Universal codecs. Important points in the additional tasks window

K-Lite Codec Pack– popular free codecs for computers running Windows 7, 8, 10. A new version of all the codecs needed today in one, complete assembly will come in handy for your computer more than ever. By installing this package you will be able to play all multimedia files, both video and audio. The package also includes encoders for converting video files into popular media formats. The main thing is that these codecs are universal and will solve problems with playing any known media files. You can download K-Lite Codec Pack for Windows for free on our website, without registration or SMS.

Codecs will be a great find for beginners, since its installation does not require deep knowledge of software. It is no longer news that without such programs it would be impossible to imagine freedom when working with multimedia on your home computer. We recommend that you remember to update the codecs in your Windows, as this will prevent you from encountering errors when playing new file formats, and you will always be able to enjoy new cinema 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 an automatic or manual mode for advanced users. For those who are little familiar with the principles of installing programs on a computer, we recommend using automatic mode. You just need to follow the installer's instructions. Manual installation requires knowledge of your operating system, as well as information about the availability of pre-installed codecs. When installing them, you always have access to selecting and changing the types of programs to be installed. We recommend that you remove previously installed codecs before installing the new version of K-Lite Codec Pack on Windows.

In this manual we will look in detail setting up K-Lite Mega Codec Pack- the most popular codec package. Experienced users will find this material useless, but beginners often have problems installing this kit.

Download the codec pack K-lite Mega Codec Pack from the official website. Install the codec package, closing all programs. In the first installer launch window, click Next. In the next window, check Advanced Mode (All options are shown)— Advanced mode (all options are shown). Click Next again.

The main window will appear in front of you with K-Lite Mega Codec Pack program settings. From the top drop down menu select Profile 7: Lots of stuff- the most complete installation. Most often, users leave the settings “as is,” but you can also change the settings to suit your needs, in which case the profile name in the top line will change to Custom Selection. The default settings are well optimized, so whether to change anything in them or not, decide for yourself, I’ll just explain some of the nuances. Please note that when selecting settings, the recommended ones come first.

Attention! Also in the profile selection menu you will see the inscription (without player) - (without player). If you select a profile with this name, then you do not agree to the installation of the Media Player Classic player and will use the player installed on the system. It's up to you to decide, but I recommend it for video playback.

When choosing the option with a player, you will be offered two editions of the famous Media Player Classic(Regular - Normal) and (Home Cinema - Home Cinema). I prefer to use the second option accordingly.

What filters to use in K-Lite Mega Codec Pack

Now let's move on to considering the proposed filters for playing media files. To make it clearer for you:

Filter is a media decoder used for video decoding, supporting many video and audio formats. Currently the most popular filters are ffdshow And LAV.

Just the same, the second subsection after selecting the player will be DirectShow video decoding filters - DirectShow video decoding filters (DirectShow is an interface for implementing these filters in the Windows environment). To use all kinds of video standards (eg H.264), K-Lite Mega Codec offers several options.

I will not go into a detailed comparison of the filters used, at your discretion you can use both ffdshow and LAV, both projects are worthy of choice.

I'm a supporter LAV Filters and I will list them advantages, but also disadvantages :

  • Large set of video decoders, high quality.
  • Based on ffmpeg, like the ffdshow filter, but unlike ffdshow, multithreading is implemented.
  • Includes the author's own development of a CUDA decoder for Nvidia video cards.
  • Supports exotic profiles Hi10P, Mpeg 4:2:2, etc.
  • Bitstream support. TrueHD and DTS-HD support.

Flaws:

  • Inferior to ffdshow in the absence of post-process filters.
  • It is advisable to use for not too heavy video files; for FullHD video use DXVA decoders.

In the section DirectShow audio decoding filters sets of filters responsible for audio decoding are presented. I recommend using LAV or ffdshow.

Utility for switching audio tracks

In addition to a set of filters for each video and audio format, you need to select splitter ( in subsection DirectShow source filters), which divides the stream of information received from the container it supports (the most common containers are *mkv, *m2ts, *ts and of course *avi), into video, audio and subtitles, which are transmitted to the corresponding decoders. The splitter allows you to select the audio track and subtitles for playback. It is important to immediately understand that not all splitters work equally well with decoders. This is one of the main reasons why you will have to think about your choice. I can recommend you Haali Splitter or LAV Splitter.

You can leave all other parameters as default. Click Next, a window will appear asking you to select a folder for the location, click again Next. In the next window Select Additional Tasks(Select Additional Tasks) options for the components you select will be displayed, so their complete composition may vary.

