Readme
Readme
Readme
It is highly recommended to first uninstall other codec related packages before installing this package. This way your
system stays clean and potential problems will be avoided. Close all multimedia applications (media players, video
editors, browsers, filesharing tools) before installing this pack.
Installation:
Below on this page you can find some information about all components included in this codec pack. Please read this
information thoroughly. Leave all settings in the installer at their default values if you don't know exactly what you should
install. Click on the 'Print' button to open this documentation in Wordpad. That way you can view it during the entire
installation procedure.
After installation:
If you have multiple user accounts on your computer then it is recommended to click on the Reset to recommended
settings shortcut in the start menu. This action should be performed on each user account, except for the Administrator
account that was used during installation, which already has the correct settings. Resetting the settings is not a strict
requirement. It is just to ensure that all components are configured with our recommended settings.
Unattended installation:
An unattended installation is a silent installation that doesn't require any user interaction. Run the setup with the
command-line parameter -MakeUnattended to activate the "Unattended Install Maker" wizard. Follow the instructions
given in the wizard to create an unattended install with just a few mouseclicks.
Codecs explained
Most players use DirectShow for playback. DirectShow is a framework in which DirectShow filters are used as building
blocks to construct what is called a DirectShow graph. A multimedia file is a root of this graph and the audio and video
renderers are the leaves of the graph. During playback data flows from the root to the leaves. Each filter in the graph
performs a subtask of the whole decoding process. Typical elements in the graph are a source filter, which is often also
called a splitter or parser, and decoders for the audio and video. A source filter is responsible for reading the file format
and feeding the data to the other filters downstream in the graph. During graph creation, if DirectShow finds multiple filters
that are able to perform the same subtask, then it will typically select the filter that has the highest merit. The merit of a
filter is simply a numerical value that indicates the preferability of the filter. Tools exist to alter the merit of a DS filter.
Advanced players are often able to manipulate which filters are used in the graph, allowing for example to block or prefer
certain filters. If no suitable DirectShow filter can be found to decode a certain audio/video format, then DirectShow is able
to fall back to using VFW and ACM codecs (see below) through special wrapper filters.
Codec is short for 'compressor-decompressor', a piece of software that is able to decode and encode a certain format. By
this definition, a DirectShow filter is not a codec.
Two other frameworks are VFW (Video For Windows) and ACM (Audio Compression Manager). Components for these
system are called codecs, because they are typically able to both encode and decode. These two types of codecs are
required by most video editing applications, such as VirtualDub. Traditional video editing applications are not able to use
DirectShow. More modern applications are sometimes capable of using DirectShow for decoding, but they usually still
require VFW and ACM codecs for encoding.
Components:
# means that ffdshow is able to decode the same format(s) as the marked component. So you don't necessarily need to
install the marked component if you install ffdshow.
# means that Media Player Classic is able to decode the same format(s) as the marked component. So you don't
necessarily need to install the marked component if you install MPC and use it as your default player.
Player:
ffdshow:
Other filters:
Tools: