Quick Solution:
Windows Users:
1. Type iv5setup.exe or iv5play.exe in your favorite search engine (we have one copy mirrored here)
2. Purchase it from Ligos ($15)
3. Play the file with QuickTime Player prior to version 7.5.5 *
QuickTime 7.5.0 (Windows XP, Vista)
QuickTime 7.1.6 (Windows 2000)
QuickTime 6.5.2 (Windows 98, Me)
QuickTime 5.0.2 (Windows 95)
* Additional plugins may be needed for Indeo 4 or 5 playback - see at the end of this post.
Mac Users: Use MPlayer OS X http://mplayerosx.sourceforge.net/
For older versions of Mac OS (9 and below), see next post.
More info:
INDEO = INtel viDEO
The last free version of the Indeo installation package is 5.11. Version 5.2 (the latest) is pay and sold by Ligos, and is sometimes called Indeo XP.
The various versions of Indeo are not backwards-compatible with each other (like the DivX’s for example) - they are totally different codecs (meaning Indeo 5 can’t decode 3 nor 4, etc.) Fortunately, most installers will bundle the three most relevant versions (3, 4, and 5).
Intel originally reserved the fourcc’s IV30 all the way to IV50 for its Indeo codecs. IV31, IV32, IV41, and IV50 are probably the only ones you’ll ever encounter. (IV probably stands for Indeo Video.)
Indeo 5 is commonly chosen as the default codec to capture video by many webcams.
Indeo 4 and 5 (not 2 nor 3) are two of the rare codecs (commonly used at one time or other) that do not have open-source decoders (in the form of libavcodec) - meaning ffdshow-tryouts and VLC media player can’t decode them. (Credits to wikipedia article for pointing that out)
Indeo 4 and 5 (and maybe 3 too) are cross-platform (can be in avi or quicktime container). Provided the codecs are properly installed, both QuickTime Player and Windows Media Player can play Indeo in either container.
Microsoft has included various versions of Indeo in its OS since Windows 95. But when Windows XP SP1 was introduced, they removed Indeo 4 and 5 for unknown reasons. Users with clean installs of Windows XP SP1 were stuck with purchasing it from Ligos if they didn’t know of a better way. It appears Indeo 4 and 5 have been reintroduced in Windows XP Service Packs 2 and 3 (most likely due to a flood of death threats to Microsoft support from disgruntled users - just kidding); streaming of Indeo files has been disabled however (that is, playing the file as it is downloading). Odd feature - who streams AVI’s anyway?
— UPDATE — It seems Microsoft pulled all versions of Indeo (3, 4 and 5) altogether from Windows in Vista.
QuickTime for Windows (prior to version 7.5) can play Indeo 3 and 4 automatically, but requires an additional plugin for Indeo 5. If you have QuickTime 5 or 6 and you’re connected to the internet the plugin will download automatically. If not it can be downloaded manually from here http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60369 (mirrored on our site here)
Extract the zip and move the files to your windows/system (windows 95, 98, me), winnt/system32 (windows nt 4, 2000), or windows/system32 (windows xp, vista 32-bit) folder. If you have QuickTime 7 move the files to the winnt/system32/quicktime (windows nt 4, 2000) or windows/system32/quicktime (windows xp, vista 32-bit) folder. The Indeo 5 plugin works with versions 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 (up to 7.5.0) of QuickTime for Windows.
It seems as of QuickTime 7.5 for Windows, Apple pulled the plug on Indeo 4. If you need the Indeo 4 plugin for QuickTime for Windows, get it here. Just move the file Indeo4.qtx file into your C:\Program Files\QuickTime\QTSystem folder.
- NEW - Apple removed support for all versions of Indeo (3, 4, 5) in QuickTime 7.5.5 for Windows. This seems hard-coded into the player: putting plug-ins into the appropriate folders no longer works to restore playback.
Miscellaneous: Intel once released a nifty tool for cross-platform conversions called SmartVideo. SmartVideo will losslessly transcode an Indeo file back and forth between QuickTime and AVI containers. I’ve tested it with Indeo 3, 4, 5, and a Cinepak file and conversion works very well from avi to quicktime (all files were readable by QuickTime Player). Conversion back from a QuickTime Pro-produced Cinepak file to avi works, but not so for Indeo 4 or 5 (the error message I got was “could not read video file headers”). Perhaps the version of QuickTime Pro I was using was too new.
— UPDATE —
SmartVideo does in fact convert without any problems with QuickTime Pro 3-produced mov files. Apple may have modified mov headers in later versions. (I have not tested with QuickTime Pro 4 or 5 yet.)
