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VFW_E_RPZA
Meaning
Windows documents VFW_E_RPZA as “Cannot play back the video stream: format 'RPZA' is not supported”. Here, DirectShow encounters Apple Video RPZA content for which the installed graph has no supported decoding path.
Evidence worth preserving
- Evidence 1: stream subtype or four-character code.
- Evidence 2: container track table and codec tag.
- Evidence 3: candidate decoder list and platform architecture.
Relevant contract
This result describes a capability or format boundary in a component graph. Container recognition, elementary-stream parsing, decoder selection, property metadata and renderer acceptance are different stages and need separate evidence.
Start with the source filter, decoder or codec property provider and downstream connection.
Conditions that can produce it
- Cause 1: the file uses the legacy RPZA codec.
- Cause 2: a decoder present on another machine is absent from this deployment.
- Cause 3: container detection succeeds but codec policy excludes the required component.
Correction strategy
- Action 1: transcode the asset to a supported format.
- Action 2: install a trusted RPZA-capable decoder when legacy playback is required.
- Action 3: detect the codec before graph construction and produce a specific compatibility message.
Example incident
A QuickTime-era training clip opens but its video pin advertises RPZA; preflight detection routes it to a conversion workflow instead of repeatedly calling RenderFile.
Retry and recovery
Retry rule: Retry only with a compatible decoder or converted asset; changing audio or renderer settings cannot decode RPZA video.
How it differs from nearby results
VFW_E_NO_DECOMPRESSOR is generic decoder absence, while it explicitly identifies the unsupported RPZA format.
Official Microsoft references
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