Good day!

Every time you open a multimedia file (music, movies, etc.), the codecs (special software that converts data, signal).

A lot depends on the choice of a set of codecs: will you open only part of the video files or all without exception; will the video slow down; how audio and video will be converted and compressed, etc.

Now you can find dozens of codec sets, but not all of them deserve attention (in my opinion ☝). In this article I will recommend several sets that have helped me more than once in my daily work.

👉 Remarque!

Now popular in the system (everything you need is already built into them!).

One of the best (if not the most!) set of codecs for working with audio and video files. The set is distinguished by its versatility: suitable for both beginners and more experienced users.

K-Lite Codec Pack supports all the most common video formats: AVI, MKV, MP4, FLV, MPEG, MOV, TS, M2TS, WMV, RM, RMVB, OGM, WebM, etc. The same applies to audio formats: MP3, FLAC, M4A, AAC, OGG, 3GP, AMR, APE, MKA, Opus, Wavpack, etc.

In total there are 4 options for a set of codecs:

• Basic and Standard: basic sets, suitable for all novice users (well, or those who do not encode, convert video files);
• Full and Mega: a large set of codecs. If you sometimes don’t play videos (for example, a black screen is shown instead of a picture), I recommend choosing these versions.

There are versions of codecs for absolutely all Windows OS:

• the latest versions are suitable for Windows 7, 8, 10 (moreover, codecs are present immediately in one set for 32/64 bit systems);
• For Windows 95/98/Me - choose version 3.4.5;
• For Windows 2000/XP - version 7.1.0 (for Windows XP SP2+, by the way, you can try to install a modern version of the set).

👉 Important!

When installing the MEGA pack - select the option in the settings "Lots of stuff"- this way you will have all the necessary codecs in your system to view ANY video files..

Option to install MEGA pack codec set - Lots of stuff

Note! By the way, the set of codecs includes an excellent video file player - Media Player Classic (I recommend it!).

Media Player Codec Pack

A free and rather large package of codecs designed for ordinary home PCs (laptops). After installation, as a rule, the user does not need to install anything else: all video and audio files will open and play without problems.

It is also worth noting its simple installation: the user will need a minimum of actions! The codec is distributed in three versions: the minimum set (Lite), standard (Standart) and extended (Plus).

Supported video files: DivX, XviD, x264, h.264, AVI, MKV, OGM, MP4, 3GPP, MPEG, VOB, DAT, FLV, PS, TS, etc.

Supported audio files: AC3, DTS, AAC, APE, FLAC, TTA, WV, OGG, Vorbis, MO3, IT, XM, S3M, MTM, MOD, UMX, etc.

After installing Media Player Codec Pack - You will be able to open and view ~ 99.9% of files (including formats: XCD, VCD, SVCD and DVD).

Pros:

• support for a huge number of multimedia file formats;
• a set of codecs is completely free;
• ease of installation and configuration;
• a large set of tools and fine tuning.

Minuses:

• no support for the Russian language;
• in some cases it is necessary to adjust the sound (apparently the set of codecs cannot set up "contact" by default with some versions of audio drivers);
• before installing the kit - you must completely remove the old codecs (to avoid conflicts and incorrect operation of this kit).

ADVANCED Codecs for Windows 10/8.1/7

The famous codecs from Sharkey are more famous and popular abroad than in our country. The set of codecs is simply excellent, as the name implies, it will work in Windows 7, 8, 10 (32/64 bits).

About what ADVANCED Codecs supports all popular (and not so) video and audio formats, probably, it makes no sense to say.

But it’s worth mentioning some significant advantages (this is no longer in any set of codecs):

1. this set does not contain any video players - ie. it does not change file associations in Windows and all your files will be played in the old programs;
2. this package includes codecs for playing streaming video, which can be watched, including in the browser (i.e. online video, popular at the moment);
3. program installer automatically (i.e. you don't have to remove anything before installing) will remove all old codecs and make all the necessary changes to the Windows registry! After the codecs are installed, your programs, such as Windows Media Player, will automatically use the new codecs from this set;
4. during installation, you can choose not only which codecs are needed, but also the directory for installing each. After installation, those codecs that you no longer need can be easily removed (well, or add the missing ones). In general, the installer in this program is extremely convenient!

by the way , it's worth mentioning that this set of codecs is completely free!

