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[Trumpetguy]

Ok, now I'm going bonkers trying to figure out how image orientation works or not works.
On both the server and client, thumbnails show correctly (well, sometimes they don't, but this covers cases where they do). This is seen in the first image. Also the tag shows Portrait orientation. Now, on the server, the image is correctly shown in Portrait when played in fullscreen (image 2). On the client it is shown in landscape (image 3). Why?

When trying to update library from tags on the client, orientation is sometimes corrected, sometimes not. When doing the same on the server, orientation is corrected on the server, but it does not reflect on the client. Also, when doing any tag update on the client, this happens:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=101177.0

which would also be a good thing to get sorted.

I'm on Win10, MC 21.0.45.

PS Sorry if there are multiple posts or threads, had some real problems posting.

[Trumpetguy]

To make things even more confusing (to me): On my living room laptop client, orientation is not correct for some of those images (always those supposed to be in Portrait), while on my work desktop client, the same photos show with correct orientation.

[RoderickGI]

To make things even more confusing (to me): On my living room laptop client, orientation is not correct for some of those images (always those supposed to be in Portrait), while on my work desktop client, the same photos show with correct orientation.

So there is something different between the two Windows installations.

I would suggest that it is the codecs available on the living room laptop that are the problem. Whatever codecs they are, they aren't displaying the image rotated. Some codecs don't have that capability, particularly Microsoft codecs it seems. In case you didn't know, you don't want to rotate an image that has been taken in Portrait, because the rotation re-encodes the image, which means you lose some quality. What you want is a codec that rotates the image for display, but doesn't actually change the file.

I use and recommend FastPictureViewer for quickly reviewing lots of photos and weeding out the bad, saving the good. It comes with its own very good codec pack for images. If you don't want FastPictureViewer, you can just buy the codec pack by itself. Dirt cheap and lifetime upgrades. One of the best software purchases I ever made.

But there are also other codec packs to be found around the internet. Some of them free. There may even be better Microsoft ones around.

Of course, I am assuming that MC uses the image codecs installed on the PC, and not their own internal codecs. There doesn't seem to be a lot of information about that on the Wiki or Forum.

[Trumpetguy]

Ok, new software is always fun. I'll try it out.

I would suggest that it is the codecs available on the living room laptop that are the problem. Whatever codecs they are, they aren't displaying the image rotated. Some codecs don't have that capability, particularly Microsoft codecs it seems. In case you didn't know, you don't want to rotate an image that has been taken in Portrait, because the rotation re-encodes the image, which means you lose some quality. What you want is a codec that rotates the image for display, but doesn't actually change the file.

What? Is that right??? So, if the image thumb in Windows Explorer is shown in wrong orientation, what would be the lossless way of viewing the image in the correct orientation? I don't care if a portrait image is stored laying down, as long as I can view it correctly.
And there seems to be a system to this. Portraits taken with my Nikon D200 are more often viewed with wrong orientation, while my wife's old Canon Ixus is almost always shown correctly.

[RoderickGI]

What? Is that right??? So, if the image thumb in Windows Explorer is shown in wrong orientation, what would be the lossless way of viewing the image in the correct orientation?

Sorry, I should have been a little clearer. If you use, for example, the Windows Photo Viewer as your Preview application in Windows, and rotate the image using Windows Photo Viewer, the file will be re-encoded, and will lose quality. You can easily test this. Just note the "Date modified" on a file, open it in Windows Photo Viewer (Preview it) and rotate it. The "Date modified" changes to the current date and time. The same thing happens if you right click on a thumbnail in Windows Explorer and select "Rotate Clockwise" or "Rotate Counterclockwise".

The lossless way to view a file is to use a codec that will honours the orientation tag in the file. FastPictureViewer and its codecs does that.

And there seems to be a system to this. Portraits taken with my Nikon D200 are more often viewed with wrong orientation, while my wife's old Canon Ixus is almost always shown correctly.

I wondered about that, but you implied that you couldn't see a pattern to the problem. It is entirely possible that the Nikon D200 isn't writing the correct orientation tag, and the IXUS is. You should check that for the Nikon photos in MC. Also check the tags in the file (rather than just in the library) with MC, to see if any other information is in there. However, many of the photos I checked on my client are from a Nikon D7000, and they rotate correctly, so I would expect the Nikon photos to work. But then, I have FastPictureViewer and its codecs installed.

By the way, you should probably try with the "Microsoft Camera Codec Pack" I linked to first. You may not need FastPictureViewer, although as you say, new software is always fun.