Bitrate Viewer is functionally derived and rewritten from DVD-Lab PRO's integrated Bitrate Viewer with some additional enhancements and specials.

The main concept of this tool is to analyze all MPEG material from which you can create DVD's directly with a DVD authoring tool and draw a graphical histogram from analysis. So it should be able to read all files that include a video track and that you can use as assets for an authoring tool. With the graphical output you can easily view the quality of your video files before you're outputting it to a DVD and so save a lot of money by avoiding the production of any bad stuff. That's the main reason Bitrate Viewer is written for. Maybe one of the best things of it: Bitrate Viewer is free software.

The bitrate of a video track is measured in bits per second which is considered as the physical unit. Remark: In the Bitrate Viewer tool that comes with DVD-Lab PRO you can switch between metrical and binary display of the bitrate - here with this tool you can't per author's decision.

Features
1. Main Menu:
The menu displayed right hand here is a blown up version of the dialog's system menu. Click onto the top left corner of the application's window frame to open it.
2. Drag & Drop:
You can drag and drop selected files from Windows Explorer onto a running Bitrate Viewer's dialog so that the tool stops any currently analysis processing and tries to open your dropped file as the new source.
3. Double Size Mode:
As of version 2.2 you can toggle/switch the main window's size twice its standard size.
4. 4 Calculation Algorithms:
You can dynamically choose between the following bitrate calculation schemes: Second based (standard), GOP based, Enhanced GOP based and Single frame based.
5. Bitrate Viewer Cache:
Each video file successfully processed will be cached internally, i.e. the bitrate data only, not the video file itself. So if you switch between the calculation algorithm settings (s.a.) you get the next view redisplayed very fast after it has been processed once.
6. Indicator LED:
When you open a file that is big enough to take at least some seconds to process at all you'll see an indicating blinking LED in the top left corner of the view window.
7. Timecode status:
The status of the indicator LED mentioned above will be displayed permanent below the MPEG layer and stream type on the left with an abbreviated note. You'll see either PTS or NAV for the LED, GOP for the LED, SCR for the LED.
8. CRC status display:
For MPEG 2 PS and TS a CRC check is performed according to Annex A of the ISO/IEC MPEG specification during file header analysis. If a CRC error is detected you will have an additional status display on the left hand pane. Detection of CRC errors don't have any influence on the bitrate analysis itself - despite it can be that frame read errors may occur.
9. Program/PID display:
MPEG 2 TS files can have multiple video and audio streams. Normally the first unscrambled/non-encrypted video stream will be selected by the interface to analyze. You will see an additional information display with the TS selected program number and PID. MPEG 4 TS and M2TS files can have multiple video and audio stream as well but the integrated interface doesn't make a check on it.
10. Marker lines:
Two horizontal lines in the viewer window are predefined and always visible: A red maximum bitrate marker that normally shows up on 10,000kpbs to remind to the DVD spec's maximum and a black line in the middle of the view.
11. Cursor movement:
When you move the mouse pointer over the viewer window a black vertical line will be displayed as a cursor that tracks your mouse movement within the histogram. Sometimes you may find that bothering ... so a Alt-RightClick with the mouse will hide the cursor or make it re-appear.
12. Scaling:
The standard display scale can show a maximum of something more than 10,000kbps. You may have DV files which much more than that or MPEG4 files that have much less than even 2,000kbps. To scale such a file properly use a LeftDoubleClick in the viewer window and it will be done so. If auto-scaling is active you will notice as of version 2.1 also the preview window will adapt to the current needed scale while reading a file.
13. GOP information:
During frame count estimation the first GOP (Group of Pictures) and the last GOP of a file is read if found and analyzed. On MPEG files a re-ordering of B-frames will occur to get the correct playback sequence of all frames. Frame re-ordering and the position of the individual frame PTS are important facts to calculate an accurate frame count. You can display the status of these two GOP's by moving the mouse pointer onto the top left corner of the viewer window.
14. Multiple instances:
The tool is a simple Windows dialog ... but if you are really frightened to switch between many files and have to read and analyze them all the time - you don't need that. Notice that a small tray icon is installed after starting the tool. In its context menu you can Duplicate current instance as often as you need it. Some handling for multiple instances you will find in this context menu - just RightClick it.
15. Gradient color display:
With the standard setting the viewer window will show the bitrate sample values in gradient colors and the caption headers right beneath the viewer window are painted in gradient colors as well. By pressing Shift-RightClick or Ctrl-C you can change the display type into fixed colors for the viewer window and with Ctrl-D for the caption headers. These commands are toggle switches.
16. Multi-zoom mode:
Since version 2.0 you can zoom a marked area within the viewer window several times downto a single sample depth view.

The license of this software is Free, you can free download and free use this video utility software.