Starcodec

Another free codec pack (designed by Koreans) for high-quality playback of audio and video files. Its main advantage: in uniqueness, in the fact that this package has everything you need to work with video, so to speak, "all in one"!

Supports a huge variety of video files : DivX, XviD, H.264/AVC, MPEG-4, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MJPEG, WebM, AVI, MP4, MKV, MOV, FLV, RM, FourCC Changer, MediaInfo, etc.

Supports a huge variety of audio files : MP3, OGG, AC3, DTS, AAC, FLAC, etc.

It is worth adding that all the necessary codecs for 64-bit systems are also present in the set. Windows operating systems are supported: 7, 8, 10. The set of codecs is constantly updated and replenished.

Note! What else is good about this set is its lower requirements compared to analogues. Those. it is quite possible to try to install and use it on old PCs (laptops).

There is no need to set any special settings and parameters, for most users everything will work by default (i.e. immediately after installation). However, for advanced users there is room for "fine" customization. In general, the set is very interesting and deserves attention.

CCCP: Combined Community Codec Pack

Site: http://www.cccp-project.net/

Specific set of codecs. Created primarily for anime playback (+ support for subtitles, in these videos, not all players are able to read subtitles).

The main features of the set:

• contains only the main codecs (far from all): this way, greater compatibility is achieved for distributed anime videos. In addition, the risk of conflicts between different codecs is reduced;
• simplicity and ease of installation / uninstallation. The developers have thought and made the master in such a way that even those who just sat down at a PC yesterday can handle it;
• support for all popular versions of Windows: XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10;
• The last update of the set is in 2015. (in principle, for codecs this is not so critical).

Supported media formats:

1. Video: MPEG-2, DivX, XviD, H.264, WMV9, FLV, Theora, Generic MPEG-4 ASP (3ivx, lavc, etc.), AVI, OGM, MKV, MP4, FLV, 3GP, TS.
2. Audio: MP1, MP2, MP3, AC3, DTS, AAC, Vorbis, LPCM, FLAC, TTA, WavPack

Popular formats that are not supported:

1. QuickTime .qt .mov (playable after installing QuickTime);
2. RealMedia .rm .rmvb (can be played after installing RealPlayer).

XP Code Pack

Good alternative to K-Lite Codec Pack and Media Player Codec Pack. Despite the name (note: XP present) - codec pack supports all the latest Windows OS: XP, 7, 8, 10 (32/64 bits).

The set has a well-implemented installer: you will be prompted to select video filters for installation (DVD, msdVR, LAV Filters, Real, xy-VSFilter, xySubFilter); you will be asked to specify audio codecs: AC3 Filter, LAV Audio, FLAC, Monkey Audio, MusePack, OptimFROG, TTA.

In principle, if you don’t know what to choose, you can leave everything by default and click the “next” button - the program is configured in such a way that in this case everything will work for you out of the box.

Note! The list of tools installed with the codec pack includes the Codec Detective utility, which is designed to show you all the installed codecs in Windows, as well as suggest which of them work incorrectly and conflict.

Matroska Pack Full

Good universal set of codecs. Particular attention is removed in it to two formats: MKA and MKV (many modern high-quality films, today, are distributed in this format!).

Also in Matroska, things are very good with subtitles: you can even watch "tricky" Korean videos with subtitles (including, you can load external subtitles).

Key Features:

• compactness of the package with a wide variety of video filters, support for most popular video files;
• full support for MKV format (for many other packages - there are problems when working with this format);
• in addition to MKV, playback of audio files is supported when encoding FLAC (lossless!);
• there are no unnecessary additional applications in the codec pack (which people love to add to all other similar sets);
• codecs work in any player (note: which supports DirectShow) ;
• VSFilter - spec. a module that allows you to load any subtitles;
• all versions of Windows are supported: XP, 7, 8, 10 (32/64 bits).

What else can I recommend:

1. Ace Mega Codec Pack- a huge set of codecs, probably the largest! There is only one small detail - it has not been updated for a long time (approximately since 2006). So it's not very up to date today, unless you want to install it on an old PC;
2. DivX(developer site:) - one of the most popular codecs. If you want to get the newest version of this codec, I recommend downloading it from the official site. By the way, many who encode video files recommend downloading only the specific codec you need and not using sets at all;
3. Xvid(developer site:) - another very popular codec, many movies and videos on the Internet are encoded with it. In some cases, provides better compression than the previous one. (but in my opinion - this codec affects more PC resources for compression, and works slower);
4. x264 Video Codec(developer site: ) - an alternative codec to Mpeg4 and Divx formats, allows you to compress and encode video in H.264/AVC format. Differs in high quality of compression, coupled with a good picture. In general, a worthy competitor to previous codecs.

