DVD player with 10-second rewind.

I need a DVD player, preferably free, that will work with win10 and will
allow 5- or 10-second rewind, at the touch of a button.

My digitial OTA/DVD with harddrive that is 11 years old allows this, and
all the VCR's even if they're 30 years old have rewind in small amounts,
and Youtube has it, but my versions of VLC and PowerDVD either don't
allow it or are hard to use.

Are newer versions better? Or is there some other program that one
click and you go back 10 seconds?


I finally gave up on watching with my TV because I thought I could
watch on the computer, but I keep wanting to go back and look at
something again and I keep restarting from the beginning!

TIA

micky wrote:

I need a DVD player, preferably free, that will work with win10 and will
allow 5- or 10-second rewind, at the touch of a button.
snipped the reminiscing
but my versions of VLC and PowerDVD either don't
allow it or are hard to use.

Are newer versions better?

You never mentioned what version of VLC that *you* are using. Note the
version below that I use.

I have VLC 2.2.6 on Windows 7 x64 Home. It is up to 3.0.2. I have it
configured to notify of updates but haven't seen any. VLC runs on
Windows XP SP-3 to Windows 10.

While the Playback menu has Skip Forward and Skip Backward options, it
is clumsy to keep going into the menus to do this. The author did not
assign a hotkey to those actions to make it easy and quick to access
them from the keyboard. I suppose you could use AutoHotkey to assign
hotkeys while VLC was loaded that would run through the menus to give
quick keyboard access to the Skip Forward/Backup menu items. Yuck.

I customized the toolbar to add controls, like Step Forward and Step
Backward. While the increment might be configurable, I didn't change
it. Those controls allow me to skip forward/reverse by 10 seconds.

My customized toolbar (at the bottom) has, left to right:
Play/Pause
Stop
Previous Media
Slower (each press decreases playback speed)
Step Backward (back 10 seconds) ---.--- What you asked for
Step Forward (forward 10 seconds) ---'
Faster (each press increases playback speed)
spacer
Fullscreen toggle
Extended settings
spacer
Toggle playlist
Loop one, loop all, no loop
Random
flexspace
Speed
flexspace
Mute
Volume control (plus mouse wheel changes volume when hovered over video)

So the controls you want *are* available in VLC either in the menu or by
customizing the toolbar to add the buttons. Use the Tools - Customize
menu to alter the toolbar buttons. There are lots of buttons or
controls you can add to one, or more, toolbars. Enjoy customizing.

I finally gave up on watching with my TV because I thought I could
watch on the computer, but I keep wanting to go back and look at
something again and I keep restarting from the beginning!

Why not use the looping control in VLC? That button is in the small but
preset toolbar. If you are try to inspect some special effect or read
something that goes by too fast, use the small prest toolbar that lets
you move frame by frame (after pausing playback). I use that a lot when
I'm digging into a movie. For example, in Zootopia, you can find
background promos, like Zolex instead of Rolex and Kodiak instead of
Kodak. When Judy comes into the city on the train, in Tundra Town you
can see two kiddy bears wearing Anna and Elsa outfits from Frozen. When
something blows up in a movie, sometimes I want to see it frame by
frame. VLC is very handy for that. I like the Step Forward (more so
than the Step Backward) to drag the slider to a part of the movie where
I want to start watching but use stepping to inch me to the spot where I
want to start watching instead of having to keep dragging the slider
fore and aft. I like pause and slower modes to let me read the credits
(yeah, I do read those).

micky wrote:
I need a DVD player, preferably free, that will work with win10 and will
allow 5- or 10-second rewind, at the touch of a button.

My digitial OTA/DVD with harddrive that is 11 years old allows this, and
all the VCR's even if they're 30 years old have rewind in small amounts,
and Youtube has it, but my versions of VLC and PowerDVD either don't
allow it or are hard to use.

Are newer versions better? Or is there some other program that one
click and you go back 10 seconds?


