Codec Report

Codec Report

Codec is a technical name for "compression and decompression". It also stands for "compressor and decompressor" and "code and decode". All of these variations mean the same thing:
A codec is a computer program that both shrinks large movie files, and makes them playable on your computer. Codec programs are required for your media player to play your downloaded music and movies.
Codec's are necessary because video and music files are large, they become difficult to transfer across the Internet quickly. To help speed up downloads, mathematical "Codecs" were built to encode a signal for transmission and then decode it for viewing or editing. Without codec's, downloads would take three to five times longer than they do now.There are hundreds of codec's being used on the Internet, and you will need combinations that specifically play your files. For example there are codec's:
§ For audio and video compression
§ For streaming media over the Internet
§ Videoconferencing
§ Playing mp3's
§ Speech
§ Screen capture.
The most commonly used Codec's that people use are: MP3, WMA, RealVideo, RealAudio, DivX and XviD. There are many other more obscure codecs.The best ways to handle codec’s are to download "codec packs". Codec packs are collections of codecs gathered in single large files. The best examples are:

o XP Codec Pack: XP Codec Pack is a sleek, all-in-one, spyware / adware free codec collection that also offers a good, solid Media Player Classic. Currently just under 6MB in size, XP Codec Pack is truly one of the most complete assemblies of codecs needed to play all major audio and video formats.
o K-Lite Codec Pack: Very user-friendly and well tested, K-Lite Codec Pack is loaded with goodies. It will enable you to play all the popular movie formats. K-Lite comes in 4 flavors: Basic, Standard, Full and Mega. If all you need is to be able to play DivX and XviD formats, Basic will do just fine. Standard pack is probably the most popular - it has everything an average user needs to play the most common file formats. Full pack, designed for power users, has even more codecs plus encoding support.
o K-Lite Mega Codec Pack: Mega is a very comprehensive bundle...it has everything but a kitchen sink. Mega even contains QuickTime Alternative and Real Alternative.


Website:www.netforbeginners.about.com:
o Date Accessed: 30/3/2009
http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/multimedia/f/codec.htm