A popular selection of codecs, filters and functional tools that are used for high-quality viewing of multimedia files in MKV, MP4, FLV, MPEG, MOV, TS, M2TS, RMVB, OGM, WMV, 3GP, WEBM, FLAC, Wavpack formats.

Description of K-Lite Codec Pack

The software package is characterized by codec compatibility, ease of installation and management, which increases its rating among similar products. Codec Pack is offered in 4 versions:

1. Basic - supports the minimum required set of options for playing multimedia formats. Codecs for playing almost all multimedia formats in any media player. And support for all the minimum required functions.
2. Standard - differs from the previous edition by the presence of the MediaInfo Lite tool (viewing the most detailed details about video and audio files), which allows detailed playback of video and audio files; madVR renderer, which significantly improves the quality of the picture.
3. K-Lite Codec Pack Full - equipped with the GraphStudioNext utility that performs scanning, analysis and visual display, it also offers to add to the DirectShow filter range.
4. K-Lite Mega Codec Pack is a universal edition that includes all the functions and utilities of other editions and is supplemented with ACM and VFW codecs.

Features of K-Lite Codec Pack

The package consists of 32-bit and 64-bit codecs, so it is used with the same quality in Windows x86 and x64 versions. Its features:

• English language support;
• availability of updated versions of codecs;
• simple installation, which makes it easy to select the desired codecs and tools;
• the ability to remove the complete package or its fragment;
• checking each version of the kit for the presence of possible conflict situations between codecs and other programs;
• compatibility with new and previously installed codecs on the PC.

Updates to codecs, tools, or additional utilities are instantly included in the latest build. The latest version of the required edition of K-Lite Codec Pack for Windows can be downloaded for free on our website without registration.

K-Lite Codec Pack is a universal set of codecs and utilities designed to play and process audio and video files, including only free or open source software (open-source software).

Features of K-Lite Codec Pack

• Optimal selection of codecs;
• Ability to detect and remove damaged filters and codecs;
• Compatibility with other software packages;
• Advanced installation wizard;
• Complete removal of the package by the uninstaller;
• Frequent updating of software components.

Supported file formats

• .avi, .divx, .flv, .mkv, .mka, .mp3, .mpg, .mpeg, .m1v, .mpe, .m2v, .mpv2, .mp2v, .m2p, .vob, .evo, .mod , .ts, .m2ts, .m2t, .mts, .pva, .tp, .tpr, .mp4, .m4v, .mp4v, .mpv4, .m4a, .3gp, .3gpp, .3g2, .3gp2, . ogg, .ogm, .ogv, .oga, .rm, .rmvb, .ra, .ram, .webm, .mov, .hdmov .qt, .flac, .wv, .ac3, .dts, .amr, . amv, .alac, .ape, .apl, .aac, .mpc, .mpp, .xm, .s3m, .it, .umx, .ofr, .ofs.

K-Lite Codec Pack Components

• DirectShow video filters - XviD, On2 VP7, MPEG-2 (Gabest), MPEG-2 (Cyberlink);
• Video codecs – XviD, x264, On2 VP7, Lagarith, huffyuv, Intel I.263, DivX, YV12 (Helix);
• DirectShow audio filters - MusePack (MONOGRAM), WavPack (CoreWavPack), FLAC (madFLAC), Monkey's Audio (DCoder), OptimFROG (RadLight), DC-Bass Source, AC3/DTS Source (AC3File), AMR (MONOGRAM);
• ACM audio codecs - MP3 (Fraunhofer), MP3 (LAME), AC3 (ffcHandler), Ogg Vorbis, DivX Audio;
• DirectShow source filters – AVI splitter (Gabest), AVI splitter (Haali Media Splitter), MP4 splitter (Haali Media Splitter), MP4 splitter (Gabest), Matroska splitter (Haali Media Splitter), Matroska splitter (Gabest), Ogg splitter (Haali Media Splitter), Ogg splitter (Gabest), MPEG PS/TS splitter (Gabest), MPEG PS/TS splitter (Haali Media Splitter), FLV splitter (Gabest), CDDA Reader (Gabest), CDXA Reader (Gabest);
• DirectShow subtitle filter - DirectVobSub (a.k.a. VSFilter);
• Utilities – Bitrate Calculator, Codec Tweak Tool, GSpot Codec Information Appliance, MediaInfo Lite, VobSubStrip, GraphStudio, Haali Muxer, FourCC Changer;
• Media Player Classic Home Cinema (included in all package options except Basic, available in 32 and 64-bit versions).

