K lite codecs for and audio. K-Lite Codec Pack: where to download, how to install
A popular selection of codecs, filters and functional tools that are used for high-quality viewing of multimedia files in MKV formats, MP4, FLV, MPEG, MOV, TS, M2TS, RMVB, OGM, WMV, 3GP, WEBM, FLAC, Wavpack.
Description of K-Lite Codec Pack
The software package is characterized by codec compatibility, ease of installation and management, which increases its rating among similar products. Codec Pack is offered in 4 versions:
- Basic - supports the minimum required set of options for playing multimedia formats. Codecs for playing almost all multimedia formats in any media player. And support for all the minimum required functions.
- Standard - differs from the previous edition by the presence of the MediaInfo Lite tool (viewing the most detailed details about video and audio files), which allows detailed playback of video and audio files; madVR renderer, which significantly improves the quality of the picture.
- K-Lite codec-pack Full - equipped with the GraphStudioNext utility that performs scanning, analysis and visual display, it also offers to add to the DirectShow filter range.
- K-Lite Mega Codec Pack is a universal edition that includes all the functions and utilities of other editions and is supplemented with ACM and VFW codecs.
Features of K-Lite Codec Pack
The package consists of 32-bit and 64-bit codecs, so it is used with the same quality in Windows x86 and x64 versions. Its features:
- English language support;
- Availability updated versions codecs;
- simple installation, which makes it easy to select the desired codecs and tools;
- the ability to remove the complete package or its fragment;
- checking each version of the kit for the presence of possible conflict situations between codecs and other programs;
- compatibility with new and previously installed codecs on the PC.
Updates to codecs, tools, or additional utilities immediately fall into the latest assembly. The latest version of the required edition K-Lite Codec Pack for Windows can be downloaded for free on our website without registration.
K-Lite Codec Pack - set free programs(codecs) that are built into the system and allow you to play video and audio on your computer. If some video or audio files do not open on your computer, then you should install this set of programs.
These are the most popular codecs. Most computer wizards install them on the computers of their clients. Thanks to this set, all popular video and audio formats, as well as some "special" ones such as FLV, WEBM, 3GP, will be played on the computer.
Also in the K-Lite Codec Pack there is media player Player Classic Home Cinema (except Basic version).
The only negative is that codecs are tightly registered in the system and no removal will completely get rid of them. But this only creates problems if the user is working in professional programs for video editing (Adobe Premiere and others). Other than that, it's the perfect set. Set and forget!
Principle of operation
Download one of the packages, that is, one file. Open, install - and that's it! Everything works, everything opens.
During installation, you can disable some codecs, but it's better to leave everything as it is, without changing anything. That is, when installing, press the “Next” button all the time, and then the “Install” and “Finish” buttons.
Download K-Lite Codec Pack Basic
(size 12.2 MB)
Download K-Lite Codec Pack Standard
(size 35.6 MB)
Download K-Lite Codec Pack Full
(size 35.4 MB)
Download K-Lite Codec Pack Mega
(size 39.6 MB)
Nuances
There are four K-Lite Codec Packs:
- Basic - contains everything you need to play all popular audio and video formats.
- Standard (recommended) - the same, but also contains Media Player Classic Home Cinema and allows you to fully watch DVDs on your computer.
- Full and Mega - for advanced users. Contains additional codecs for video editing.
K-Lite Codec Pack is a universal set of codecs and utilities designed to play and process audio and video files, including only free or open source software (open-source software).
Features of K-Lite Codec Pack
- Optimal selection of codecs;
- Ability to detect and remove damaged filters and codecs;
- Compatibility with other software packages;
- Advanced installation wizard;
- Complete removal of the package by the uninstaller;
- Frequent updating of software components.
Supported file formats
- .avi, .divx, .flv, .mkv, .mka, .mp3, .mpg, .mpeg, .m1v, .mpe, .m2v, .mpv2, .mp2v, .m2p, .vob, .evo, .mod , .ts, .m2ts, .m2t, .mts, .pva, .tp, .tpr, .mp4, .m4v, .mp4v, .mpv4, .m4a, .3gp, .3gpp, .3g2, .3gp2, . ogg, .ogm, .ogv, .oga, .rm, .rmvb, .ra, .ram, .webm, .mov, .hdmov .qt, .flac, .wv, .ac3, .dts, .amr, . amv, .alac, .ape, .apl, .aac, .mpc, .mpp, .xm, .s3m, .it, .umx, .ofr, .ofs.
