Are codec packs bad for system ?

[DukiNuki]

Hey guys .

I read few places that K-Lite codec and generally all codec packs are Bad for system . and we should stick to the players instead of Codec packs . because they are messing up the Registry . and we really don't need what they offer .

Any way i like K-Lite codec Basic for one reason : i don't have to install other players such as MPC-HC . and everything runs via WMP . very simple .

but i have few questions : ( and please don't suggest me other players )

1.Is K-Lite codec Basic a bad codec pack and should i avoid it ?

BAD means : Messing up registry and causing problems

2.which one plays more ( Popular and Common ) video formats ? WMP+KLite basic or MPC-HC ?

 

[aldan]

codec packs are used to allow your player to play various formats and thats it.harmful?well,some come bundled with malware but i cant say as ive ever had a codec pack mess up my system.nowadays they are not as useful as players such as vlc come with the ability to play most any format already built in.k-lite was my favorite when i needed one but i havent used it or any other codec pack in a long time.

 

[festerovic]

I have never needed to install a codec pack ever when using MPC-HC or VLC player. Also, since you are going to download and install klite, how is that any different than installing another player?

When the program includes the codecs, like the 2 I mentioned, they usually include the latest version of the codecs built in to the program. Sometimes with Klite you will have to upgrade the codecs even though it wont prompt you or tell you that you need to. It will just make the playback messed up, and you will have to guess at the problem.

Also, at least with MPC-HC, you can run SVP and other shader upgrades that make the video quality much better (really) than WMP. Like most things Microsoft, it works, but you wouldnt want to use it unless you had to.

 

[DukiNuki]

Installing K-Lite basic . will still leave me with one player ( Windows media player ) for all my files . which is simpler than having more than one player .

but installing MPC-HC means you got another player for files that WMP cant play .

 

[festerovic]

MPC-HC takes about 5 megabytes of storage space....

You clearly want to use WMP even though its inferior, for whatever reason, thats cool, I wont argue that. But to answer your question: I have had problems when I used Klite in the past that caused me headaches to troubleshoot. Hopefully thats not the case anymore, I used it 5 years ago extensively. Klite was the reason I switched from WMP to VLC in the first place.

 

[DukiNuki]

Then ill go with either VLC or MPC-HC . i just like WMP's appearance . VLC skins are great but they are so hard to Drag and Adjust . because they don't have borders .

Now one last question : VLC or MPC-HC ? i prefer MPC-HC but which one supports more ( Popular and Common ) video formats ?

 

[festerovic]

Well, 2 weeks ago I would say VLC player, only because I didn't try out MPC-HC yet. But, after some testing, they both play every format I can throw at them. So I'd consider them both equal in that respect. VLC seems to have more features built in. MPC allows you to use nifty things like SVP (smooth video project, look it up, its really cool!) and madVR renderer. Those 2 things made me switch from VLC to MPC. I used VLC for the past 5 years and loved it. It has bugs though. MPC seems more stable considering I would get various fails or crashes with VLC when doing some common things.

Both programs have incredible customization in their advanced menus. Give both a try and see which you like better. I wish both of them would support r4 visualizer tho.

 

[DukiNuki]

Thanks for info man . i tried both and i always liked MPC-HC . its easier and cleaner

 

[DukiNuki]

One last thing . sorry

VLC has this nice Metro skins . but they have no border all around them for easy resize and drag . is there any way i can add border to any skin via VLC settings ?

i dont wanna edit the skin . just wanna add Windows border so i can easily work with them .

 

[festerovic]

No idea really, I used the default skin the whole time

 

[Pinhedd]

Hey guys .

I read few places that K-Lite codec and generally all codec packs are Bad for system . and we should stick to the players instead of Codec packs . because they are messing up the Registry . and we really don't need what they offer .

Any way i like K-Lite codec Basic for one reason : i don't have to install other players such as MPC-HC . and everything runs via WMP . very simple .

but i have few questions : ( and please don't suggest me other players )

1.Is K-Lite codec Basic a bad codec pack and should i avoid it ?

BAD means : Messing up registry and causing problems

2.which one plays more ( Popular and Common ) video formats ? WMP+KLite basic or MPC-HC ?

Codec packs are generally fine as long as they don't come bundled with other software that you weren't expecting. I've used the K-Lite codec pack in the past and never had any problems with the pack itself. What can be problematic though is actually getting the codec packs to work with various media players. Integration between players and external codecs is often done through the DirectShow API. The media player would send the stream to DirectShow, DirectShow would invoke the appropriate decoder, and then DirectShow would copy the decoded frames back to the media viewport. The media player need not actually be aware of what codec is being used to decode the media. The problem with this is that as the tasks involved in media playback get spread out over multiple projects, problems inevitably arise.

For example, at one point in time many years ago, playing certain media files with WinAmp Pro required installing WinAmp pro to playback the media file, installing a Matroska demuxer to split the .mkv file into component audio and video streams, installing an h264 decoder, installing an AC3/DTS decoder (often bundled with the h264 decoder), and then configuring all of them to play together nicely. Getting them to work together at all was hard enough but the real nightmare was in dealing with the minor nuances such as determining which tool was responsible for syncing the audio and video stream, which tool was responsible for managing the volume of the audio (both the bitstream decoder and the media player can handle this), enabling/disabling subtitles, etc... This ended up being an absolute fustercluck and media player developers caught on quickly. To make matters worse, messing with the decoders in the DirectShow list could have other consequences, especially for older video games that rely on a very specific configuration for cutscenes. Now, most media players are self contained (although most do support external codecs).

For simple, bug-free playback of a wide range of container formats and codecs on your PC, MPC-HC is the best media player available.

 

[DukiNuki]

Oh thanks a lot for info man . yeah i always loved MPC-HC . so simple and plays everything .

Don't know why i have this obsessive need to keep everything simple and clean and free . that means , i like having one player instead of two . its cleaner for me and i always get to run all my files with one player and one click . but since i can't really know what K-lite can do to my system ( even if its not noticeable ) then i better stick with MPC-HC

Thanks again man

 

[Pinhedd]

Oh thanks a lot for info man . yeah i always loved MPC-HC . so simple and plays everything .

Don't know why i have this obsessive need to keep everything simple and clean and free . that means , i like having one player instead of two . its cleaner for me and i always get to run all my files with one player and one click . but since i can't really know what K-lite can do to my system ( even if its not noticeable ) then i better stick with MPC-HC

Thanks again man

you're most welcome.

 

[festerovic]

well said, Pinhedd. I never really investigated wtf was going on, but your breakdown is pretty spot on for my experiences (multiple tools, games video playback, etc)