Installing codecs

The installation process of K-Lite Codec Pack is quite simple and intuitive, it will not take much time.

For most users, the settings that will be offered by the wizard during installation are best left unchanged and not experimented with, leaving all the checkboxes in their places, this will be enough to listen to music and watch videos on the computer.

Alternative set of codecs:

Download K-Lite Codec Pack

Codecs K-Lite Codec Pack are distributed in versions: Basic, Standard, Full and Mega. Our site presents the latest version of the most complete package (includes more components, supports more formats, etc.) - K-Lite Mega Codec Pack.

Download K-Lite Mega Codec Pack for free, without registration.

Spoiler (Download K-Lite Mega Codec Pack for Windows XP)

New versions of K-Lite Mega Codec Pack no longer support Windows XP. If you need to download K-Lite Codec Pack for Windows XP, then use one of the links below:

What's new in version: List of changes

tweet

K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of DirectShow filters and VFW/ACM codecs. They are needed to view and create audio and video files.

Softina eliminates the error that the video format is not supported, installs the player and allows you to encode video and sound with various codecs.

What are codecs

Any information in a computer, including text, photos, video and sound, can be written as a sequence of zeros and ones. The text can be written in a very compact form (the entire text part of Wikipedia will fit on a flash drive), and graphics, sound, and even more video, take up hundreds of places and even tens of thousands times more.

Codecs are programs and devices for storing information in digital form (in any format), as well as for compression all this data. All codecs can be divided into two conditional types:

• Lossless data compression (in the so-called lossless-formats). Algorithms similar to those used by archivers when compressing files are used. Video frames encoded in this way will perfectly match the original ones, and take up less space on your hard drive.
• Lossy compressing audio and video ( lossy formats). The most typical example is MP3 music files. Codecs that compress to lossy formats throw out "extra" sounds and image details. Due to the loss of some of the information that a person most likely will not notice, as well as due to lossless compression algorithms, the file size is smaller than that of lossless. Lossy coding has one significant disadvantage: you can overdo it with compression, resulting in files with terrible sound and a bad picture.

Among lovers of high-quality sound, disputes do not subside over how best to store music - in lossless or lossy formats. On the one hand, lossless compression allows you to achieve 100% compliance with the original, on the other hand, such an audio library will take up too much space. For videos and photos, the problem of storage is also relevant. For example, over the years of its existence, the Youtube video site has changed several times the codecs that compress the video stored on servers. As a result, now we can watch videos of acceptable quality in 4K resolution, which was impossible to do before, since 4K video simply would not have enough space on the server hard drives.

Types of codecs

There are several types of codecs. Different collections include different types, K-Lite has them all.

DirectShow Filters- modern codec format and more. They are divided into three subspecies. There is capture filters, which are responsible for getting data from a file with video, music, and even from physical devices like camcorders. Transform Filters allow you to decode, recode data, apply effects, and so on. Render filters (visualizations) they can output video and sound to the screen, speakers, other devices and save to a file.

All DirectShow filters work in a chain, which allows experienced users to organize automatic video processing. For example, you can take a picture from surveillance cameras, display them on different screens, while adjusting brightness and contrast on some, take sound from separately connected microphones and save all this into one file with many tracks.

VFW codecs(Video for Windows). An older codec format that appeared in 16-bit versions of Windows before the advent of 95. They are simpler than DirectShow filters and more limited in their capabilities - they cannot be used in a chain. Most often, VFW codecs are needed by video editors to open and save (compress) files.

ACM (Audio Compression Manager) codecs. Same old standard as VFW, but for audio. With these codecs, you can open and compress files in MP3, OGG, AAC, and other formats.

Codecs can be installed in the system so that all programs can use them, or they can be used in separate software. Codecs can also be a separate program. The most typical example is an encoder. You can't watch a video with it, but it's easy to convert it to another format. Codec packs do not include such programs, because the task of packs is to make multimedia files open in any program.