K-Lite Codec Pack Components
- DirectShow video filters - XviD, On2 VP7, MPEG-2 (Gabest), MPEG-2 (Cyberlink);
- Video codecs – XviD, x264, On2 VP7, Lagarith, huffyuv, Intel I.263, DivX, YV12 (Helix);
- DirectShow audio filters - MusePack (MONOGRAM), WavPack (CoreWavPack), FLAC (madFLAC), Monkey's Audio (DCoder), OptimFROG (RadLight), DC-Bass Source, AC3/DTS Source (AC3File), AMR (MONOGRAM);
- ACM audio codecs - MP3 (Fraunhofer), MP3 (LAME), AC3 (ffcHandler), Ogg Vorbis, DivX Audio;
- DirectShow source filters – AVI splitter (Gabest), AVI splitter (Haali Media Splitter), MP4 splitter (Haali Media Splitter), MP4 splitter (Gabest), Matroska splitter (Haali Media Splitter), Matroska splitter (Gabest), Ogg splitter (Haali Media Splitter), Ogg splitter (Gabest), MPEG PS/TS splitter (Gabest), MPEG PS/TS splitter (Haali Media Splitter), FLV splitter (Gabest), CDDA Reader (Gabest), CDXA Reader (Gabest);
- DirectShow subtitle filter - DirectVobSub (a.k.a. VSFilter);
- Utilities – Bitrate Calculator, Codec Tweak Tool, GSpot Codec Information Appliance, MediaInfo Lite, VobSubStrip, GraphStudio, Haali Muxer, FourCC Changer;
- Media Player Classic Home Cinema (included in all package options except Basic, available in 32 and 64-bit versions).
Installing codecs
Process K-Lite installations Codec Pack is quite simple and intuitive, it won't take long.
For most users, the settings that will be offered by the wizard during installation are best left unchanged and not experimented with, leaving all the checkboxes in their places, this will be enough to listen to music and watch videos on the computer.
Alternative set of codecs:
Download K-Lite Codec Pack
Codecs K-Lite Codec Pack are distributed in versions: Basic, Standard, Full and Mega. Our website presents latest version the most complete package (includes more components, supports more formats, etc.) - K-Lite Mega Codec Pack.
Download K-Lite Mega Codec Pack for free, without registration.
Spoiler (Download K-Lite Mega Codec Pack for Windows XP)
New versions of K-Lite Mega Codec Pack no longer support Windows XP. If you need to download K-Lite Codec Pack for Windows XP, then use one of the links below:
What's new in version: List of changes
K-Lite Codec Pack- popular free codecs for a computer on Windows 7, 8, 10. The new version of all the codecs needed today in one, complete assembly will be more than ever useful for your computer. By installing this package you will be able to play all multimedia files, both video and audio.
Also, the package includes encoders for converting video files to popular media formats. The main thing is that these codecs are universal and will solve problems with the playback of any well-known media files. You can download K-Lite Codec Pack for free on our website, without registration and SMS.
Codecs will be a great find for beginners, since its installation does not require deep knowledge in the field software. It is no longer news that without such programs it would be generally impossible to imagine freedom when working with multimedia on your computer. home computer. We recommend that you don't forget to update the codecs in your Windows, as this will ensure that you don't experience playback errors of new file formats, and you can always enjoy new cinematic technologies. To download K-Lite Codec Pack you need to follow the direct link provided in our article.
How to install codecs
Codec installation has automatic or manual mode for advanced users. For those who are not familiar with the principles of installing programs on a computer, we recommend using auto mode. You only need to follow the prompts of the installer. For manual installation requires knowledge of your operating system, as well as information about the presence of pre-installed codecs. When installing them, you always have access to select and change the types of installed programs. We recommend removing previously installed codecs before installing new version K-Lite Codec Pack for Windows.
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K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of DirectShow filters and VFW/ACM codecs. They are needed to view and create audio and video files.
Softina eliminates the error that the video format is not supported, installs the player and allows you to encode video and sound with various codecs.
What are codecs
Any information in a computer, including text, photos, video and sound, can be written as a sequence of zeros and ones. The text can be written in a very compact form (the entire text part of Wikipedia will fit on a flash drive), and graphics, sound, and even more video, take up hundreds of places and even tens of thousands times more.
Codecs are programs and devices for storing information in in digital form(in whatever format), as well as for compression all this data. All codecs can be divided into two conditional types:
- Lossless data compression (in the so-called lossless-formats). Algorithms similar to those used by archivers when compressing files are used. Video frames encoded in this way will perfectly match the original ones, and take up less space on your hard drive.
- Lossy compressing audio and video ( lossy formats). The most typical example is MP3 music files. Codecs that compress to lossy formats throw out "extra" sounds and image details. Due to the loss of some of the information that a person most likely will not notice, as well as due to lossless compression algorithms, the file size is smaller than that of lossless. Lossy coding has one significant disadvantage: you can overdo it with compression, resulting in files with terrible sound and a bad picture.
