I was just wondering, what exactly are "codecs". I mean I know they have something to do with decoding audio and video, but what are they exactly? Are they .dll's? Where does windows store all of its codecs?
I was just wondering because I would like to place a bunch of codecs on my computer (WinXP) without having to install a bunch of crap (aka KLite codec pack that runs in the background and always sows in the system tray). Is there any way that I can just get the codec files by themselves with no installer?
Full Version: Codecs And WMP11
Codec - Wikipedia
This Zoom Player page lists many individual codecs, but they include installers.
Free-codecs.com is another place that lists many codecs.
This Zoom Player page lists many individual codecs, but they include installers.
Free-codecs.com is another place that lists many codecs.
Codecs for playback are mostly directshow filters, which can be placed anywhere, but mostly are in %windir%\system32\ and is installed by : 'regsvr32 /s filtername.ax' and uninstall by : regsvr32 /u /s filtername.ax...
If you look in the stickies of this very forum, then you'll see CoRoNe's lightweight DirectShow FilterPack, which dosen't include an installer, but just a compressed archive with the filters and a batchfile for installing/uninstalling them, but you'll also need ffdshow however...
You can then also just download one of the big codec packages and then unpack them with 7-Zip or something and take the filters you need and register them yourself with a batchfile...
Personally, then i rather preffer to use media players which comes with their own decoders, instead of cluttering down my system folders and registry, so i then use foobar2000 for music and MPUI for video...
If you look in the stickies of this very forum, then you'll see CoRoNe's lightweight DirectShow FilterPack, which dosen't include an installer, but just a compressed archive with the filters and a batchfile for installing/uninstalling them, but you'll also need ffdshow however...
You can then also just download one of the big codec packages and then unpack them with 7-Zip or something and take the filters you need and register them yourself with a batchfile...
Personally, then i rather preffer to use media players which comes with their own decoders, instead of cluttering down my system folders and registry, so i then use foobar2000 for music and MPUI for video...
to answer the inquiry... codecs and WMP11
All the codecs in the world wont get your multimedia functioning properly in WMP11.
The days of klite borking your system drove people to other players with builtin codecs as suggested above. I was one of them.
I have been personally developing a codec package for WMP11 for the last 2 1/2 yrs right here on the msfn forums.
With almost 2 million readers of the development thread, this package has some good ole msfn knowledge behind it.
to quote the homepage
MajorGeeks is my #1 supporter for a good reason . . . download
A few of you readers that avoid WMP11 because it sucks really need to try my codec package and WMP11 will shine!
(works great for mediacenter too)
Dont let the name fool you, it is 100% Windows XP compatible too.
shark
All the codecs in the world wont get your multimedia functioning properly in WMP11.
The days of klite borking your system drove people to other players with builtin codecs as suggested above. I was one of them.
I have been personally developing a codec package for WMP11 for the last 2 1/2 yrs right here on the msfn forums.
With almost 2 million readers of the development thread, this package has some good ole msfn knowledge behind it.
to quote the homepage
CODE
When dealing with codecs, more does not equal better.
Having the least amount on your system is the best configuration.
This is exactly what the Vista Codec Package does for you.
You will no longer be restricted to using a specific player.
Windows MediaPlayer and Vista MediaCenter will be able to play all your files.
Having the least amount on your system is the best configuration.
This is exactly what the Vista Codec Package does for you.
You will no longer be restricted to using a specific player.
Windows MediaPlayer and Vista MediaCenter will be able to play all your files.
MajorGeeks is my #1 supporter for a good reason . . . download
A few of you readers that avoid WMP11 because it sucks really need to try my codec package and WMP11 will shine!
(works great for mediacenter too)
Dont let the name fool you, it is 100% Windows XP compatible too.
shark
This is what i got on my system:
CoreAVC
Divx (xvid is old and crashes the COM in vista, thus grinding the system down to a halt, needing a reboot to get back to speed)
Hailli Media Splitter
QT Lite
The thing with K-Lite, it has a bunch of Duplicate Codecs that do the same thing.
ffdshow is that way too, it has codecs for things that are already on windows to begin with, plus it has different ones (duplication)
I haven't tried Vista Codec Pack, but i don't need too either. I haven't needed another codec for any video i download.
I also just ended my use of WMP. I am using Winamp 5.53 for music (i love it, functionality meets design and usability) & MPC Home Cinema (fork of MPC after the dev stopped working on it).
I don't like the interface of foobar, amarok (hate kde), or VLC. I do like MPlayer/MPUI, but it uses 15-30% of 1 of my cores just to play a video.
Banshee for windows would be cool, i use that on linux, but winamp is great.
The thing about VLC and MPlayer and all of the other "no codecs needed" Well, thats a lie, they basically have all the codecs (dll's) in the program directory and they just use them there. That is a problem if you use both media player, essentially you got duplicates/wasted HDD space.
But there is a bigger problem, w/o system codecs your actually being less effiecent. What if you want to use another player, or encode, edit, or reencode A/V? Well your going to need codecs installed, VLC and MPUI can't help ya (well vlc has an encoder plugin but its horrible). So really there is no advantage to using VLC or MPUI if your looking to avoid codecs.
Honestly Codecs can conflict and cause problems, but only if you install a bunch of duplicates, even then it will only cause issues when playing media.
MPC-HC is 1 executable program and can use an ini file instead of the registry for its settings (so portability too).
CoreAVC
Divx (xvid is old and crashes the COM in vista, thus grinding the system down to a halt, needing a reboot to get back to speed)
Hailli Media Splitter
QT Lite
The thing with K-Lite, it has a bunch of Duplicate Codecs that do the same thing.
ffdshow is that way too, it has codecs for things that are already on windows to begin with, plus it has different ones (duplication)
I haven't tried Vista Codec Pack, but i don't need too either. I haven't needed another codec for any video i download.
I also just ended my use of WMP. I am using Winamp 5.53 for music (i love it, functionality meets design and usability) & MPC Home Cinema (fork of MPC after the dev stopped working on it).
I don't like the interface of foobar, amarok (hate kde), or VLC. I do like MPlayer/MPUI, but it uses 15-30% of 1 of my cores just to play a video.
Banshee for windows would be cool, i use that on linux, but winamp is great.
The thing about VLC and MPlayer and all of the other "no codecs needed" Well, thats a lie, they basically have all the codecs (dll's) in the program directory and they just use them there. That is a problem if you use both media player, essentially you got duplicates/wasted HDD space.
But there is a bigger problem, w/o system codecs your actually being less effiecent. What if you want to use another player, or encode, edit, or reencode A/V? Well your going to need codecs installed, VLC and MPUI can't help ya (well vlc has an encoder plugin but its horrible). So really there is no advantage to using VLC or MPUI if your looking to avoid codecs.
Honestly Codecs can conflict and cause problems, but only if you install a bunch of duplicates, even then it will only cause issues when playing media.
MPC-HC is 1 executable program and can use an ini file instead of the registry for its settings (so portability too).
QUOTE (Seven Alive @ Jul 8 2008, 01:43 PM) 
I don't like the interface of foobar
Then change it... fb2k's GUI is fully scriptable and also features different GUI plugins if needed...
QUOTE
The thing about VLC and MPlayer and all of the other "no codecs needed" Well, thats a lie, they basically have all the codecs (dll's) in the program directory and they just use them there.
That is obviously implied and shouldn't come as a surprice...
QUOTE
So really there is no advantage to using VLC or MPUI if your looking to avoid codecs.
There's an advantage in it, for people who always use the same app for playback and dosen't want their system-folders and registry cluttered up, just to be able to use that single app for playback...This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.