Media Preview 1.3.1

Media Preview v1.3.1.343 (02/05/2013)

Patch release:

Core
Fixed regressions due to the missing C runtime. It should henceforth really be unneeded now...
Installer
x64 OS only: fixed the desktop shortcut link

Features

Since the advent of Windows XP in 2001, Windows Explorer has improved its usability by running a preview control system that let you get a glimpse at the content of your files while browsing and without having to open them. For media files, this is done by generating thumbnails replacing default icons.

But the default video thumbnail extractor of Microsoft generally does a lousy job at getting useful previews of your media files, mostly due to performance considerations. Nevertheless, computers have become powerful enough not to let the matter rest, and Media Preview can help them to provide you the best.

Supports The Key Media Formats

By default, Windows only supports the media file formats developped by Microsoft or for Quicktime, and ignores other popular media formats. Third-party media players fill the gap in terms of playback but usually let the preview functionality on the side-road.

Media Preview is here to bring to your computer the full preview capabilities for all of your media files.


Redefines The Uniqueness Of Your Media Files

While browsing TV series folders, you probably already got sets of identical thumbnails, where the default thumbnail extractor get stuck with the same title sequence.

Media Preview get over this by seeking another sequence of your media files to let you get more information out of them.


Works Everywhere

Windows comes in 2 different flavors, 32-bit and 64-bit versions, the later not being entirely backward compatible. And one of the main problems with third-party thumbnail extractors is that most only work on the 32-bit version.

Media Preview caters to every versions of Windows so that you won't feel cheated even if you opted for the more performing 64-bit version. Obviously, it also works seamlessly with your local and remote media files.


Avoids The Monochrome Symptom

The default video thumbnail extractor usually grabs the first frame of your media files, possibly leading to only display a collection of black thumbnails.

Media Preview is smart enough to detect image relevance using related metrics. If the extracted image is part of a shot transition, Media Preview will go seek the following scene to get a meaningful thumbnail.


Gets You Free Of System Constraints

While browsing, you probably encountered some issues like not being able to rename or move a file anymore, because the thumbnail extractor was still running in the background.

Media Preview won't ever remind you of its presence as you'll be able to do what you want with your files.


Designed For System Stability And Performance

Third-party thumbnail extractors use directly the video rendering pipelines of your system and so impose upon you the media solution it's tied to, sometimes invoking a full-blown framework to do the job.

Media Preview remains out of the regular rendering pipeline, lets your delicate playback setup stable and out of harm, doesn't clutter your system with more than needed, but still performs efficiently.