You don't need codec packs to watch videos

The problem of playing files is no longer as relevant as it was in the days of Windows 98/2000/ME/XP. Windows 7/8/10 operating systems already contain the necessary components, and if they are not there, there are always players with built-in codecs. Such as powerful

But there are tasks where codec packs come in handy: video editing and work with the archive of video and sound recordings, where files can be of various formats

There are less popular collections of codecs:

• CCCP: Combined Community Codec Pack (development discontinued)
• Kawaii Codec Pack (development stopped in 2015)
• Codec Pack All-In-1 (the last version was released back in 2006)

K-Lite Codec Pack is the most popular collection of codecs and the most useful, because it contains not only codecs for opening video and audio, but also for compression, as well as several useful programs and a player. K-Lite is regularly updated, new versions are released, while the authors of alternative packs abandon their work.

There are also two universal DirectShow codecs that solve the same problem without installing codecs from different developers - FFDShow(development stopped, included in the "mega version" of the k-light pack) and LAVfilters(included with any version of the K-Lite Codec Pack).

K-Lite Codec Pack

Where to download K-Lite

All versions are suitable for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 of both bit depths - 32 and 64 bits.

There are four variants of the K-Lite Codec package:

1.Basic contains everything you need to play all common video file formats. Simply put, it will open AVI, MKV, MP4, OGM and FLV. The option is for those who like a small package without the bells and whistles. It is small but solves most of the problems with opening video files. The universal Lav Video codec is used for playback.

2. standard contains several additional features compared to the basic version. But most importantly, a simple and convenient Media Player Classic is built in. There is also a built-in DirectShow filter madVR, which, in conjunction with Media Player Classic, gives better picture quality compared to the system filter (when stretching the picture, it turns out to be O greater clarity).

3. Included Full(complete) DirectShow filters have been added compared to the standard version, including the popular universal ffdshow filter. It has not been developed for a long time, unlike LAV Video, but it supports more formats and is able to replace more codecs. Also included in the full version is GraphStudioNext. This is a powerful tool for developers of codecs and filters, which is included in the codec pack so that the user can see which system components are used to open a particular multimedia file.

4.Mega-variant is the most complete K-Lite compilation. Video option. It contains standards codecs VFW and ACM for encoding and editing video and sound.

What to choose during installation

At the beginning of the installation, you can select the mode: Normal or Advanced. The difference is that in Advanced mode there will be a "Select components" step. All other sections of the installer will be identical in both modes.

Installation Preferences Section

At the very beginning of the installation, the installer will ask you a few questions.

preferred video/audio player- which player to prefer to open multimedia.

Preffered video/audio decoder- which decoder to prefer (leave LAV video decoder, description will be below).

Create file associations- open files in the selected player.

Install MPC-HC as a secondary player- if another is selected, install Media Player Classic anyway.

Install codecs only for MPC-HC- install codecs only for Media Player Classic (some will still be installed as system codecs for everyone).

Amount of components to install- codec set options, the middle point is optimal. In Advanced mode, you can refine the set at the component selection step.

Install VFW codecs for video encoding- put codecs for encoding, i.e. video creation.

Install only 64-bit components- install only 64-bit codecs, 32-bit programs will not see them.

Select Components Section

If you bet Basic or Standard, at this step you can click the "Next" button. There are few components, there is nothing to choose from.

V Full and Mega There are many more codecs. Most likely you know what you are doing, since you choose these versions, but for the curious I will tell you more about what is in them.

Immediately at the beginning of the installation, you can choose whether to install only codecs for playback, install the player, or select your own set (Custom Selection item).

Let's go through all the points.

MPC-HC is the Media Player Classic. Functional player with many useful options. There are two versions to choose from, the difference is in bit depth. It is better to choose only the one that matches the bit depth of your Windows. Perhaps in the future, the authors of the pack will switch to another player, because the development of Media Player Classic seems to have stopped in July 2017.

In chapter DirectShow video decoding filters there are modern codecs for video playback in any players, including standard Media Player and Windows 10 Video Player. You can choose from:

1. Filter LAV Video- standard for Basic and Standard versions of the pack, it supports H.264, H.265/HEVC, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, VC-1, WMV and several other less popular formats. This is the best choice, because the project is actively developing, all found errors are quickly eliminated, and in general, the codec decodes popular formats without any problems.
2. Filter ffdshow- an obsolete decoder at the moment, its development has been discontinued. Supports H.264, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, VC-1 and more. The decoder has one interesting feature: in the ffdshow settings, you can enable image processing, making it brighter, sharpening, turning it sideways, and so on. If you don't have filters in your player, but you need them, then video decoding via ffdshow will help you.
3. Xvid- for (de)coding MPEG-4 files. You can choose if for some reason LAV and ffdshow do not suit you, while the above codecs can be left for processing other formats.
4. Microsoft- the item is needed so that the selected format is decoded by the codecs built into Windows as before.

