K-Lite Codec Pack

The K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of DirectShow filters, VFW/ACM codecs, and tools. Codecs and DirectShow filters are needed for encoding and decoding audio and video formats. The K-Lite Codec Pack is designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your audio and movie files. With the K-Lite Codec Pack you should be able to play all the popular audio and video formats and even several less common formats.

There are five variants of the K-Lite Codec Pack:

The basic variant contains everything you need to play all the common video file formats. Such as AVI, MKV, MP4, OGM, and FLV. This pack is for those who like a small no-nonsense pack.

The standard variant contains some additional features compared to the basic variant. It contains Media Player Classic, which is an excellent player for video files. It also has (better) support for playback of DVDs. This pack is recommended for the average user.

The full variant has many additional features. It supports playback of several (lossless) audio formats. It contains VFW/ACM codecs that can be used for encoding. It has playback support for a few legacy audio and video formats. This package is suitable for power users.

The corporate variant is a special version for use in a corporate environment. It is similar to the full variant, minus a few items, but almost just as powerful. It has a strong focus on open source software.

The mega variant has almost the same contents as the full variant, but additionally contains Real Alternative and some extra VFW/ACM codecs.

For detailed tables with comparisons of the abilities and contents of the different variants of the codec pack, have a look at the comparison of abilities and comparison of contents pages.

To download the K-Lite Codec Pack, visit the download page.

Homepage: http://www.codecguide.com/about_kl.htm

Vista Codec Package

The current release contains a codec Settings Application which enables the user to choose a different splitters ‘on the fly’ for specific filetypes. The application will also allow you to choose from 10 different speaker configurations from ‘same as input’ and all the way up to full 7.1 channel output.

The Settings Application is 100% UAC compliant.
Restricted access is enforced. (User Account Control)
The Application allows each user to maintain individual codec settings while at the same time seamlessly integrating any administrative commands directly into the users account. New users accounts are detected upon opening the Application and automatically inherit the Administrators settings.

Codecs have been a problem for most users at one time or another. This is because there has never been an ‘out of the box’ working solution that the average computer user could install and just have everything work properly from the beginning. There are several decent codec package solutions out there, but none of them did everything I wanted. I was always in need of a tweak, adjustment, or even a re-installation just to get the codecs I needed/wanted and most of the time, the file still didn’t play properly. I’ve never claimed to be a media guru. My media experience prior to creating these packages was to double-click a file I downloaded and hope that it played.

The installer will automatically remove most other popular codec packs from your computer before installing this concise yet comprehensive package. For a list of all things automatically uninstalled by the VCP installer, Click Here. You won’t need to make any adjustments or tweaks to enjoy your media content immediately. Windows Media Player and Vista’s Media Center will instantly recognize all your files as playable.

It does not contain a media player and it does not associate file-types. With this codec package installed you will be able to use any media player, limited only by the players’ capabilities, to play all movies and video clips. Streaming video is supported in several formats in all popular web browsers. Users of VCP have the ability to choose what is installed and where to install it using the public redistributable. After the codec installation you can select to remove specific portions without removing the entire codec package. You can also re-add the removed items at any time.

This codec package supports 20 localizations. The default is English and the installer includes support for the following other languages; Arabic, Chinese Simplified/Traditional, Japanese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Polish, Swedish and Turkish. Languages can be added upon request.

Last version: 5.4.1

Homepage: http://shark007.net/vistacodecpackage.html

Size: 20.2 MB

XP Codec Pack 2.5.0

XP Codec Pack is one of the most complete codec packs which helps you to play all major audio and video formats.

And… to enjoy your multimedia experience, instead of 3 or 4 different players you get one, simple integrated player that plays almost all audio and video files: Media Player Classic.

Homepage: http://www.xpcodecpack.com/

Last Version: 2.5.0

Download last version: http://www.xpcodecpack.com/dl/XP-Codec-Pack-2.5.0.exe

Features

* clean & compact
* no spyware / adware / viruses included
* easy to use
* easy to install / uninstall
* multilanguage support: German, Polish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish
* 100% legal
* 100% freeware!

Includes:

* AC3Filter 1.63b
* AVI Splitter 1.0.0.9
* CDXA Reader 1.0.0.2
* CoreAAC (AAC DirectShow Decoder) 1.2.0
* CoreFlac Decoder 0.4
* FFDShow MPEG-4 Video Decoder 2008.12.19
* GPL MPEG-1/2 Decoder 0.1.2.0
* Matroska Splitter 1.0.3.0
** Media Player Classic 6.4.9.1
* OggSplitter/CoreVorbis 1.1.0.79
* RadLight APE Filter 1.0.0.4
* RadLight MPC Filter 1.0.0.4
* RadLight OFR Filter 1.0.0.4
* RealMedia Splitter 1.0.1.2
* RadLight TTA Filter 1.0.0.2
* The Codec Detective 2.0
* VSFilter (DirectVobSub) 2.38