Video - Different Encoded Date

[Dvořák Štěpán]

Do you know why these variables show me different values for the same video file?

• [=tcmediainfo.Encoded Date.Y-M-D h:m:s]
• [=mediainfo.encoded date.Y-M-D h:m:s]

[Dalai]

There's not just a single encoded date for MP4 and MKV files. Take a look at the MediaInfo application (avoid downloading the installer, get the portable 7Z archive instead).

Every stream within a file can have an encoded date, i.e. the file overall (Encoded_Date_General), the video stream (Encoded_Date_Video), the audio stream (Encoded_Date_Audio) and so on. Usually these dates should match but they can be (vastly) different. Here's an excerpt of the MediaInfo output of one video I found on my drive:

Code: Select all

General
[...]
Encoded date                             : UTC 2015-03-16 16:24:01
Tagged date                              : UTC 2015-03-16 16:24:01
[...]

Video
ID                                       : 1
[...]
Encoded date                             : UTC 1970-01-01 00:00:00
Tagged date                              : UTC 2015-03-16 16:24:17

Audio
ID                                       : 2
[...]
Encoded date                             : UTC 2015-03-16 16:24:10
Tagged date                              : UTC 2015-03-16 16:24:17

As you can see the timestamps can differ by a few seconds or can even be null (hence 1970-01-01, i.e. Epoch).

Regards
Dalai

[Dvořák Štěpán]

I understand. Thank you very much!

[beb]

The best way, imho, to quickly obtain all the pure date-related (meta)data:

example command:

Code: Select all

$files  = (Get-ChildItem -file -recurse)
foreach  ($file in $files) {
$i = $file.FullName
Write-Host "file : $i" -f Blue
ExifTool "$i" -directory -filename -G1 -a -time:all
}

example output:

Code: Select all

[System]        Directory                       : C:/Test
[System]        File Name                       : test.mov
[System]        File Modification Date/Time     : 2023:01:06 09:51:48+02:00
[System]        File Access Date/Time           : 2024:01:14 14:08:44+02:00
[System]        File Creation Date/Time         : 2023:11:15 18:27:06+02:00
[QuickTime]     Create Date                     : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
[QuickTime]     Modify Date                     : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
[Track1]        Track Create Date               : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
[Track1]        Track Modify Date               : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
[Track1]        Media Create Date               : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
[Track1]        Media Modify Date               : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
[Track2]        Track Create Date               : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
[Track2]        Track Modify Date               : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
[Track2]        Media Create Date               : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
[Track2]        Media Modify Date               : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
[Olympus]       Date Time 1                     : Sat Oct 29 18:39:03 2016
[Olympus]       Date Time 2                     : Sat Oct 29 18:39:03 2016

Comparable, but still less informative ExifTool and MediaInfo filtered commands:

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ExifTool  -short "$i"|where {$PSitem -like '*date*'}
MediaInfo --full "$i"|where {$PSitem -like '*date*'}

example output:

Code: Select all

# ExifTool filtered *date*
FileModifyDate                  : 2023:01:06 09:51:48+02:00
FileAccessDate                  : 2024:01:14 14:30:02+02:00
FileCreateDate                  : 2023:11:15 18:27:06+02:00
CreateDate                      : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
ModifyDate                      : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
TrackCreateDate                 : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
TrackModifyDate                 : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
MediaCreateDate                 : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
MediaModifyDate                 : 2016:10:29 18:39:03
DateTime1                       : Sat Oct 29 18:39:03 2016
DateTime2                       : Sat Oct 29 18:39:03 2016

# MediaInfo filtered *date*
Encoded date                             : 2016-10-29 18:39:03 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2016-10-29 18:39:03 UTC
File creation date                       : 2023-11-15 16:27:06.400 UTC
File creation date (local)               : 2023-11-15 18:27:06.400
File last modification date              : 2023-01-06 07:51:48.000 UTC
File last modification date (local)      : 2023-01-06 09:51:48.000
Encoded date                             : 2016-10-29 18:39:03 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2016-10-29 18:39:03 UTC
Encoded date                             : 2016-10-29 18:39:03 UTC
Tagged date                              : 2016-10-29 18:39:03 UTC

NB
command syntax: PowerShell
tools:
ExifTool: https://exiftool.org
-- current: https://exiftool.org/exiftool-12.73.zip
MediaInfo: https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo/Download/Windows
-- current: https://mediaarea.net/download/binary/mediainfo/23.11.1/MediaInfo_CLI_23.11.1_Windows_x64.zip