Codecs

[Uke]

First Thread

So, if you want to watch a wide variety of A/V on your computer, then you'll need a variety of codecs for your media.

There are several flawed options for doing this, which include:

Getting an all-in-one media player such as VLC and sacrificing visual quality
Downloading a complete but often mismatched codec pack
Downloading all the codecs separately but risk missing some

In this subject, I have some recommendations to make:

It's good to have an all-in-one player for the odd times when you want to play obscure media and don't want to bother finding the codec. I would recommend VLC on Windows and MPlayer on Linux or Mac OS X. Install this first, and associate it with all formats, so it will play any media that isn't covered by codecs you install afterward.

Next, it is a good idea to download an all-in-one codec pack. When looking for a codec pack, pick one with not just a wide selection of playable formats but as few individual components as possible. The CCCP is successful, as it uses FFDShow as a base, and adds just the other essential codecs. It also bundles Haali's Media Splitter, which is good for playing files in the popular .mkv format.

Arguably the best player to use in combination with any codec pack (and bundled with CCCP) is Media Player Classic. When used with CCCP, it allows you to enable Haali's Video Renderer in the options, which gives an extremely faithful representation of the video, making it a must for HD content.

You should install these packs second, so it registers the appropriate file extensions for each type of file.

Then, you should install any specific codecs or proprietary players, such as HD-DVD or Blu-Ray decoders, or the DivX Player. It is recommended to only register these extra apps with the bare minimum of file types, so they do not interfere with your current codec configuration. For example, in the DivX bundle setup, untick the 'Generic MPEG-4 Playback' button. It is also a good idea to install the lightweight Quicktime and Real alternatives.

Finally, install any additional players to your preference, such as Winamp or Foobar, registering them only with the file types you would like to use them for.

If you follow this guide, you are ensured a wide coverage of formats and good looking video throughout your A/V experience.

If anyone wants to add pretty colours to this to make it more readable, feel free to post me the code via PM. I am too lazy to do it myself.
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[adrichardson]

I definitely agree on VLC. It's the most versatile media player out there, and you don't need to mess around with codecs.

I'm always very carefual with codec packs - for the most part they bloat your system with codecs you'll never use, and give inevitable conflicts over time.

Certain codecs are a given - you'll almost certainly use divx, quicktime (alternative) and real (alternative). Beyond that the best approach is only install them if you need them. If you do go for a codec pack, do some research first, and always make sure the bloody thing has an installer (a lot of them don't!).
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[Semp]

I've been using the Ace Mega Codec Pack for a couple of years now. It seems pretty solid. VLC is a good player and reliable if you don't want to worry about conflicting codecs.

Nice post Uke.
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[BopChizzle]

great 1st thread uke........another kicker with VLC is that you can play movies from a image file i.e bin/que and iso......not to mention it has a TV tuner also
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[EvilAP]

I love VLC but I noticed the same thing as you did the image quality is just not there. I usually only use it when getting videos in the atrocious matrsoka format (always forget the proper spelling for that codec) and VLC plays it fine.
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[Xenon]

VLC Media Player is great and you can get good Video quality on it by re-configurating some options which not very user-friendly for most users.

But it also has it flaws, due to its wide codec support, it has bad hardware optimization, both ways arounds if you know what I mean, it has some problems with a few splitters, and some older QuickTime video formats, like SQ3 and SQ1 that is encoded by some "dodgy" encoders. And the last I have to add is really bad soft sub support, no custom fonts on content, no, nothing, really bad, FFDShow Try-Outs can do it, why not them? (BTW, due to bad decoder decoding speeds, it has high CPU usage, really bad for my laptop when it is running on battery.)

BTW, its spelled Matroska.

And I use Vista Codec Package 32bit, mainly for the convience, but I set the installer not to install DirectVodSub/VSFilter, AC3, and the MPEG2 codec cause I got ones better and I use the subtitle support included with FFDShow Try-Outs.

And on another thing, the BEST, H.264 decoder is probably CoreAVC from CoreCodecs group, even with no GPU optimization on the same PC with a GeForce 8600, it delivers better quality and speed compare to CyberLink's, InterVideo's, FFDShow Try-Out's and Nero's offering, waaaay much faster, but it costs 15 bucks, and you cannot decode encrypted contents from HD-DVDs and Blue-Ray Discs, it is a simple decoder, so it "does not have much" splitter support. Ahh, I remember the days when I install everything one by one manually, friggin amount of problems, lol, reason I do so back then is I want everything updated, but I got tired of it after a while, hmm, but now I can feel the old flame burning up again, maybe I will continue my "unstable" software testing spree, roflmao. (No pun intended)

Got any questions for CCCP?

Anyway, I consider most codec packages stupid cause they restrict you to use certain Media Players to play certain files correctly, that defeats the purpose of a codec package, lol. (e.g. must use Media Player Classic or MPlayer to play a poorly created media file, which f***ing means you packed a poorly coded splitter with it)

[fear]

I usually use the kLite Mega Codec packs, earlier ones then previous because they removed the QT Alternative, and install minimal codecs to play the file formats I come across the most. I've had only one issue but it was in the installer and I rolled back and was good as gold. I have also not heard a bad thing about the CCCP but I've never tried them. VLC never excited me on a personal note, despite the wide codec library It never seemed to work on embedded files. I basically want one media player to play all formats and Wmp works for me, even though others hate it.
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[Starbuck]

Same here fear, WMP works fine for me together with ffdshow.
ffdshow plays everything, but does take some time to set up. Once set up you only have to press "export" to get a .reg file in case of a format.

I do have VLC installed, but only to play dvd's. Somehow VLC is way much faster at this than other players.
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[adrichardson]

The main advantage of VLC is it'll play more or less anything without messing around with codecs. The disadvantage is it's not exactly a fully functional player by any stretch of the imagination.

Sadly most people who download codec packs are pretty clueless, and end up having problems through inexperience. IMHO unless you know you need the codecs in a pack, and know how to troubleshoot codec related problems (particularly with games), you're better off with something VLC
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