Among lovers quality sound The debate continues on how best to store music - in lossless or lossy formats. On the one hand, lossless compression allows you to achieve 100% compliance with the original, on the other hand, such an audio library will take up too much space. For videos and photos, the problem of storage is also relevant. For example, over the years of its existence, the Youtube video site has changed several times the codecs that compress the video stored on servers. As a result, now we can watch videos of acceptable quality in 4K resolution, which was previously impossible, since 4K video simply would not have enough space for hard drives servers.
Types of codecs
There are several types of codecs. Different collections include different types, K-Lite has them all.
DirectShow Filters- modern codec format and more. They are divided into three subspecies. Eat capture filters, which are responsible for getting data from a file with video, music, and even physical devices like video cameras. Transform Filters allow you to decode, recode data, apply effects, and so on. Render filters (visualizations) can output video and sound to the screen, speakers, other devices and save to a file.
All DirectShow filters work in a chain, which allows experienced users to organize automatic video processing. For example, you can take a picture from surveillance cameras, display them on different screens, while adjusting brightness and contrast on some, take sound from separately connected microphones and save all this into one file with many tracks.
VFW codecs(Video for Windows). An older codec format that appeared in 16-bit Windows versions before the advent of the 95th. They are simpler than DirectShow filters and more limited in their capabilities - they cannot be used in a chain. Most often, VFW codecs are needed by video editors to open and save (compress) files.
ACM (Audio Compression Manager) codecs. Same old standard as VFW, but for audio. With these codecs, you can open and compress files in MP3, OGG, AAC, and other formats.
Codecs can be installed in the system so that all programs can use them, or they can be used in separate software. Codecs can be separate program. The most typical example is an encoder. You can't watch a video with it, but it's easy to convert it to another format. Codec packs do not include such programs, because the task of packs is to make multimedia files open in any program.
You don't need codec packs to watch videos
The problem of playing files is no longer as relevant as in Windows times 98/2000/ME/XP. Operating Windows systems 7/8/10 already contain the necessary components, and if they are not there, there are always players with built-in codecs. Such as powerful
But there are tasks where codec packs come in handy: video editing And work with the archive of video and sound recordings, where files can be of various formats
There are less popular collections of codecs:
- CCCP: Combined Community Codec Pack (development discontinued)
- Kawaii Codec Pack (development stopped in 2015)
- Codec Pack All-In-1 (the last version was released back in 2006)
K-Lite Codec Pack is the most popular collection of codecs and the most useful, because it contains not only codecs for opening video and audio, but also for compression, as well as several useful programs and player. K-Lite is regularly updated, new versions are released, while the authors of alternative packs abandon their work.
There are also two universal DirectShow codecs that solve the same problem without installing codecs from different developers - FFDShow(development stopped, included in the "mega version" of the k-light pack) and LAVfilters(included with any version of the K-Lite Codec Pack).
K-Lite Codec Pack
Where to download K-Lite
All versions are suitable for Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 and 10 of both bit depths - 32 and 64 bits.
There are four variants of the K-Lite Codec package:
1.Basic contains everything you need to play all common video file formats. Simply put, it will open AVI, MKV, MP4, OGM and FLV. The option is for those who like a small package without the bells and whistles. It is small but solves most of the problems with opening video files. The universal Lav Video codec is used for playback.
2. standard contains several additional features compared to the basic version. But most importantly, a simple and convenient Media Player Classic is built in. Also built-in DirectShow filter madVR, which in conjunction with Media Player Classic gives best quality pictures compared to the system filter (when stretching the picture, it turns out O greater clarity).
3. Included Full(complete) DirectShow filters have been added compared to the standard version, including the popular universal ffdshow filter. It has not been developed for a long time, unlike LAV Video, but it supports more formats and is able to replace more codecs. Also included in the full version is GraphStudioNext. This is a powerful tool for developers of codecs and filters, which is included in the codec pack so that the user can see which system components are used to open a particular multimedia file.
4.Mega-variant is the most complete K-Lite compilation. Video option. It contains standards codecs VFW And ACM For encoding and editing video and sound.
What to choose during installation
At the beginning of the installation, you can select the mode: Normal or Advanced. The difference is that in Advanced mode there will be a "Select components" step. All other sections of the installer will be identical in both modes.
Installation Preferences Section
At the very beginning of the installation, the installer will ask you a few questions.
preferred video/audio player- which player to prefer to open multimedia.
Preffered video/audio decoder- which decoder to prefer (leave LAV video decoder, description will be below).