I finally gave up on watching with my TV because I thought I could
watch on the computer, but I keep wanting to go back and look at
something again and I keep restarting from the beginning!

TIA

For commercial DVDs, there can be "reasons" it doesn't seek :-)

http://forum.doom9.org/archive/index.php/t-154639.html

Paul

Paul wrote:

micky wrote:

I need a DVD player, preferably free, that will work with win10 and will
allow 5- or 10-second rewind, at the touch of a button.

For commercial DVDs, there can be "reasons" it doesn't seek :-)
http://forum.doom9.org/archive/index.php/t-154639.html

I forgot that the video's author must insert key frames. That lets the
player jump to those interpolation points in the video. Without key
frames, there is no seeking (aka stepping). It's one of the reasons the
player gets out of sync resulting in artifacts, like pixelation. I've
seen key frames so far apart that seeking results in huge jumps across
the video. If key frames are missing or more are wanted (for smaller
interpolation intervals), the video has to get re-coded to add them.

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Sun, 13 May 2018 02:44:46 -0400, Paul
wrote:

micky wrote:
I need a DVD player, preferably free, that will work with win10 and will
allow 5- or 10-second rewind, at the touch of a button.

My digitial OTA/DVD with harddrive that is 11 years old allows this, and
all the VCR's even if they're 30 years old have rewind in small amounts,
and Youtube has it, but my versions of VLC and PowerDVD either don't
allow it or are hard to use.

Are newer versions better? Or is there some other program that one
click and you go back 10 seconds?


I finally gave up on watching with my TV because I thought I could
watch on the computer, but I keep wanting to go back and look at
something again and I keep restarting from the beginning!

TIA

For commercial DVDs, there can be "reasons" it doesn't seek :-)

http://forum.doom9.org/archive/index.php/t-154639.html

Interesting page.

Since I posted, I dl'd 5KPlayer also. With those that allow it, I can
move to other locations by moving the dot, or maybe it's by clicking on
the progress line, but it's so hard todo it accurately that I have to
play through 3 minutes of what I just saw when I only want 5 or 10
seconds.

Of course I'm planning ahead for other DVD's. The PC monitor has the
advantage of being wide, and none of my tvs are. (Yes, I could afford to
buy a new tv, but there is no room for one, well maybe in the kitchen,
but if I put it there, I'll eat all the time I'm watching a movie.)
Paul

In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Sat, 12 May 2018 23:40:18 -0500,
VanguardLH wrote:

micky wrote:

I need a DVD player, preferably free, that will work with win10 and will
allow 5- or 10-second rewind, at the touch of a button.
snipped the reminiscing
but my versions of VLC and PowerDVD either don't
allow it or are hard to use.

Are newer versions better?

You never mentioned what version of VLC that *you* are using. Note the
version below that I use.

I have VLC 2.2.6 on Windows 7 x64 Home. It is up to 3.0.2. I have it

Yes, I see that I have 2.2.6 also. I suppose I should update to 3.0.2
before modifying, but otoh, I know you got it to work with 2.2.6 so
maybe I should stick with that. Never mind. I read more of your post.

configured to notify of updates but haven't seen any. VLC runs on
Windows XP SP-3 to Windows 10.

While the Playback menu has Skip Forward and Skip Backward options, it
is clumsy to keep going into the menus to do this. The author did not
assign a hotkey to those actions to make it easy and quick to access
them from the keyboard. I suppose you could use AutoHotkey to assign
hotkeys while VLC was loaded that would run through the menus to give
quick keyboard access to the Skip Forward/Backup menu items. Yuck.

I customized the toolbar to add controls, like Step Forward and Step
Backward. While the increment might be configurable, I didn't change
it. Those controls allow me to skip forward/reverse by 10 seconds.

That sounds fine. 10 seconds was just what I wanted.

