[Mike99]

I know that Windows Media Player does not utilize the EXIF orientation tag to automatically rotate jpg photos. And of course neither does WMC.


I can install other software on the HTPC but was trying to keep the number of programs to a bare minimum. I know I'm grasping at straws here, but is there any add or modification for WMC that corrects this?

 

[gcoupe]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike99  /t/1418002/wmc-and-exif-orientation-tag-for-jpegs#post_22176748


I know that Windows Media Player does not utilize the EXIF orientation tag to automatically rotate jpg photos. And of course neither does WMC.

Using the import function of Windows Live Photo Gallery to transfer photos from cameras to hard disc seems to set the correct orientations. Subsequently, both WMP and WMC display landscape and portrait oriented photos just fine.

 

[Mike99]

My photos are already on the desktop HDD and the portrait oriented ones are stored sideways. You can see this when using Windows Photo Viewer because it does use the EXIF orientation tag, and neither does WMP/WMC. All my other viewing & graphic programs do a soft rotate & display them properly without actually changing the file. It's a known issue that M$ does not use the EXIF orientation tag, and yet most other software has done this for years.


I actually came across something discussing one of the M$ photo programs & it changed the chroma subsampling before rotating the image, thereby affecting image quality. I don't think it was Windows Live Photo Gallery, but who knows.


I'm not going to change the photos already on the HDD because everything else out there properly handles them. I'll just install the small & fast IrfanView on the HTPC.

 

[gcoupe]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike99  /t/1418002/wmc-and-exif-orientation-tag-for-jpegs#post_22180017


It's a known issue that M$ does not use the EXIF orientation tag.

Is it?


As I say, I'm using MS software that seems perfectly happy to acknowledge Exif orientation tags...

 

[Mike99]



Quote:
Originally Posted by gcoupe  /t/1418002/wmc-and-exif-orientation-tag-for-jpegs#post_22180131


Is it?

As I say, I'm using MS software that seems perfectly happy to acknowledge Exif orientation tags...

What MS software are you using?


When I was working with jpegs last year every comment that I read said MS did not use the orientation tags, at least when displaying a jpeg video. Here’s a link to a MS website which states that Photo Gallery rotates, but only when importing jpegs.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-pictures/windows-photo-viewer-or-live-photo-gallery-does/a161c8da-c1ce-4347-a92e-724f9e535c15


And here’s a lot more about Windows not using the orientation tag.
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-pictures/windows-7-not-auto-rotating-pictures/602f19ed-e0d0-4624-b5de-859ca2103814?page=1

 

[gcoupe]

When I'm importing data from my consumer digital camera (a Canon Ixus), I use the import function of Windows Live Photo Gallery. When importing data from my Windows Phone (Nokia Lumia 800), I use Zune software. As noted in the threads you reference, both these Microsoft software products will comply with the orientation flag in the image as part of the importation process.


When transferring images off the SD card used in my DSLR, I use the import process of a third party product, IDimager, to transfer the images and to stamp my copyright info and other metadata as IPTC/Core metadata into the images. I also use IDimager to manage the metadata in the images from the Ixus and Windows Phone.


As a result, all images are shown with the correct orientation when viewed in either Windows Explorer, WLPG, IDimager or other image software that I occasionally use (e.g. Geosetter).


Oh, I should also add that I use the FastPictureViewer Codec Pack to support display of RAW formats within Windows, but I have deliberately NOT installed its JPEG codec with its "auto-rotate" function. I use the built-in Microsoft JPEG codec.

 

[Mike99]

I tried using Windows a couple times when importing photos from my Canon camera. I don't recall if this using a USB connection from the camera or directly from the SD card, but it was the program that automatically came up. Problem is that it renumbered all my photos & they did not match what was on the SD card. And every time a new batch was imported the numbers started over so I ended up with duplicate numbers. Obviously I stopped using that method and went back to using the Canon software.


All my photos are shown in the correct orientation, as long as I don't use a MS program.


I did rotate some images before copying to an SD card & DVD in order to play on my Blu-ray player. But there was a delay when loading & displaying these portrait images. I went back & used the original "sideways" images and the photos displayed right away. You would think the ones that I had already rotated would display quicker, but that was not the case.


I was also given a DVD with jpegs already rotated & there were no EXIF orientation tags on any of the photos. When it came to displaying the vertical photos there was also a delay.


Maybe it's the Blu-ray player doing something, I have no idea. I have since built the HTPC and will have to try this again & see what happens.

 

[sledge652]

Hey Mike99,

Did you ever find a WMC add-on to address this problem? I have the same issue. When I'm moving picture from my camera to my computer I just drag and drop the bunch. Now when I try to view photos on WMC they are sideways. Very annoying.

 

[Mike99]

I have been using IrfanView to look at jpeg photos, which are on my other PC. WMC displays those large icons or tiles for the folders & the descriptions get truncated. I find it easier to look at the photo folder descriptions (no icons) using Windows Explorer.

 

[sledge652]

I guess if I want to see them oriented correctly in WMC I'll have to get a program to turn them for me on the disk. So dumb that it's not supported.

 

[Mike99]

From what I've read & experienced, it appears MS is possibly the only one that does not use the orientation tags. I agree really dumb.