag information about a video or audio file.
It is free software (free of charge and free access to source code: GPL or LGPL licence)

Mediainfo has downloads for most OS's which can be found via this page.
There are commandline aswell as GUI versions with/without installers. The command line version I mention as it is used in YAMJ.

Install the application and at the end of the install you will be presented with this browser window:-



Ensure that you select Run after install as then the application will open and present you with the following smaller browser window, if it does not appear then simply run Mediainfo and select Options>Preferences:-



Make sure you select text output as highlighted.

That's it for the install and setup of Mediainfo now off to find the spec of an MKV, Avi or whatever type of file file. The only thing I would add is that if you are looking at a DVD then scan one of the vobs rather than any of the other files types.

When you find a file you wish to check the specs of then simply right-click on the file and select open with Mediainfo, or Open and then browse to Program Files>Mediainfo and select the mediainfo.exe file.

Here is the output from an MKV file:-

General
Complete name : D:\Movies\movie.mkv
Format : Matroska
File size : 4.37 GiB
Duration : 1h 30mn
Overall bit rate : 6 913 Kbps
Encoded date : UTC 2009-05-30 10:14:46
Writing application : mkvmerge v2.8.0 ('The Tree') built on May 14 2009 09:28:39
Writing library : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 5 frames
Muxing mode : Container profile=Unknown@4.1
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 30mn
Bit rate : 5 266 Kbps
Nominal bit rate : 5 403 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 544 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.35
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Resolution : 24 bits
Colorimetry : 4:2:0
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.315
Stream size : 3.33 GiB (76%)
Writing library : x264 core 67 r1145M d2e1e1c
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=7 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / rc=2pass / bitrate=5403 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English

Audio
ID : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 1h 30mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Resolution : 24 bits
Stream size : 978 MiB (22%)
Language : English

Now that file only has the one audio track and no subtitles. You have to scroll now to see all of the spec and as well as not being ideal to use it also takes a lot of forum space. Imagine a file with many audio tracks and up to 13 subtitle tracks all listed seperately.

If I use the exact same output but use the code tags (#sign) then the spec is displayed in a smaller browser window making it easier to read list that means you can also read the members post as well as the file spec:-

Code:

General
Complete name                    : D:\Movies\movie.mkv
Format                           : Matroska
File size                        : 4.37 GiB
Duration                         : 1h 30mn
Overall bit rate                 : 6 913 Kbps
Encoded date                     : UTC 2009-05-30 10:14:46
Writing application              : mkvmerge v2.8.0 ('The Tree') built on May 14 2009 09:28:39
Writing library                  : libebml v0.7.7 + libmatroska v0.8.1

Video
ID                               : 1
Format                           : AVC
Format/Info                      : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                   : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC           : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames        : 5 frames
Muxing mode                      : Container profile=Unknown@4.1
Codec ID                         : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration                         : 1h 30mn
Bit rate                         : 5 266 Kbps
Nominal bit rate                 : 5 403 Kbps
Width                            : 1 280 pixels
Height                           : 544 pixels
Display aspect ratio             : 2.35
Frame rate                       : 23.976 fps
Resolution                       : 24 bits
Colorimetry                      : 4:2:0
Scan type                        : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)               : 0.315
Stream size                      : 3.33 GiB (76%)
Writing library                  : x264 core 67 r1145M d2e1e1c
Encoding settings                : cabac=1 / ref=5 / deblock=1:-1:-1 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=7 / psy_rd=1.0:0.0 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=3 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=3 / wpredb=1 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=25 / scenecut=40 / rc=2pass / bitrate=5403 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / pb_ratio=1.30 / aq=1:1.00
Language                         : English

Audio
ID                               : 2
Format                           : DTS
Format/Info                      : Digital Theater Systems
Codec ID                         : A_DTS
Duration                         : 1h 30mn
Bit rate mode                    : Constant
Bit rate                         : 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s)                       : 6 channels
Channel positions                : Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate                    : 48.0 KHz
Resolution                       : 24 bits
Stream size                      : 978 MiB (22%)
Language                         : English

If you post your file spec in such a way you will get a quicker answer and help those trying to help you.