One more note: although SmartVideo is a great lossless transcoder, it does NOT interleave the output file. You can do that yourself using VirtualDub using a Direct Stream Copy.
In my testing Indeo 5 files approximately match MPEG-1 videos of the same resolution/quality in size, and also display similar kind of artifacts (mostly square blocks) at low bitrates.
— NOT COMPLETE —
(Based on information from the now-defunct www.codeccentral.com and John McGowan’s AVI overview.)
Indeo 3 uses vector quantization based image compression.
Indeo 4 is totally different and is based on a “hybrid wavelet algorithm” according to Intel.
Indeo 5 —
Keywords: Indeo, Ligos, IV31, IV32, IV41, IV50, Indeo Video, Indeo Video Interactive, Indeo XP
IV31 IV32 IV41 IV50 : Indeo 3, 4, and 5
Users of older versions of Mac OS can get Indeo plugins for QuickTime at the following links
Indeo 5: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=60366
Indeo 4: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=30904
Indeo 3: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=30903
If you’re going to get one of the older free versions of Indeo on the net, you may be concerned about viruses because it’s an executable. Here’s a list of some known versions of Indeo and their sizes in bytes so you can cross-check (and put your mind at ease).
Most of these packages will contain versions 3, 4, and 5 of Indeo in them, and despite what anyone says, will work on most Windows systems (even XP and Vista ones).
filename______size_______version
indeo.exe_____786,944___5.03
iv5play.exe___823,808____5.06
codinstl.exe___1,860,416__5.07 (also includes i.263)
iv5setup.exe__1,946,377__5.10
iv5setup.exe__1,964,075__5.11 (Intel)
iv5setup.exe__2,068,266__5.11 (switched over to Ligos)
P.S: Sorry about the underscores... tabs don’t seem implemented.
Thanks Very Much for the info. 
Can now watch my old video clips instead of listerning to them.
Rgds.
Great post,
But do copy your video to a local hard disk. Playing from a mounted network drive didn’t work for me.
That note about nobody wanting to stream AVI files got me triggered: many of us will want to stream from a fast network location, yet that might not work even if you do mount a drive letter first...
Regards, Eric
You can get Intel Video to play in Vista with the following registry changes. Microsoft includes the decoders in Vista, but has them deactivated from the factory. Note that this will only work playing the videos on a lcoal hard drive, not a network share.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32]
“vidc.iv31”=“ir32_32.dll”
“vidc.iv32”=“ir32_32.dll”
“vidc.iv41”=“ir41_32.ax”
“vidc.iv50”=“ir50_32.dll”
Key Master - An elegantly simple and superb solution.
Saved from trial and error codec installs and all the lovely stuff that comes with them.
Thank you
key master wrote: You can get Intel Video to play in Vista with the following registry changes.
Tadam! It works!!!
Thanks a lot,
Krzysztof
key master wrote: You can get Intel Video to play in Vista with the following registry changes. Microsoft includes the decoders in Vista, but has them deactivated from the factory. Note that this will only work playing the videos on a lcoal hard drive, not a network share.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32]
“vidc.iv31”=“ir32_32.dll”
“vidc.iv32”=“ir32_32.dll”
“vidc.iv41”=“ir41_32.ax”
“vidc.iv50”=“ir50_32.dll”
Unfortunately, in my case it’s doesn’t works. I do something wrong. Please would you be more specific, about adding these lines? I added this commands like alphanumeric values, writing the first part of every line in the name field, and the second in the information field.
Thank you very much.
Jorge from Madrid wrote: Unfortunately, in my case it’s doesn’t works. I do something wrong. Please would you be more specific, about adding these lines? I added this commands like alphanumeric values, writing the first part of every line in the name field, and the second in the information field.
Thank you very much.
You have navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32 then add a New String (Edit > New > String value).
Give it a name of vidc.iv50 for example, then press return on the string and give it a value of ir50_32.dll
worked ine in vista for IV4 for myself.
key master wrote: You can get Intel Video to play in Vista with the following registry changes. Microsoft includes the decoders in Vista, but has them deactivated from the factory. Note that this will only work playing the videos on a lcoal hard drive, not a network share.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Drivers32]
“vidc.iv31”=“ir32_32.dll”
“vidc.iv32”=“ir32_32.dll”
“vidc.iv41”=“ir41_32.ax”
“vidc.iv50”=“ir50_32.dll”
I have been sitting at this computer for 3 hours trying to get my old logitech webcam videos to work. I have downloaded countless programs and codec packs and NONE have worked. This simple edit did! THANK YOU!!!!!!
this also works in Windows 7. Windows Media Player plays with no problem after making reg entries