Questions tagged [codec]
Shorthand for "Encoder/Decoder". A codec allows to convert data into a different representation and decode it again. Codecs are mostly used in signal transmission, e.g. for audio/video playback or streaming.
440
questions
105
votes
4
answers
30k
views
What is a Codec (e.g. DivX?), and how does it differ from a File Format (e.g. MPG)?
I'm so confused... what is the difference between an audio/video codec (which apparently is a shorthand for "encoder/decoder", kind of like how "modem" is really "modulator/demodulator") and an audio/...
- 23.7k
100
votes
9
answers
192k
views
Use ffmpeg copy codec to combine *.ts files into a single mp4
I've got a bunch of ts segments described by a single index.m3u8 file:
index.m3u8
segment1_0_av.ts
segment2_0_av.ts
segment3_0_av.ts
segment4_0_av.ts
segment5_0_av.ts
I know they are ...
- 1,671
22
votes
2
answers
80k
views
What's the difference between FFmpeg's "-vcodec copy" and "-sameq"?
What is the difference between using -vcodec copy and -sameq with FFmpeg?
Do they do the same thing?
- 14.5k
20
votes
3
answers
23k
views
How do I find the codec for an AVI?
How can I find which codec an AVI file needs? A method that does not require downloading a program would be preferred (such as looking at the file in notepad).
- 6,434
19
votes
2
answers
17k
views
Why is encoding VP8/9 so slow compared to H.264?
Recently I wanted to try out the Webm codecs VP8 and VP9 but when I ran ffmpeg to encode a H.264 MP4 file into one of the other two codecs, I realized that the encoding is (by almost an order of ...
- 1,194
18
votes
6
answers
66k
views
MP3 vs M4A (AAC): what is the audio codec for portable devices which gives maximum independence? [closed]
A couple of years back MP3 was the most supported format for portable devices. Then Apple came along and wiped the floor of all the portable devices with the iPod as well as the iPhone. They clearly ...
18
votes
2
answers
29k
views
How does bitrate differ for the same resolution and framerate?
Reading about video quality I found that it depends of resolution, frames per second and bitrate, which decides the size of the video.
My question is how the bitrate is calculated and how it can ...
- 281
17
votes
4
answers
34k
views
Which codecs are most suitable for playback with Windows Media Player on Windows XP?
I need to encode a short video in a format that can be played with windows media player on windows xp without installing any additional codecs. For the recoding process I'm using ffmpeg.
I've already ...
- 6,306
17
votes
4
answers
195k
views
How to fix choppy sound replay with VLC
I've got a problem with vlc playing some file formats, for example mkv or m2ts (I didn't notice this problem with avi though). The sound plays ok, than dissappears for a second or two, than re-appears....
- 489
15
votes
3
answers
22k
views
Recommended settings to convert Opus to AAC
I am downloading some music from Youtube, and it seems that in most cases (popular videos), the best quality audio is an opus file.
I know that (1) Opus is the newest and more efficient codec, and (2)...
- 434
14
votes
3
answers
62k
views
How can I get thumbnails in Windows Explorer for .3gp and .webm files?
Basic set up
On my Windows 7 Professional 64-bit system I have installed K-Lite Codec Pack 7.10 and K-Lite Codec Pack 64-bit 4.6 with only the following options (the idea being to only add what's ...
14
votes
5
answers
40k
views
How can I make Windows 7 show thumbnails for MKV files?
I'm using Windows 7 64-bit and have installed the latest Haali Media Splitter.
How can I make Windows Explorer show thumbnails for MKV files?
- 247
13
votes
3
answers
112k
views
Install codecs for VirtualDub
I have many video codecs installed on my machine but Virtualdub only lets me choose from a
very basic selection.
Do I have to manually point VirtualDub to the codecs somehow?
- 215
13
votes
1
answer
89k
views
ffmpeg: Could not find codec parameters for stream 0 (Video: h264) unspecified size
I try to convert a video from .raw to .mp4. For this reason I did download, build and install both x264 and ffmpeg. However, command:
ffmpeg -f h264 -i output.raw -vcodec copy output.mp4
fails with ...
- 439
12
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Using a lossless video codec for archiving (monochrome) scientific video data
Basic question: what is a suitable codec for storing/archiving scientific video data in a lossless manner?
I am trying to help my research group out with storing/archiving some videos recorded with a ...
- 123
12
votes
1
answer
29k
views
accurate cutting of video (+ audio) with ffmpeg
I want my website to allow users to accurately create their own clips from a source video I provide.
I have a source video file that I first want to convert to something suitable for a website:
...
- 224
11
votes
2
answers
76k
views
How can I check the video/audio format for a MKV file?
I have a MKV video file. Can you please tell me how I can find out the video/audio codec of that file, and how I can find out if it is 1080p or 1080i?