Create file associations- open files in the selected player.
Install MPC-HC as a secondary player- if another is selected, install Media Player Classic anyway.
Install codecs only for MPC-HC- install codecs only for Media Player Classic (some will still be installed as system codecs for everyone).
Amount of components to install- codec set options, the middle point is optimal. In Advanced mode, you can refine the set at the component selection step.
Install VFW codecs for video encoding- put codecs for encoding, i.e. video creation.
Install only 64-bit components- install only 64-bit codecs, 32-bit programs will not see them.
Select Components Section
If you bet Basic or Standard, at this step you can click the "Next" button. There are few components, there is nothing to choose from.
IN Full And Mega There are many more codecs. Most likely you know what you are doing, since you choose these versions, but for the curious I will tell you more about what is in them.
Immediately at the beginning of the installation, you can choose whether to install only codecs for playback, whether to install the player, or select your own set (Custom Selection item).
Let's go through all the points.
MPC-HC is the Media Player Classic. Functional player with many useful options. There are two versions to choose from, the difference is in bit depth. It is better to choose only the one that matches the bit depth of your Windows. Perhaps in the future, the authors of the pack will switch to another player, because the development of Media Player Classic seems to have stopped in July 2017.
In chapter DirectShow video decoding filters there are modern codecs for video playback in any players, including standard Media Player and Windows 10 Video Player. You can choose from:
- Filter LAV Video- standard for Basic and Standard versions of the pack, it supports H.264, H.265/HEVC, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, VC-1, WMV and several other less popular formats. This best choice, because the project is actively developing, all found errors are quickly eliminated and, in general, the codec decodes popular formats without any problems.
- Filter ffdshow- obsolete this moment decoder, its development has been discontinued. Supports H.264, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, VC-1 and more. The decoder has one interesting feature: in the ffdshow settings, you can enable image processing, making it brighter, sharpening, turning it sideways, and so on. If you don't have filters in your player, but you need them, then video decoding via ffdshow will help you.
- Xvid- for (de)coding MPEG-4 files. You can choose if for some reason LAV and ffdshow do not suit you, while the above codecs can be left for processing other formats.
- Microsoft- the item is needed so that the selected format is decoded by the codecs built into Windows as before.
The component selection options affect not so much the choice of what to install, but how the codecs should behave. If the package contains LAV Video and ffdshow, they will be installed anyway, they will simply not be used for formats where another codec is selected.
Chapter DirectShow audio decoding filters contains codecs for sound playback.
- LAV Audio- the same as LAV Video, a modern universal DirectShow filter. Supports AC3, DTS, E-AC3, MLP, LPCM, TrueHD, AAC, FLAG, OGG Vorbis, MP1, MP2, MP3, WMA, and more.
- ffdshow it is also on the list, it can play AC3, DTS, E-AC3, MLP, LPCM, TrueHD, AAC, FLAG, OGG Vorbis, MP1, MP2, MP3 and, importantly, uncompressed PCM audio (.wav files). As in the case of video, filters can be applied to the sound.
- AC3Filter- for decoding AC3, DTS, E-AC3, TrueHD, LPCM, AAC and MPEG. This DirectShow filter holds the record for the number of sound processing settings. You can amplify the sound, compress the dynamic range, adjust the delay of individual audio tracks (necessary if the speakers are on different distance so that sound waves reach the listener at the same time), mix in real time ... There are a lot of possibilities and most of them are not needed by the average user.
IN DirectShow source filters You can select video source filters. They are needed not for decoding codecs, but for opening containers - files, inside of which there will be video with sound. For example, extensions AVI files, MP4, MKV are talking about different containers.
- LAV Splitter- for AVI, MP4, Matroska (MKV), MPEG-TS (MTS), MPEG-PS (PS) and others. By selecting LAV Splitter as the default source filter, you can change audio tracks on the fly in any player via the LAV Splitter tray icon.
- Haali Media Splitter- once a popular filter, it was used to enable subtitles in unsupported players and switch audio tracks. Now it has been replaced by LAV Splitter as more functional.
- DC Bass Source Mod- needed to support OptimFROG files (.ofr .ofs extensions) and open tracker music (.it .mo3 .mtm .s3m .umx .xm).
In chapter DirectShow subtitle filter there is only one item DirectVobSub. This filter will allow you to automatically connect subtitles from the files of the same name with the video. Not relevant now, because popular players already support subtitles stored both inside video files and external ones with the .srt extension.
Chapter Other Filters includes two DirectShow visualization filters for displaying images in players.
- MadVR- a very powerful filter, allows you to scale the picture with high quality and, what is important, make the frame change smooth.
