I apologize in advance for the lengthy post with so many questions, but it's all about coming up to speed on the various options in MC12:
For DVD playback (Options>Playback>DVD Playback Settings) there are options to choose the video decoder and also the audio decoder. On my default installation, they both read "Automatic Selection".
1) What does this mean? Where does the automatic selection come from? A Windows System setting somewhere? How can I know what is being (or will be) selected?
2) If you alter the properties in the various DVD Filters (double-clicking on an entry from the right side of the window), do the changes you make in their resulting configuration dialogs apply only to MC, or to any of the applications on the system that make use of that filter?
3) Similarly, if you click the button "Select Output Device (Audio Renderer)", it brings up a dialog box that appears identical to the DirectShow configuration dialog. The only controls active in the dialog are the "Audio Renderer" section. Do changes made here affect all video played back with MC (DVDs and other files)? Are they system-wide changes?
Oddly, the scrollbar on the DirectShow filters side of this dialog (when reached through the DVD Playback options) lights up like it's an active control...
For DirectShow playback (Options>Playback>DirectShow Playback Settings), these options confuse the heck out of me.
4) What advantages/disadvantages are there to using the WMP engine (per the upper left checkbox)? The explanatory text mentions licensed content, but what if my content is unlicensed? What engine is used when the box is unchecked?
5) I guess this is more an enhancement request.... Being able to select an audio renderer for zones that I don't have defined confuses me.
Also, I'd love to see a list of the zones (if I have more than 1) and what renderer is assigned to each one.
6) Similar to my question above, what's the deal with the Default DirectSound Device? Where does the default selection come from? A Windows System setting somewhere? How can I know what is being (or will be) selected?
7) Is there any advantage to assigning the specific audio renderer output in this dialog if I only have one playback zone? What are the differences between the "[soundcard device]" and "DirectSound: [soundcard device]"?
Finally, in the DirectShow Filters part of the dialog:
Eight) I understand that checking boxes here forces those filetypes to be played through DirectShow filters. Right-clicking on a filetype shows the currently assigned filters. However, why can I playback ac3 files (for example), when it shows "No Filter Selected". What kind of defaults are in operation here?
9) Do all of these filetypes require some kind of filter to be installed? For example, if I have an 'm4a' file and the box is unchecked, why does the file still play? However, if I have an 'ogg' file and the box is unchecked, it doesn't play. Inquiring minds would love to know...
10) I'm not even going to get into filter configuration for all of these filetypes here. I'm guessing you need to know what filter is needed to play your filetype so you can choose wisely.
I know I've bitten off a lot here, but any knowledge will be most gratefully accepted!
Best,
Brad