Most user will never need to use K-Lite Codec Pack Full. It contains the same set of codecs that exist in K-Lite Codec Pack Standard, but also add the ability for users to encode their own videos.

K-Lite Codec Pack Full is best utilized by users who understand bitrates, frames per second, and resolution aspect ratios. Even though K-Lite Codec Pack Full is a great codec pack, it is not recommended for users who will not be creating and encoding their own videos.

The playback capability of K-Lite Codec Pack Full is like K-Lite Codec Pack Standard. The tests playing various file formats showed the same quality and function with the AVI, WMV, MKV, and MP4 videos. All played with no problems and K-Lite Codec Pack Full also contains subtitle support. K-Lite Codec Pack Full along with K-Lite Codec Pack Standard can re-time subtitles so if a user had issues with subtitle playback, it can be customized.

Using K-Lite Codec Pack Full as an encoder is the bulk of the purpose of the program. Since it layers more functions on top of K-Lite Codec Pack Standard, it is possible to view the exact specific audio and video codecs are being used, how they are utilized, and how they interact with the hardware they are running on. It is interesting information for the curious, but unnecessary for standard playback.

K-Lite Codec Pack Full is a great starting point for novice users who want to understand how media formats work and a good tool for working with different media types for customization.

Download K-Lite Codec Pack Full 9.9.0 in Softonic

To ensure smooth playback and not get weighed down with too many codecs, MPCStar contains only the major codecs including Media Player Classic, FFDshow Codec Pack,
RealPlayer Codecs, ActiveX controls, QuickTime Codecs and DirectVobSub (a.k.a. VSFilter). The only problem is that these codecs are regularly updated and there appears to be no automatic update function but overall, this is one of the simplest and most powerful players I've tried since VLC player.

Download MPCStar 4.2 in Softonic

There's no doubt that XviD is an excellent media codec, allowing excellent compression ratios without sacrificing quality. If you're a connoisseur, or you're having problems viewing XviD media, you may want to try downloading the XviD Codec. It will allow you to make tiny adjustments to XviD specifications that will allow you to get the most when playing them.

There's no central XviD Codec interface. Instead, go to your Start Menu and access the Encoder and Decoder specifications from there. As you might expect, these codec specs are pretty technical, so you'd want to know what you are doing before you go poking around. XviD Codec also comes with an XviD MiniConvert, and a selection of Advanced tools - like a StatsReader, FourCC Changer and Quantization Matrices - that XviD experts will want to investigate.

If you are having problems with - or want to perfect - XviD rendering, download this XviD Codec.

Download XviD Codec 1.3.2 in Softonic

As video and audio encoding develops, it can be really hard to keep abreast of the latest compression techniques and codecs. K-Lite Mega Codec Pack does this for you by putting pretty much every codec in use, on your computer.

The K-Lite Mega Codec Pack combines the contents of three codec packs:

• K-Lite Codec Pack Full
• QuickTime Alternative
• Real Alternative

Essential for anyone using audio or video apps on their PC.

Download K-Lite Codec Pack Mega 9.8.0 in Softonic

Users are very picky when it comes to installing codec packs on their PCs - nobody wants to bloat their system with useless files and tools that won't be of any use or will only cause incompatibility issues. You won't have this problem with XP Codec Pack. This compact, handy codec pack has always been Softonic's first choice whenever we need to install codecs or upgrade them on a PC.

Why? Well, we like the fact that XP Codec Pack focuses on the most popular formats, and so it's not overloaded with codecs most users will hardly use. Secondly, it's easy to install and lets you choose exactly what you want, both for codecs and tools. Finally, XP Codec Pack is incredibly stable and highly compatible: we've never had a single problem with codec since we began to use it.

Of course, that doesn't mean to say that XP Codec Pack is perfect. There are a few flaws that should be pointed out. The most demanding users will surely miss a wider array of formats in XP Codec Pack, as well as more codec-related tools like the ones you find in other codec packs.

XP Codec Pack is a great choice for those who don't need a massive selection of codecs and prefer a simpler, hassle-free codec kit for the most popular audio and video formats.

Download XP Codec Pack 2.5.1 in Softonic

Windows Essentials Codec Pack includes filters and codecs for many formats, though only one of them per format to reduce the risk of conflicts and errors. The pack also includes codec configuration tools and a copy of Media Player Classic.

The pack is very easy to install. Simply launch the executable file and follow the instructions. During the installation process Windows Essentials Codec Pack will let you select which codecs you want to install and which you don't need. Also, as the pack includes a special update utility, you'll always have the latest version on your PC.

Windows Essentials Codec Pack includes all the codecs you need to play most audio and video files on your system. The pack includes a media player and is updated automatically.

Download Windows Essentials Codec Pack 4.4 in Softonic

The K-Lite Codec Pack Basic comes in three separate versions for different tiered users. From the simple basic pack, which includes the most common video and audio codecs and includes subtitle support, the K-Lite Codec Pack Basic version will allow the majority of users to watch and listen to their content with relative ease.