- Haali Video Renderer- a filter whose development was stopped a long time ago, not really working, it is not clear why it is included in the K-Lite Codec Pack.
IN VFW video codecs there are codecs of the Video for Windows standard. If you use old video editing software or VirtualDub, then you need them.
- ffdshow VFW interface- VFW-part for ffdshow, which was mentioned above. Allows you to save in FFV1, HuffYUV, DV and MJPEG.
- Xvid is a free compatible alternative to the once popular DivX (MPEG-4).
- x264VFW- for encoding video in H.264 format, which is on the next evolutionary stage after MPEG-4.
- huffyuv- lossless codec for encoding and decoding video files of the same format.
- lagarith- modified huffyuv, compresses more strongly, there is no data loss either.
ACM Audio Codecs needed for audio compression.
- MP3 (LAME) is a popular MP3 codec for audio compression in programs such as VirtualDub. It will be installed only if there are no other MP3 codecs in the system.
- AC3ACM- for AC3 format. AC3 has two features: there can be many audio tracks and the technology is protected by patents. Because of this, many players on phones do not support the AC3 format. IN Windows players there are no problems with this.
In chapter Tools utilities are located.
- Codec Tweak Tool- a program for reconfiguring codecs, resetting their settings. In it, you can replace LAV with ffdshow without reinstalling the K-Lite Codec Pack.
- MediaInfo Lite- to show detailed information about codecs inside multimedia files.
- GraphStudioNext- very powerful utility for developers of DirectShow filters. In K-Lite Codec Pack, most likely, it is enabled due to the function of viewing which filters are used when opening a particular file.
- Haali Muxer- a utility for packing individual audio and video files into Matroska containers (.mkv).
- VobSubStrip- a tool for solving a specific task: extracting subtitles for a particular language from .idx and .sub files.
- FourCC Changer- a program that changes the label of the codec used in video files. Useful if the desired codec is not used when opening a video file.
IN Explorer shell extensions Windows Explorer extensions are located.
- Icaros ThumbnailProvider allows you to view the contents of video files in popular formats in thumbnail view.
- Icaros PropertyHandler allows you to view the width, height, frame rate, duration in the properties of files with extensions .flv, .mkv, .ogm, .rmvb, .webm, .ape, .flac, .mka, .mpc, .ofr, .opus, .spx , .tak, .tta, .wv.
IN Miscellaneous there are two options - Detect broken codes And Detect broken DirectShow filters, which include checking codecs and DS filters already installed in the system. If something goes wrong with them (damaged or missing files and entries in Windows registry), they can be removed. The same feature is available in the Codec Tweak Tool.
Additional Tasks and Options section
In the next step, the installer will refine a few settings.
Their number will differ depending on your choice in the previous step. Most of the settings are clear, based on their names, I will only talk about the most important ones:
Reset all settings to their defaults- Reset all codec settings. Useful if you update the codec pack from old version or an alternative has been installed.
Windows Media Player: register supported file formats- Standard Windows Media Player will open formats supported by installed codecs.
Optimized preferred decoders settings: the installer will tweak the system codec settings to the optimal values, according to the authors of the K-Lite Codec Pack. You can change them later manually using the Codec Tweak Tool.
Add to Explorer context menu - A new item "MediaInfo" will appear in the right-click menu to easily open video and music files in the MediaInfo program.
Hardware acceleration section
Here you can configure the hardware acceleration of video decoding. This is important for watching movies in high definition.
You can select the decoding method (universal and hassle-free - DXVA2 copy-back), as well as enable acceleration only in the Media Player Classic (item "Only use hardware acceleration in combination with MPC-HC").
MPC-HC configuration section
Appears when Media Player Classic is selected.
The important option here is the choice of video renderer ("Video renderer"). If you bet madvr, choose it in otherwise would be optimal Enhanced Video Renderer (Custom Presenter).
Section Preferred language(s) for audio and subtitles
Here you can set preferences for choosing an audio track. The settings in the screenshot below are the most universal for a Russian-speaking user.
If there is a Russian track in the video, it will turn on. If not, then English and Russian subtitles (if available).
File associations section
Allows you to specify which player to use to open audio and video files.
Due to the peculiarities of assigning file associations in Windows 10, this step may not affect the choice and you will have to manually assign programs through the Control Panel - Default Applications.
Depending on the checked checkboxes, additional steps will appear, where you can select in detail the associations of the program with file types.
Audio Configuration Section After installation
Restart your computer, otherwise some codecs will not work correctly.
If you need to change some settings for codecs and filters, there will be a K-Lite Codec Pack folder in the Start menu with shortcuts that open settings and utilities.
