[Matroska-devel] Re: Re: Re: Re: Tag names

Paul Bryson paul at msn.com
Wed Mar 17 18:57:33 CET 2004

"Age Bosma" wrote...
> I see you added BEATS_PER_MINUTE now, to keep everything a bit more
> consistent and if you prefer this name instead of juts BPM I suggest
> BITSPS get's changed to BITS_PER_SECOND as well. Both could be changed
> to BPS and BPM as well although in case in BPM most people will know
> what it means BPS might be more confusing.

The BITSPS can't be changed because it is already being used.  However, the
BEATS_PER_MINUTE could be changed to either BPM or BEATSPM if you think one or
the other makes more sense.

> This would be two seperate names while the total is just an extend to
> the first. Therefor I would prefer SET_PART and TOTAL_SET_PARTS
> (including the s unlike in the specs now) because both will be easy to
> understand once you know one of them and this won't cause any confusion.

Despite what I wrote in the email, I actually put this in the specs:


These should cover both the TRCK and TPOS tags in ID3.

> While she helped out in only one song on the album you don't see her
> name on the front cover of the album now do you? ;-)

No, but I am guessing that her name is in the booklet under that song. I'm sure
that if you did a poll, you would find that there are a lot of people that would
store this information under different places.  We really need examples to say
what is appropriate.

> I would like to suggest to move the "Titles" section to the to pof the
> page or maybe underneath the "General" section. This would be a more
> logical position because it's more important compared to the rest of the
> tag fields. Also AMOUNT should maybe be placed above CURRENCY.


> As for the consistent and logical naming of fields I would like to
> propose to change the following in the current specs:
>    FILE itself doesn't say anything about the content and because
> ORIGINAL_.... is used in multiple places...



This field is already used so it can't be changed.  However, we need to clarify
how to use it.

>    I'm not a 100% sure about changing this one but desided to mention it
> anyway

They have the same meaning in my mind so I don't see a reason to change it.


Perhaps, given the description, it should be INTENDED_PRODUCT?  This tag comes
from the RIFF specs and I couldn't find a very good description of it.


This change might induce somebody to store more than one instrument in a tag,
which is a no-no.  From the specs, "Multiple items should never be stored as a
list in a single TagString."


Is that really better with DATE_RELEASE just above it?  To my eyes it looks
better this way, but I am not sure.  I asked in IRC and one person responded
that they prefer DRO.  "don't you like french word order?"


Makes sense, changed.

>    Because it's used in together with DATE_END

I originally started with DATE_START but changed it.  It makes little sense for
most items where you only tag a single date, and not a start and end date.


Should a difference be made between lead performer and other performers?

>    ARTIST is used in all other tag types and means the same thing, imo
> it would be unwise to do something completely different in this case.

I assumed it was the same as the ID3v2 TPE1 tag, the Vorbis PERFORMER tag, the
CD CDROM_CD_TEXT_PACK_PERFORMER tag, and the RIFF ISTR tag?  Should there be a
difference between a lead performer and any other artist?

>    This description is to vague and open. Maybe ORIGINAL_x shold be
> included in the specs meaning "ORIGINAL_ can be placed infront of every
> field to indicate it's origin, e.g. ORIGINAL_ALBUM, ORIGINAL_ARTIST,
> etc." it might not make sence in all cases but it can be used in almost
> all cases.

In some cases the "ORIGINAL" title is used for remakes (ORIGINAL_ARTIST).  In
others it is used to denote the source (ORIGINAL_FILE).  I would hate for these
two to get confused.  Is there something that you could recommend?

>    Not sure again if this would be wise to change though.

I think that CREDITS sounds better and would probably be more intuitive, but it
would probably induce people to store a list in a single tag instead of multiple


For DVDs, this is always referred to as the Edition.  For instance, I have DVDs
that are "Directors Cut", "Collector's", "Ultimate", and various other editions.
Is this done differently with CDs?

One other thing, where should we store if a source was widescreen or fullscreen?
And I mean in a generic sense.  The dimensional proportions could always go in
ORIGINAL_DIMENSIONS.  Should there be a different place where someone could just
write "Widescreen" or "Fullscreen"?  Maybe "Anamorphic Widescreen" (1.66:1 to
2.35:1) and "Full Frame" (1.33:1)?

How would you store this DVD of mine?
Bruce Campbell vs. Army Of Darkness
The Director' Cut
Official Bootleg Edition
Widescreen Presentation

Photos available here:
And yes, the DVD actually says "DVD-R4x Not Really Recordable 96 MIN" and
"Un-Recordable 1x-4x Compatible"


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