One main difference of K-Lite Codec Pack Basic is that it does not include Media Player Classic Home Cinema. This simple media player is the easiest to use, but not necessary in K-Lite Codec Pack Basic. Windows Media Player is more than enough for the small amount of codecs in this set.

K-Lite Codec Pack Basic’s functionality is also directly connected to the hardware specifications of the system it is running on, so do not expect to be able to easily play high definition content with smooth framerates even though K-Lite Codec Pack Basic is able to render the files.

The most common codecs like DirectShow, MKV decoders, and MP4 decoders are installed in K-Lite Codec Pack Basic so there is not much more needed for every day viewing. Even though K-Lite Codec Pack Basic supports audio, it is meant for video. With the numerous video codecs and encoders creating files that are high quality with smaller file sizes, native Windows support does not exist for all the variations.

The different tested content in K-Lite Codec Pack Basic included MP4, AVI, WMV, and MKV; all at different levels of quality and resolutions. The codec pack had no problem playing any of the files in Windows Media Player. K-Lite Codec Pack Basic also supports different subtitle formats like SRT, SUB, and IDX, but take a little customizing for the subtitles to display properly.

K-Lite Codec Pack Basic is the perfect set of third-party codecs that are not natively supported in Windows.

Download K-Lite Codec Pack Basic 9.9.0 in Softonic

There are many different video and audio files formats available. From numerous video formats to the different quality audio files, it takes a lot of time to search individually and install each codec that are being supported.

K-Lite Codec Pack Standard is the easiest and most comprehensive codec pack for users who watch or listen to audio on their personal computers. Including Media Player Classic Home Cinema and a wider array of specified codecs, K-Lite Codec Pack Standard never has a problem playing a video file or audio format. But the playback of certain file types, especially those that are created in high definition need suitable hardware for smooth playback.

Testing using WMV, AVI, MP4, and MKV; K-Lite Codec Pack Standard had no issues playing back the files. There is a small issue with WMV format with the video playing with small image tears. The other formats had no issues.

Media Player Classic Home Cinema is the core of K-Lite Codec Pack Standard and the combination of the multitude of codecs and the simplicity of Media Player Classic Home Cinema allowed for smoother playback than K-Lite Codec Pack Basic.

It is simple to see statistics about videos through Media Player Classic Home Cinema. Subtitle support also exists in K-Lite Codec Pack Standard and with the combination of Media Player Classic Home Cinema; it is even easier to activate the subtitles in video.

K-Lite Codec Pack Standard is the go-to all-in-one codec pack for video users. The interface and functionality is perfect for almost any media format and without being intrusive, there is not a bundle better.

K-Lite Codec Pack Standard will play anything you throw at it – 99% of the time.

Download K-Lite Codec Pack Standard 9.9.0 in Softonic

Or worse, the codecs that you have are corrupt and don't playback properly. If you've found yourself in this situation then m5Studio Codec is a neat little package which brings together most of the most important codecs you'll need. m5Studio Codec includes all the major codecs you'll need to make sure that you'll never have problems playing a film again.

Among the codecs included in m5Studio Codec are DivX or XviD, Ogg Vorbis or Cinepak or AC3 plus some some lesser known ones such as CoreAVC and Fraunhoffer IIS. Installation is simply a matter of double clicking EXE file and you've got a few configuration controls to control exactly how you want the codecs to perform.

m5Studio Codec is a useful codec package that will be able to playback most of the major formats that you can download or rip films to.

Download m5Studio Codec 8.3a in Softonic

The full title is the "Combined Community Codec Pack". In reality, it's more like a filter pack than a codec pack but the developers say that "filter doesn't begin with C and we wanted a good acronym"! The developers also like to point out that the name is also a pun on a Russian name which is transliterated into the Latin alphabet as "Soyuz Sovietskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik", or "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics", abbreviated as "USSR".

Anyway, the Combined Community Codec Pack was created to replace the filter packs provided by other groups which simply often did not work properly or broke compatibility for other formats. In reality, Combined Community Codec Pack is an extremely powerful Codec pack, playing back effortlessly most popular formats and some unpopular ones too. There are now fiddly options to get it working although if you have other codec packs installed, you may experience some conflicts or significant slowdown in reproduction of your films.

However, overall, Combined Community Codec Pack is an impressive pack which deals with just about anything and I quite like the attitude of the developers and their ironic communist branding.

Download Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP) 2011-07-30 in Softonic

This update includes:

Updated Media Player Classic Home Cinema to version 1.6.5.6237
Updated LAV Filters to version 0.53.2-8-g7fd402c
Updated DirectVobSub to xy-VSFilter version 3.0.0.211
Fixed a problem that could result in subtitles failing to load

These new installations will ensure that any broken codecs are repaired and optimized for useability.

Download K-Lite Codec Pack Update 9.9.4 in Softonic

Download MediaCoder 0.8.14.5270 in Softonic

Download Vista Codec Package 6.4.1 in Softonic