The component selection options affect not so much the choice of what to install, but how the codecs should behave. If the package contains LAV Video and ffdshow, they will be installed anyway, they will simply not be used for formats where another codec is selected.

Chapter DirectShow audio decoding filters contains codecs for sound playback.

1. LAV Audio- the same as LAV Video, a modern universal DirectShow filter. Supports AC3, DTS, E-AC3, MLP, LPCM, TrueHD, AAC, FLAG, OGG Vorbis, MP1, MP2, MP3, WMA, and more.
2. ffdshow it is also on the list, it can play AC3, DTS, E-AC3, MLP, LPCM, TrueHD, AAC, FLAG, OGG Vorbis, MP1, MP2, MP3 and, importantly, uncompressed PCM audio (.wav files). As in the case of video, filters can be applied to the sound.
3. AC3Filter- for decoding AC3, DTS, E-AC3, TrueHD, LPCM, AAC and MPEG. This DirectShow filter holds the record for the number of sound processing settings. You can amplify the sound, compress the dynamic range, adjust the delay of individual audio tracks (it is necessary if the speakers are at different distances so that the sound waves reach the listener at the same time), mix in real time ... There are a lot of possibilities and most of them are not needed by the average user.

V DirectShow source filters You can select video source filters. They are needed not for decoding codecs, but for opening containers - files, inside of which there will be video with sound. For example, AVI, MP4, MKV file extensions speak of different containers.

1. LAV Splitter- for AVI, MP4, Matroska (MKV), MPEG-TS (MTS), MPEG-PS (PS) and others. By selecting LAV Splitter as the default source filter, you can change audio tracks on the fly in any player via the LAV Splitter tray icon.
2. Haali Media Splitter- once a popular filter, it was used to enable subtitles in unsupported players and switch audio tracks. Now it has been replaced by LAV Splitter as more functional.
3. DC Bass Source Mod- needed to support OptimFROG files (.ofr .ofs extensions) and open tracker music (.it .mo3 .mtm .s3m .umx .xm).

In chapter DirectShow subtitle filter there is only one item DirectVobSub. This filter will allow you to automatically connect subtitles from the files of the same name with the video. Not relevant now, because popular players already support subtitles stored both inside video files and external ones with the .srt extension.

Chapter Other Filters includes two DirectShow visualization filters for displaying images in players.

1. MadVR- a very powerful filter, allows you to scale the picture with high quality and, what is important, make the frame change smooth.
2. Haali Video Renderer- a filter whose development was stopped a long time ago, not really working, it is not clear why it is included in the K-Lite Codec Pack.

V VFW video codecs there are codecs of the Video for Windows standard. If you use old video editing software or VirtualDub, then you need them.

1. ffdshow VFW interface- VFW-part for ffdshow, which was mentioned above. Allows you to save in FFV1, HuffYUV, DV and MJPEG.
2. Xvid is a free compatible alternative to the once popular DivX (MPEG-4).
3. x264VFW- for encoding video in H.264 format, which is on the next evolutionary stage after MPEG-4.
4. huffyuv- lossless codec for encoding and decoding video files of the same format.
5. lagarith- modified huffyuv, compresses more strongly, there is no data loss either.

ACM Audio Codecs needed for audio compression.

1. MP3 (LAME) is a popular MP3 codec for audio compression in programs such as VirtualDub. It will be installed only if there are no other MP3 codecs in the system.
2. AC3ACM- for AC3 format. AC3 has two features: there can be many audio tracks and the technology is protected by patents. Because of this, many players on phones do not support the AC3 format. In Windows players, this is not a problem.

In chapter Tools utilities are located.

