Help with Codecs, and managing them (merit)

LeperJohn · Member Joined: 16 Jun 2009 Location: United States

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone would be willing to help me out. I was looking up which media player to use, and I think I'd like to use MPC over VLC. The only thing is, I don't really know what codecs are superior to others, therefore I cannot set the merit for each one correctly. I've heard that d/led codec packs isn't a good idea, because they give you a bunch of codec that overlap each other (and are pirated).

If you could help me choose a nice set of codecs, and help me with rating their merit, I would be eternally thankful.

John

johns0 · Puppet Master Joined: 05 Jun 2002 Location: canada

Xvid-1.2.2 and haali media splitter are to 2 basic codecs to install for most media nowadays.Some people rather have ffdshow instead.
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jagabo · Member Joined: 09 Dec 2005 Location: none

VLC doesn't use installed codecs. It has its own built-in decoders. So it doesn't matter what DirectShow merit you assign to any installed codecs, they won't be used.

MPCHC has many built-in decoders (more than MPC, otherwise the same program) and file readers/splitters and the option to disable them and use DirectShow filters instead.

As far as playback is concerned, if you use VLC or MPCHC you may not need to install any audio or video codecs.

Safesurfer · Member Joined: 18 Mar 2004 Location: United States

If you want to see the Merits of filters, you could try Filmerit, I've found it to be a very useful tool and safe to use as long as you use it properly.
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Krispy Kritter · Member Joined: 31 Jul 2003 Location: St Louis, MO USA

Regardless of the player chosen for playback, the only time you would need to "manage" anything, would be if you are having playback issues. In which case, a simple install (or reinstall) of the correct codec will often resolve the issue.
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LeperJohn · Member Joined: 16 Jun 2009 Location: United States

Thanks for the responses guys.

To answer one issue - I rather have the codecs so that I can encode as well as decode.

Another concern I had was... lets say I have Xvid-1.2.2 and fddshow. Both decode Xvid files. In that case, I would be able to set the merit of one above the other for Xvid decoding. The only thing is, I do not have any idea which is better.

That is an example of what I mean. I assume that this is not an issue of "what you prefer," since some codecs should do a better job at encoding/decoding than others. But of course, I'm just assuming this.

Any insight would be appreciated. And thank you again for the responses.