While Windows already comes with a set of audio and video codecs that are sufficient to play back all the formats supported by Windows media tools, this pack shows some shortcomings when you start using external media players. K-Lite Codec Pack Full covers for all those missing codecs, while offering you the option to tweak and configure your codecs and filters.
The program’s installation is pretty straightforward – you won’t need to be an expert user to add all those missing codecs and filters to your library and start playing back all kinds of media files using your favorite media players. Things change when it comes to configuring and tweaking DirectShow filters, and video and audio decoders – I would only recommend these features to true expert users.
Actually, if all you need is to play back videos and audio files on your computer, you don’t even need to know there’s a Codec Tweak Tool included in the package. Not everything in this utility is exclusive to the expert user, though. In the initial window that opens when launching the tool, you’ll find general features useful for all kinds of users, such as a Reset settings button, a Backup and Restore functionality for your codecs, or a File Associations section. From here on, you’ll need a deep knowledge of how these codecs work in order to make the most of this tool.
If you happen to know how to make the most of your codecs and filters, you’ll find management options for DirectShow and ACM/VFM filters, your preferred splitters and decoders, the possibility to disable or enable specific filters from the pack, ways to tweak Windows Media Player and DirectShow decoding filters from Windows 7 onwards, etc.
K-Lite Codec Packs come in various shapes and flavors. There is a Basic variant with just the most common video file formats (AVI, MKV, MP4, FLV, etc.), a Standard variant with some additional features and a copy of Media Player Classic, and a Mega variant, which is the most complete pack and adds to this Full version VFM/ACM codecs for video encoding and editing. All of these packs are free to download and use, and I recommend any of them dearly.
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