Knowledge Base

Supported Video File Formats for EthoVision XT 12–16

EthoVision XT supports playback of the following digital video file formats:

• MPEG-1 – No longer supported in EthoVision XT 16.
• MPEG-2 – A collection of formats; not all are supported.
• MPEG-4 – A collection of formats; not all are supported.
• MPEG-4 (mp4v) in MP4 container – Created when recording with analog cameras on the Picolo Alert board.
• MPEG-4 DivX in AVI container – Format used by Media Recorder and EthoVision with digital cameras.
• H.264 AVC in MPEG container – Created by Media Recorder 2.5 and earlier with Euresys Picolo H.264 board.
• H.264 AVC in MP4 container – Created by Media Recorder 4.0 with the Picolo H.264 board.
• H.264 AVC – A type of MPEG-4 that is supported.
• DV-AVI – Uncompressed video from FireWire cameras. Not recommended due to large file size.

Important Notes:

• DV-AVI is a special case of AVI. EthoVision does not generally support AVI-format video files, even if the extension is .avi.
• MPEG-4 files may have the extensions .mpg, .mpeg, or .avi, which does not guarantee compatibility.
• Only MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and H.264 files created with Noldus-supplied encoder boards and Media Recorder are guaranteed to work.

Video Decoding Support

• MPEG-1 / MPEG-2: Decoded using MainConcept Decoder (installed with EthoVision XT)
• MPEG-4: Decoded using the standard Windows decoder
• H.264: Requires decoding software installed with EthoVision XT

Video Formats Not Supported

• DivX – except MPEG-4 DivX from Media Recorder
• WMV
• QuickTime (.mov)
• FLV (Flash / YouTube video)
• XviD variants of MPEG-4

Testing Other Formats

Some unsupported formats may still function. Check for Missing Samples and Interpolated Samples (in Detection Settings or Acquisition).

• If either metric is above 1% or shown in red, the video may be dropping frames or have inconsistent timing.

Determining the Format

To check the format of your video:

1. Right-click the file
2. Select Properties

Video Resolution Requirements: Resolution must be at least 640 × 480 and no more than 1920 × 1200.

To check resolution:

1. Right-click the video file
2. Select Properties > Details

Converting Videos

If your video format is unsupported, use a converter to change the format to a compatible one.

MP4Converter (Recommended)

In the converter:

• Set Profile to General Video Format

Recommended Output Formats:

• Observer / FaceReader: DIVX, XVID, MPEG-1, or MPEG-2
• EthoVision / DanioScope: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, or DIVX
• For MTS files: Convert to DIVX or XVID (MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 often fail)

This tool offers a trial to convert the first 3 minutes of a video for compatibility testing.

Handbrake (Free)

Settings in Handbrake:

• Summary tab: Format = MP4
• Video tab: Codec = H.264, Frame Rate = “Same as Source”, enable Constant Framerate