I have a Windows 7 desktop PC.
Thank you.
- 5,985
11
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What is the current state of development for the FLAC codec? [closed]
I have a pretty large collection of FLAC files created from my CD collection. I love the FLAC format and the sound quality that you can get from it.
Lately, however, I've been trying to write a few ...
- 976
10
votes
1
answer
11k
views
Convert m4a to aac without quality loss?
I wanna use a program on an .m4a file, but the program can't handle .m4a. It can handle .aac, however, and the codec of the file is MPEG-4 AAC. Is there a way to convert to .aac (and preferably ...
- 557
9
votes
2
answers
17k
views
Which Codec should be used on video to avoid Recompression in youtube & vimeo
Which codec to use to compress videos that YouTube and Vimeo don't recompress to avoid the quality loss of recompression
@Chris let me make it more specific. I posted a general question so that ...
- 355
9
votes
4
answers
22k
views
Video encoding: How much does the video file size increase with fps?
Given that the next blockbusters of e.g. Peter Jackson (The Hobbit) and James Cameron (Avatar 2) are going to be shot with a frame rate of 48 fps (or even more) - i.e. more than the usual 24 fps - I ...
- 1,716
9
votes
3
answers
25k
views
Which Bluetooth Stack supports APT-X on Windows 7
I'm thinking about buying wireless desktop speakers for ease of use with different audio sources (Notebooks, Mobile Phone etc.). For higher audio quality over the standard A2DP protocol there are ...
- 276
8
votes
2
answers
34k
views
Which one VoIP SIP audio codec should I choose to high quality calls?
The quality of VoIP calls depends on the codec used for the transmission and on the bandwidth of Internet connection.
I want to use best optimized codec for my Internet connection.
I have to select ...
- 277
8
votes
3
answers
695
views
Video encoding for archival
I would like to archive some home videos (DV). I don't need to save them losslessly, but I would like to encode them in something high-quality.
What format is both pretty indistinguishable from the ...
- 1,223
8
votes
1
answer
6k
views
Is it possible to use aptX on unsupported computers or phones?
I've been reading up recently on different ways of wirelessly streaming media. At first I ignored bluetooth connections because of the quality, but then I started reading about aptX, which sounded ...
- 406
8
votes
2
answers
2k
views
FFmpeg incorrect colourspace with hardcoded subtitles
Problem
I have a MKV file which has 1 video and 1 subtitle stream, of which I want to hardcode the subtitle stream and output a MP4 file.
Example file, images and results can be found here.
mediainfo
...
- 305
8
votes
2
answers
8k
views
ffmpeg slideshow with crossfade
I just figured out how to make a slideshow with crossfade. It's a two-step process. The first step reads the pictures with framerate 0.5 (which means 2 seconds for each picture), and produces an ...
- 133
8
votes
7
answers
45k
views
Converting AVI encoded file with an IMM5 codec
As part of a legal matter, I received a copy of a security video encoded using what appears to be an 'IMM5' codec, apparently often used by police. I also received a copy of 'BackupPlayer', which can ...
- 8,716
8
votes
1
answer
16k
views
What is some good lossless video codec for recording gameplay? [closed]
I'm an avid gamer and I like to record my gameplay. Usually I've been using Fraps to do it, however I'm thinking of switching to Dxtory as it allows to write on multiple HDDs at once.
Say I have 3 ...
- 6,491
7
votes
2
answers
16k
views
Is FDK-AAC still better than FFmpeg's native AAC encoder?
I wrote this about a year ago while trying to compile FFmpeg for Cygwin/Windows, based on the claims made in the FFmpeg wiki:
The Fraunhofer FDK AAC codec library. This is currently the highest-...
- 13k
7
votes
2
answers
5k
views
What are the differences between the HuffYUV and ffvhuff codecs in FFmpeg?
Doing ffmpeg -codecs | grep -i huffyuv shows that my FFmpeg build supports three different versions of the HuffYUV lossless video codec:
DEVI.S ffvhuff Huffyuv FFmpeg variant
DEVI.S ...
- 13k
7
votes
1
answer
12k
views
How to select maximum resolution and specify a format/codec in yt-dlp?
I use yt-dlp frequently and like it. But there is a problem I can't find documented anywhere.
yt-dlp -v -f "bv*[height<=720]+ba*[ext=m4a]" -N 4 "https://www.youtube.com/xxx"
...
- 165
7
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Where is the Camera Codec feature available in Windows 8?
If you try to install the Camera Codec pack for Windows 7 on Windows 8, you get an error:
This version of the Microsoft Camera Codec Pack is not compatible with Windows 8 or Windows Server 2012. ...