My customized toolbar (at the bottom) has, left to right:
Play/Pause
Stop
Previous Media
Slower (each press decreases playback speed)
Step Backward (back 10 seconds) ---.--- What you asked for
Step Forward (forward 10 seconds) ---'
Faster (each press increases playback speed)
spacer
Fullscreen toggle
Extended settings
spacer
Toggle playlist
Loop one, loop all, no loop
Random
flexspace
Speed
flexspace
Mute
Volume control (plus mouse wheel changes volume when hovered over video)

So the controls you want *are* available in VLC either in the menu or by
customizing the toolbar to add the buttons. Use the Tools - Customize
menu to alter the toolbar buttons. There are lots of buttons or
controls you can add to one, or more, toolbars. Enjoy customizing.

I did step backwards and forwards and that's enough to make me keep
using VLC. So I'll look at the rest of the options later. It didn't
occur to me that there would be so many options that werren't already on
the toolbar.

I finally gave up on watching with my TV because I thought I could
watch on the computer, but I keep wanting to go back and look at
something again and I keep restarting from the beginning!

Why not use the looping control in VLC? That button is in the small but
preset toolbar. If you are try to inspect some special effect or read
something that goes by too fast, use the small prest toolbar that lets
you move frame by frame (after pausing playback). I use that a lot when
I'm digging into a movie. For example, in Zootopia, you can find
background promos, like Zolex instead of Rolex and Kodiak instead of
Kodak. When Judy comes into the city on the train, in Tundra Town you
can see two kiddy bears wearing Anna and Elsa outfits from Frozen. When
something blows up in a movie, sometimes I want to see it frame by
frame. VLC is very handy for that. I like the Step Forward (more so
than the Step Backward) to drag the slider to a part of the movie where
I want to start watching but use stepping to inch me to the spot where I
want to start watching instead of having to keep dragging the slider
fore and aft. I like pause and slower modes to let me read the credits
(yeah, I do read those).

I'll have to investigate looping and slow. I do know about pause, at
least.

I had looked at other players on the web, but their descriptions don't
go into things like this. Thanks a lot.

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...

snip

So the controls you want *are* available in VLC either in the menu or by
customizing the toolbar to add the buttons. Use the Tools - Customize
menu to alter the toolbar buttons. There are lots of buttons or
controls you can add to one, or more, toolbars. Enjoy customizing.


Don't use VLC very often but handy to know.
Thanks.

--
Regards
wasbit

On Sun, 13 May 2018 10:56:21 +0100, "wasbit"
wrote:

"VanguardLH" wrote in message
...

snip

So the controls you want *are* available in VLC either in the menu or by
customizing the toolbar to add the buttons. Use the Tools - Customize
menu to alter the toolbar buttons. There are lots of buttons or
controls you can add to one, or more, toolbars. Enjoy customizing.


Don't use VLC very often but handy to know.

MX Player for Android does 10 second backward and forward.

Thanks.

micky wrote:
In alt.comp.os.windows-10, on Sun, 13 May 2018 02:44:46 -0400, Paul
wrote:

micky wrote:
I need a DVD player, preferably free, that will work with win10 and will
allow 5- or 10-second rewind, at the touch of a button.

My digitial OTA/DVD with harddrive that is 11 years old allows this, and
all the VCR's even if they're 30 years old have rewind in small amounts,
and Youtube has it, but my versions of VLC and PowerDVD either don't
allow it or are hard to use.

Are newer versions better? Or is there some other program that one
click and you go back 10 seconds?


I finally gave up on watching with my TV because I thought I could
watch on the computer, but I keep wanting to go back and look at
something again and I keep restarting from the beginning!

TIA
For commercial DVDs, there can be "reasons" it doesn't seek :-)

http://forum.doom9.org/archive/index.php/t-154639.html

Interesting page.