1. Codec Tweak Tool- a program for reconfiguring codecs, resetting their settings. In it, you can replace LAV with ffdshow without reinstalling the K-Lite Codec Pack.
2. MediaInfo Lite- to show detailed information about codecs inside multimedia files.
3. GraphStudioNext- very powerful utility for developers of DirectShow filters. In K-Lite Codec Pack, most likely, it is enabled due to the function of viewing which filters are used when opening a particular file.
4. Haali Muxer- a utility for packing individual audio and video files into Matroska containers (.mkv).
5. VobSubStrip- a tool for solving a specific task: extracting subtitles for a particular language from .idx and .sub files.
6. FourCC Changer- a program that changes the label of the codec used in video files. Useful if the desired codec is not used when opening a video file.

V Explorer shell extensions Windows Explorer extensions are located.

1. Icaros ThumbnailProvider allows you to view the contents of video files in popular formats in thumbnail view.
2. Icaros PropertyHandler allows you to view the width, height, frame rate, duration in the properties of files with extensions .flv, .mkv, .ogm, .rmvb, .webm, .ape, .flac, .mka, .mpc, .ofr, .opus, .spx , .tak, .tta, .wv.

V Miscellaneous there are two options - Detect broken codes and Detect broken DirectShow filters, which include checking codecs and DS filters already installed in the system. If something goes wrong with them (damaged or missing files and entries in the Windows registry), they can be deleted. The same feature is available in the Codec Tweak Tool.

Additional Tasks and Options section

In the next step, the installer will refine a few settings.

Their number will differ depending on your choice in the previous step. Most of the settings are clear, based on their names, I will only talk about the most important ones:

Reset all settings to their defaults- Reset all codec settings. Useful if you are updating a codec pack from an old version or an alternative one has been installed.

Windows Media Player: register supported file formats- Standard Windows Media Player will open formats supported by installed codecs.

Optimized preferred decoders settings: the installer will tweak the system codec settings to the optimal values, according to the authors of the K-Lite Codec Pack. You can change them later manually using the Codec Tweak Tool.

Add to Explorer context menu- A new item "MediaInfo" will appear in the right-click menu to easily open video and music files in the MediaInfo program.

Hardware acceleration section

Here you can configure the hardware acceleration of video decoding. This is important for watching movies in high definition.

You can select the decoding method (universal and hassle-free - DXVA2 copy-back), as well as enable acceleration only in the Media Player Classic player (the “Only use hardware acceleration in combination with MPC-HC” item).

MPC-HC configuration section

Appears when Media Player Classic is selected.

The important option here is the choice of video renderer ("Video renderer"). If you bet madvr, choose it, otherwise the optimal will be Enhanced Video Renderer (Custom Presenter).

Section Preferred language(s) for audio and subtitles

Here you can set preferences for choosing an audio track. The settings in the screenshot below are the most universal for a Russian-speaking user.

If there is a Russian track in the video, it will turn on. If not, then English and Russian subtitles (if available).

File associations section

Allows you to specify which player to use to open audio and video files.

Due to the peculiarities of assigning file associations in Windows 10, this step may not affect the choice and you will have to assign programs manually through the Control Panel - Default Applications.

Depending on the checked checkboxes, additional steps will appear, where you can select in detail the associations of the program with file types.

Audio Configuration Section

After installation

Restart your computer, otherwise some codecs will not work correctly.

If you need to change some settings for codecs and filters, there will be a K-Lite Codec Pack folder in the Start menu with shortcuts that open settings and utilities.

K-Lite Codec Pack Full is the best video codec pack that is suitable for both modern computers and less powerful machines. You can run almost all popular formats on a variety of video players that support DirectShow technology. It is also recommended to install this package in case of errors when opening video files or if it is difficult to play video in HD quality.

At startup, you can select the components to be installed using the recommendations for certain codecs. Developers from KL Software have already provided compatibility between all components of the package. Therefore, you will not have a situation where codecs start to conflict with each other, which causes a lot of additional problems. But for this you need to follow the instructions when installing the set and remove the proposed broken codecs.

In addition to various codecs, splitters and filters, this package contains the full version of the popular player, as well as a set of utilities. With their help, you can set your own settings for individual codecs and subtitles, get complete information and analyze the problems of the media files being played. To a greater extent, these tools are aimed at those people who often do video editing. With a standard installation, users usually do not need to configure anything manually.

Key features and functions

• the most optimal set of codecs for Windows systems;
• supports all popular media codecs;
• the ability to independently configure various components of the package;
• contains utilities for diagnosing GraphStudioNext problems, as well as additional DirectShow filters.

What's new in this version?

14.5.5 (07.11.2018)