- 4,076
6
votes
1
answer
6k
views
What lossy audio formats are more (or less) "efficient"?
This question is related to the answers I got to this question.
The bitrate-efficient format (see the question's most voted answers and their comments thereunder) would be one that assures a good ...
user162573
6
votes
1
answer
30k
views
H.264 video support in Chromium, missing codec?
Been using Chromium for a while, but it occurred to me that most video content does not work. YouTube does, but Vimeo does not, and most video streaming sites as well as random webpages with embedded ...
- 73
6
votes
1
answer
15k
views
FFmpeg - PNG / JPG - Invalid data found when processing input
I am trying to add a watermark to a video with FFmpeg. I have a custom build of FFmpeg that I am creating with a view to keep the binary size down. I seem to have excluded the ability for FFmpeg to ...
- 307
6
votes
8
answers
49k
views
Play Apple Lossless (.m4a, ALAC) files in Windows 7 Media Player?
Is there a good plugin or codec that allows Media Player/Media Center on Windows 7 to play Apple Lossless (ALAC) encoded files? As the files are shared between multiple iTunes installations and one ...
- 972
6
votes
1
answer
672
views
Why would my PC no longer be able to play audio files that it was able to play yesterday?
I'm having a very specific problem, with no idea as to what may be causing the issue. Here is a description of what I'm seeing:
I have a CD of PDF/Audio files that are generated by a third party.
Up ...
- 161
6
votes
0
answers
8k
views
Stream video with FFMPEG, "Output file does not contain any stream"
I would like to stream an H.264 encoded elementary stream wrapped in RTP headers to a port using FFMPEG.
I have tried the following command lines to no avail...
ffmpeg -i 1080p_1.h264 -f rtp -vcodec ...
- 61
5
votes
3
answers
15k
views
Alternative to DVD Player on Mac OS X [closed]
DVD Player is probably the program I use that crashes the most. Are there any alternatives?
- 7,735
5
votes
7
answers
250k
views
What format is "undf"?
By accident, I recently removed some videos from my phone. I tried to restoring them with Recuva and TuneUp Utilities and the results were "undf" files.
I tried to open with VLC, Media Player Classic ...
- 357
5
votes
4
answers
4k
views
What's the best audio format available when I want to convert my files?
I'm a music lover. I have lot of songs stored on my laptop, but the problem is I'm running out of space on my hard disk, because of the different audio formats which occupy lots of space.
Now I want ...
- 811
5
votes
1
answer
14k
views
FFmpeg: h264_qsv encoder and crf issues
I just found out about FFmpeg when recording gameplay on Bandicam using H.264 (Intel Quick Sync) codec. Unfortunately one of my videos ended up being recorded in an AVI wrapper and I wanted to ...
- 53
5
votes
1
answer
9k
views
How to change Codec ID with ffmpeg
Now I have a mpeg4 file with Codec ID 'isom (isom/iso2/avc1/mp41)'.
I need to remake its ID to 'mp42' (I have to save all other settings without changes).
what commands I should use in FFmpeg to do ...
- 53
5
votes
1
answer
11k
views
HEVEC/H.265 GPU decoding
Is possible to decode files with H.265 video format using GPU?
Specs:
Intel i5-2400
NVIDIA 970
Windows 10 Pro
Tried playing test samples (MKV with H.265 codec, 10bit), ~100% CPU usage, lags...
...
5
votes
1
answer
8k
views
Why does a Raspberry Pi require a key to playback MPEG2 content?
I was reading here and the article said that linux distros often use free versions of MPEG2. On my Raspberry Pi, however, I had to purchase a license to achieve playback of some of my files. I never ...
- 71
5
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Is there still need for codecs in Windows 7?
Aren't modern OS already packaged with the basic and most used codecs? Is there any reason to install a codec pack on a Windows 7?
What are those reasons? Where can someone look for safe codec packs? ...
- 316
5
votes
5
answers
41k
views
Trouble playing 1080p HEVC format on VLC, MPC, Potplayer
I am having trouble playing HEVC 1080p file on my system. I don't have a really strong PC, but I will give the facts:
Ram: 2GB
OS: Win 7 ultimate
processor: Pentium(R) Dual-Core T4500 @2.3Ghz
Graphic ...
- 251
5
votes
3
answers
10k
views
How do i identify/play this file? (It's a WMV inside a MOV?)
I have a file that VLC does not open. It mentioned 'wmv3' so i tried media player with no luck. I use avicodec to check which failed.
I also seen some results saying it's a Quicktime file but somehow ...
user3109
5
votes
1
answer
359
views
One codec to rule them all
I am streaming videos in my house via Windows Media Player Streaming, which is basically DLNA. So theoretically any DLNA compliant device can pick up the stream.
However, I've quickly found that ...
- 18.7k