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Questions tagged [codec]

Codec is an implementation of compression and decompression of digital data streams and signals in different scales. Digital data like audio, video and electronic documents are been compressed and decompressed using codecs.

A codec can consist of two components: an encoder and a decoder. The encoder performs the compression (encoding) function and the decoder performs the decompression (decoding) function. Some codecs include both of these components and some codecs only include one of them.

There is mainly two kind of data compression technique.

  1. Lossless
  2. Lossy

Lossless Data Compression
Lossless data compression allows the exact original data to be reconstructed from the compressed data.

Lossy Data Compression
Lossy compression is a data encoding method that compresses data by discarding (losing) some of it. The procedure aims to minimize the amount of data that need to be held, handled.

List of Different Codecs
Wikipedia Codec List According to Catagory

FAQs
FAQ about Codecs by Microsoft
Codec Guide FAQ

Other Useful Links
Microsoft codec programming guide
ffmpeg codec programming
Codecguide

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Is there a good open codec for screencast compression

Video captured from computer screens can be compressed very well by codecs that are optimised for screen video. Generally, this means taking into account that large areas of the screen don't change between frames, and that when areas change they are…
Bernie Sumption
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Python library to modify MP3 audio without transcoding

I am looking for some general advice about the mp3 format before I start a small project to make sure I am not on a wild-goose chase. My understanding of the internals of the mp3 format is minimal. Ideally, I am looking for a library that would…
Oddthinking
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Fatal Python error: initfsencoding: unable to load the file system codec

I have created a .exe file of a simple script with intentions to run it on a server however I cannot seem to figure out what this fault means or find any answers online. The fault code is as follows: Fatal Python error: initfsencoding: unable to…
EcSync
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Adding video codec to Android

Can someone please explain the steps I need to take in order to add a new codec to Android? Also, I would like the codec to be installed as part of an application installation (or first launch) and NOT as part of a full Android OS build. The reason…
AlikElzin-kilaka
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Difference between Frames and Packets in FFmpeg

I am trying to decode an MPEG video file using LibAV. There are two terms which I am not able to grok properly, Frames and Packets. As per my present understanding, Frames are uncompressed video frames and packets are the compressed…
pseudo_teetotaler
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Adding other video codecs / DVD support to JavaFX 2.2

Update: Since the media side of JFX has been open sourced, I've looked into this myself and it is indeed possible, but requires changing and rebuilding the JFX source (both Java and C parts.) The process is described here for anyone that wants to…
Michael Berry
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Free/Open h.264 video decoding libraries? (Non-GPL)

The main players seem to be x264, and xvid, and both are GPL. This means we can't integrate decoding capabilities into a playback application without licensing the whole thing as GPL, so we can't use either. The preferred target platform is Linux.…
Mark Renouf
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Can't open video using opencv

The opencv works fine when doing other things. It can open images and show images. But it can't open a video. The code I'm using to open a video is as below import cv2 cap = cv2.VideoCapture("MOV_0006.mp4") while True: ret, frame =…
AnnieFromTaiwan
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FFMPEG with hardware codec support

I have built a simple media player using ffmpeg on Android 2.2. Hardware is an arm cortex-a8 based 1GHz processor, 512 MB RAM. I am getting low performance, around 15 FPS for 800x600 mp4 video. I have a couple of questions on how I can improve the…
mctma
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mp4 atom - How to discriminate the audio codec? Is it AAC or MP3?

I'm working on a mp4 container parser but I'm going crazy trying to recognize the audio codecs of the streams. I used both QtAtomViewer and AtomicParsley but when I find the atom: trak->mdia->minf->stbl->stsd I get always "mp4a" even if the mp4 file…
FireEater
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Camera2 video recording without preview on Android: mp4 output file not fully playable

I am trying to record video from the back camera (the one that faces the face) on my Samsung Galaxy S6 (which supports 1920x1080 at about 30 fps). I do not want to have to use any surface for previewing if I do not have to as this is to just happen…
Mark
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Default ffmpeg codec when nothing is specified

If I import a file to use with ffmpeg but dont specify anything about the codecs of any of the streams, will ffmpeg do anything? Is the default action to just copy the codecs? Or will ffmpeg encode the input file using some default codec? Would the…
sion
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How do Media Player Android apps like MXPlayer and MoboPlayer play unsupported file formats like MKV?

Android doesn't support many media file formats (files like .mkv), by default. But players like MXPlayer and MoboPlayer enables you to play such files. How do these applications work? Is there any programming tutorials or articles explaining how it…
user1262208
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Android sip stack with codec manipulation support?

I have been looking for some framework for an android device that enables the reInvite method over the SIP protocol. My utter goal is to be able to switch codecs while in call. I have tried to do so with some existing libraries but i have come to a…
jaivalis
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How do I create a custom media player to play a custom codec in Android?

n00b here (first Android project). I have been given a custom video codec that has been integrated with an Android firmware build. It's an .so file containing a class that inherits from MediaPlayerInterface, as well as a custom MediaPlayerService…
samgak
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