XPost: misc.phone.mobile.iphone, rec.photo.digital   
   From: mariasophia@comprehension.com   
      
   ...w¡ñ§±¤ñ wrote:   
   > It's really simple, one only needs Window 10/11 in an untampered install   
   > and Irfanview with default settings and no other software to play   
   > iPhone/iPad 'Most compatible' created MOV and Live Photo Files.   
   >   
   > Hint: It's not Irfanview why it works.   
      
   Thanks Winston. For the benefit of others following along in the Windows,   
   iOS, and digital photography groups, I want to summarize the situation   
   without getting pulled into personalities.   
      
   There is no "riddle" here. The difference in behavior between your system   
   and mine comes down to configuration history.   
      
   IrfanView preserves its settings across upgrades. On my system, the   
   QuickTime option had been enabled years ago when QuickTime for Windows   
   was still common. Once that option is enabled, IrfanView will continue   
   to try to load QUICKTIME.DLL even if the DLL is no longer present. That   
   is exactly what happened: IrfanView attempted to load QuickTime first,   
   failed immediately, and never fell back to DirectShow.   
      
   Disabling the QuickTime option resolved the issue instantly.   
      
   Your system did not have that option enabled, so IrfanView used   
   DirectShow from the start. That explains the difference in behavior.   
      
   Regarding iTunes: installing iTunes does not install the old QuickTime   
   Player, but it does install Apple Application Support (32-bit and   
   64-bit), Apple Mobile Device Support, CoreMedia components, ImageIO, and   
   other Apple-originated media libraries. These do not replace DirectShow,   
   but they do participate in how Windows parses MOV containers, Live Photo   
   paired assets, and certain HEVC/H.264 combinations. Their presence means   
   your system is not identical to a stock Windows installation.   
      
   None of this is controversial. It simply explains why two different   
   systems, with different histories and different installed components,   
   behaved differently.   
      
   For others reading along, the practical takeaway is straightforward:   
      
   1. If IrfanView is set to use QuickTime and QUICKTIME.DLL is missing,   
      MOV playback will fail immediately.   
      
   2. Disabling the QuickTime option forces IrfanView to use DirectShow.   
      
   3. DirectShow requires appropriate decoders (LAV Filters or equivalent)   
      to handle HEVC/H.264 inside MOV containers, including those produced   
      by Live Photos.   
      
   4. Live Photos do not always obey the "Most Compatible" setting. The   
      still image may be JPEG, but the motion clip may still be HEVC inside   
      a MOV container depending on device and iOS version.   
      
   Posting this summary for the benefit of others who may encounter the   
   same issue on systems with older IrfanView configurations or without   
   Apple media components installed.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)