The best software to play an AVI or MP4 backup video file taken from a camera with a higher then 1080p resolution

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It is recommended to use a free media player called VLC Media Player to play AVI and MP4 backup video files.


VLC Media Player Download


If you have backed up an incident using the AVI or MP4 option, your videos should play in most common media players. AVI and MP4 are widely used video standards so lots of free and commercial media players will play them back.

If you have a camera with a higher mega pixel than the PC monitor you are reviewing footage back on, you may not be getting the true resolution of the recorded video. This is because most media players will fit the video to the current screen resolution so the entire video always is always displayed on the screen, however due to this feature it is usually impossible to increase the zoom level on a video recorded on a 4k CCTV camera in 4K, so unless you are viewing it back on a 4k monitor you will not be able to view the camera in its full resolution.


This becomes a problem if you need to increase the size of the playback to enable you to see smaller details (when displayed in full screen) in more detail.


The image below shows a 4K AVI file created from an NVR5832 being played back on a 1080p monitor using Windows Media Player. As you can see the image is displayed in its entirety and we are unable to increase the zoom level to the true 4K image.

 

1920.jpg

 

In the image below we are looking at the same 4K video file but this time using a media player called VLC. VLC has an advanced feature to allow you to set the video playback resolution to 4K (the image will no longer fit on the screen as it is now much larger) but provide a small window in the top right corner allowing you to move around the image at its correct 4k resolution.

4k.jpg


As default the above feature will not be enabled, like almost every other media player, VLC is set to scale the resolution of the video to your monitor resolution.


To enable the feature open VLC and press Ctrl + E and the following window will open.

adjustments-and-effects.jpg


Select the ‘Video Effects’ tab and then the ‘Geometry’ tab.

geometry.jpg


Within the ‘Geometry’ tab, enable ‘Interactive Zoom’


Then press ‘Save’ and then ‘Close’. You should now see the image size increase and the box appear in the top left of the image to allow you to scroll around the image.

Without Interactive Zoom Enabled

interactive-not-enabled.jpg


With Interactive Zoom Enabled

interactive-enabled.jpg

 

 

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