Viewing Sony's Video MTS Files on Windows Media Player

[hlewton]

I have some *.MTS video files (MPEG-TS Video Files where the TS means Transport Stream if that is important) that play perfectly on my laptop using Windows Media Player 11. I have the same Windows Media Player 11 on my desktop where I want to play these files but they do not play on that machine. When I try to open them it says something along the lines that the files are not a supported format and do I want Windows Media Player to try to play them anyway. When I say yes it opens them but does not play them smoothly. It just skips along showing jerky pictures instead of the video as it should be playing. I tried checking for Windows Media Player 11 updates and it said I had the latest version already installed. Any ideas why it won't play on my desktop yet plays perfectly on the laptop and how I can make it work on the desktop?

Thanks

[HansV]

Have you installed a codec pack such as K-Lite Codec Pack? (The basic version should be sufficient).

[Bigaldoc]

Have you installed a codec pack such as K-Lite Codec Pack? (The basic version should be sufficient).

Not so in my case, Hans. I have the latest K-Lite and downloaded a sample .MTS file and WMP refuses to play it. (XP MCE)

[HansV]

Thanks for testing, Al! Too bad that it won't work on Windows XP.
.MTS files play perfectly for me on Windows 7 though, with K-Lite Basic installed. (Windows 7 has support for .MTS built in, and the codec pack adds the latest ffdshow decoders)

[hlewton]

Both my machines I was talking about are XP. I think I installed the K-Lite Codec Pack following the link above but not sure because it seemed to take me to a place that installed InstaCodecs and not sure if that is what you wanted me to try. But in any case if that was the right installation it still did not work even though I have no problem with it on my XP laptop.

[hlewton]

I think I clicked the wrong link so I am going to run a Restore and try again. I'll get back after that.

[Bigaldoc]

This is strange stuff if it plays on one of his XP machines and not the other.

I have the very latest K-Lite Megapack installed AND my WMP is also version 11.

I looked at the K-Lite FAQ and Forum and can find no mention of .MTS files.

And finally, this MS page says .MTS is an OK file type, but when I open the Options tab on my WMP and check file types, .MTS is not present. Must be something one has to do to add it.

         Windows Media Player error C00D1199

[HansV]

I found some positive comments about Splash Lite HD Player (the Lite version is free)

[hlewton]

Well I'm not sure how good Splash Lite is but I tried installing it instead of the K-Lite Codec Pack because for some reason I keep installing something other than the K-lite Codec pack when I try. I will try again as soon as I post this but thought I should mention that Splash Lite would not let me install it unless I accepted a tool bar that it offered. Also as I tried to install it my anti-virus program blocked 3 or 4, what it labeled Trojan viruses and I had a hard time canceling the installation and even as I write this I am not sure if it will continue to try to install when I reboot as it suggested it may.

[HansV]

If Splash Lite insists on installing an extra toolbar, I'd give it a miss.

And Al has reported that the K-Lite Codec Pack doesn't add the ability to play .MTS files on Windows XP, so that won't work either.

Also, keep in mind that playing .MTS files requires a computer with high-end graphics capabilities. If you're still on Windows XP, your computer may not be powerful enough to play .MTS smoothly.

[hlewton]

Well I seemed to remember having a problem before installing the K-Lite Codec Pack when I rebuilt my laptop that those files open on so I found that post and followed that link, finally got the K-Lite Codec Pack installed, and now it is playing those MTS video files just great. Not sure what I was doing wrong using the link in this thread but when I followed that link in the other thread I knew it was the right one because it said K-Lite Codec Pack and its version number. Thanks for the help.

[HansV]

Good to hear that.
Now I wonder why Al can't play .mts files with K-Lite Codec Pack installed...

[hlewton]

Hans I did not see your previous post before posting but all is well for me now and apparently I was able to abort Splash's installation because I rebooted and it did not continue.

[hlewton]

Good to hear that.
Now I wonder why Al can't play .mts files with K-Lite Codec Pack installed...

Not sure but mine is XPP with SP3 installed on this computer where the problem happened today and XP with SP3 installed on the laptop so I am covering both versions of XP. I'd bet he too has SP3 installed so I have no idea why it worked for me but I did install the basic version of K-Lite as you suggested.

[Bigaldoc]

Well I'll be !!! NOW I really am a puzzled dude... To tell the truth, I had never heard of an .MTS file so I don't know if I should continue to "agonize" over it.

But it's like "the mountain" --- just because it's there !!!

[Bigaldoc]

As God is my witness, I AM NOT A LIAR !!! And I hope you guys believe me ...

Poking around ... Checked file associations in my Windows Explorer, .MTS - WMP check !!!

Went Googling to get a different sample file, thinking maybe the one I D/L'd earlier might have been corrupt and I had shift-deleted it already.

Here's the proof and I am going now to have a couple of BEERS !!! (clipped for size)

[viking33]

BigAlDoc said:
Here's the proof and I am going now to have a couple of BEERS !!! (clipped for size)
------------------------
Al, do you mean the beers were clipped for size? Why?

[hlewton]

Al I must be missing something because I am not following your last post and why you need those beers. But to be honest I have never needed an excuse to have a couple myself. LOL Did you get a different MTS file and did it then work for you? Just curious. Does that arrow showing a Sony file mean it is an MTS file and playing for you now?

[Bigaldoc]

Yes, I said in the post that I went and found a different .MTS file (clip shown in the post) and it played perfectly.

I have no idea why the first one I tried did NOT play. CASE CLOSED !!!

[hlewton]

Al, sorry I was not trying to upset you and I hope I didn't but I just didn't read your post that way though I did think that is what you meant.