Since I posted, I dl'd 5KPlayer also. With those that allow it, I can
move to other locations by moving the dot, or maybe it's by clicking on
the progress line, but it's so hard todo it accurately that I have to
play through 3 minutes of what I just saw when I only want 5 or 10
seconds.

Of course I'm planning ahead for other DVD's. The PC monitor has the
advantage of being wide, and none of my tvs are. (Yes, I could afford to
buy a new tv, but there is no room for one, well maybe in the kitchen,
but if I put it there, I'll eat all the time I'm watching a movie.)

You could try re-encoding it.

That's if you need a hobby or something :-) (Lotta work)

The encoding on the DVD should be VBR, which means the byte
distance between keyframes isn't a constant value. If the player
could "scan for keyframes" and build a table, that would be useful.
(As scanning backwards doesn't sound like quite as much fun. I
understand at least one of the packet types has info to make
that easier.)

Scanning in the forward direction should work well, because
each "packet" in the stream has a length field. And with a hard
drive, you could probably easily scan at hard drive rate. You could
scan a 1GB chapter in a video (the largest the standard recommends)
in about 5 seconds, on a 200MB/sec hard drive. However, doing
that kind of scanning on a DVD drive would be prohibitive...
and it would make a lot of noise.

If a video was encoded CBR, the quality factor Q is adjusted between
1 (high quality) and 31 (low quality) or so, to maintain the bitrate.
It means, in an action movie, if there was an "explosion" on the
screen, it would be fuzzy and blurry, as the Q went to 31 to try to
contain the bitrate. Two-pass VBR encoding on the other hand, makes
the best usage of the resources available (and that's a likely format
for a commercial DVD).

I wasn't aware there were other ways to "ruin" a movie. Those movie
people think of everything.

The video and audio packets are interleaved. So you might have
V A A A V A A V and so on. Where a group of 12 or 15 V's is
a GOP. The GOP maximum of 600, makes for a movie with super-lousy
seek characteristics.

I studied some of this, using "ffprobe" from ffmpeg package.
It can convert a movie into the individual packets, making
it easier for humans to read what is going on. You can see,
for example, the keyframes are a lot larger than the
incremental packets between keyframes.

With hard drive re-encoding, you have a lot of freedom to
change formats. If you want something "good" to stuff back
onto a DVD+RW, that's an entirely different issue. A DVD
is a very restrictive kind of container, especially with
older set top players not being very flexible.

The uncompressed video my WinTV card used to capture from
a VCR 2 hour movie, was around 200GB. That drops to 70GB or so,
if using HUFFYUV (a lossless video compressor). Notice we're
still a long way from 9GB dual-layer for a Hollywood encoding,
or 4.7GB for a home re-encoding of Hollywood content. Real (lossy)
video formats have much higher compression ratios. And one of the prices
you pay, is less seek-ability.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huffyuv

Your project will make a great hobby. Think of the fun you'll
have :-/

Paul

micky wrote:

Of course I'm planning ahead for other DVD's. The PC monitor has the
advantage of being wide, and none of my tvs are. (Yes, I could afford to
buy a new tv, but there is no room for one, well maybe in the kitchen,
but if I put it there, I'll eat all the time I'm watching a movie.)

I have a friend that installed a 31" Sony TV on a dinette wall by the table.
Now he and his wife just sit there watching tv and eating all day.

Lucifer Morningstar wrote:

MX Player for Android does 10 second backward and forward.

What has anything Android have to do with this thread? Hmm, what was
the name of this newsgroup again?

VanguardLH wrote:
Lucifer Morningstar wrote:

MX Player for Android does 10 second backward and forward.

What has anything Android have to do with this thread? Hmm, what was
the name of this newsgroup again?

He probably recognizes the OP (micky ) as a
regular from comp.mobile.android and probably thought that he might be
interested in an Android answer as well.

So we - micky, Lucifer, you and me - are all members of both groups.
How about *them* Apples ... oops! ... apples!?

--
Frank "Rocket Science R Us" Slootweg