Important points in the additional tasks window:

  • Reset all settings to their defaults — the settings of all components will be reset to the recommended ones (the option is relevant when updating the codec package).
  • Additional shortcuts- additional shortcuts for Media Player Classic on the desktop (Desktop) and/or on the quick launch panel (QuickLaunch) and a shortcut for the Codec Tweak tool.

ffdshow configuration (ffdshow filter settings)

  • Hide systray icons— hide system icons, when playing a video file, ffdshow works, and icons appear in the system tray providing quick access to its settings. By checking the box, you will disable the display of icons.
  • Restrict usage to whitelisted applications— ffdshow has a “white list” of applications compatible with this filter, and accordingly there is also a “black list”. By checking the box, ffdshow will only be able to use programs from the “white list”.
  • Force RGB32 output— when this option is activated, ffdshow will output video in the RGB32 color space. This is necessary to configure color display, but this option loads the processor.
  • Volume normalization— volume normalization, this option is useful if the volume level is very low. But I advise you to check the box in the settings of the Media Player Classic player (the option is described below).

Haali Media Splitter configuration (Haali splitter settings)

  • Hide system icon— hide the system tray icon. Check the box to switch between audio streams and subtitle languages ​​from the tray without going into the player menu.

Media Player Classic configuration

  • Video renderer— I advise you to choose the EVR or madVR renderer.

Renderer (or renderer) is a program that renders (obtains an image).

  • Use internal subtitle renderer— use the built-in renderer for subtitles. Configuration is required to use hardware acceleration.

DirectX Video Acceleration(abbreviated DXVA) - an interface designed for video decoding by a video card processor.

  • Use high rendering resolution— includes high definition subtitles.
  • Enable internal MPEG-2 decoder— use internal MPEG-2 decoder. For example, you are satisfied with the decoder in an already installed third-party player.
  • Volume normalization— sound normalization.
  • Install language files for MPC—installation of language files, to enable the desired language, you need to go to the bookmark View - Language.

Tweaks

  • — allows you to select static, animated and animated with buffered subtitles.

There may be more items in this window, depending on the settings. If you have any questions, write in the comments. Now press the button Next and go to the Hardware Acceleration window . You will need to select filters for the H.264 and VC-1 standards. For owners of an NVIDIA video card, select LAV Video - NVIDIA CUVID in both points (models older than 8800GT), for users of ATI video cards - LAV Video DXVA2 native (models starting from the HD series). We set it to None only if neither the central processor nor the video card supports hardware video acceleration. Other options must be selected depending on the PC configuration and codec package settings. ffdshow DXVA Decoder has good reviews, but a lot depends on the combination: the renderer used and the HD video processing filter.

In the next window, you can select the software player with which you would like to associate your media files, that is, which player to play.

Click Next, check the boxes next to the required multimedia format for each player selected in the previous window. Click again Next and select your speaker configuration.

Click again Next, the window will display the configuration you selected for installation. Click Install, wait for the package to install. After installation, you will be asked to check the boxes for those filters that you can customize at your discretion. Click Finish.

P.S. Check the functionality of your player. If you have any problems, write in the comments below.

K-Lite Codec Pack is a set of tools that allows you to play videos in the best quality. The official website presents several assemblies that differ in composition.

After downloading the K-Lite Codec Pack, many users do not know how to properly work with these tools. The interface is quite complex, and the Russian language is completely absent. Therefore, in this article we will look at setting up this software. For example, I previously downloaded the assembly from the manufacturer’s website "Mega".

All codec settings are done when installing this software. The selected parameters can be changed later using special tools from this package. So let's get started.

Run the installation file. If the program finds already installed K-Lite Codec Pack configuration components, it will offer to remove them and continue installation. In case of failure, the process will be interrupted.

In the first window that appears, you must select an operating mode. In order to configure all components, select "Advanced". Then "Next".

Profile selection

The next window will be one of the most important in setting up this package. The default value is "Profile 1". In principle, you can leave it this way; these settings are perfectly optimized. If you want to carry out full customization, select "Profile 7".

Some profiles may not have a player installed. In this case, in brackets you will see the inscription "Without player".

Setting up filters

In the same window we will select a filter for decoding "DirectShow video decoding filters". You can choose either ffdshow or LAV. There is no fundamental difference between them. I'll choose the first option.

Selecting a splitter

In the same window, go down below and find the section "DirectShow source filters". This is a pretty important point. A splitter is needed to select the audio track and subtitles. However, not all of them work correctly. The best option would be to choose LAV Splitter or Haali Splitter.

In this window we have marked the most significant points, leaving the rest as default. Click "Next".

Additional tasks

If you want to install additional program shortcuts, then check the boxes in the section "Additional shortcuts", opposite the required options.

To play videos only from the white list, check "Restrict usage to whitelisted applications".

To display video in RGB32 color mode, check "Force RGB32 output". The color will be more saturated, but the load on the processor will increase.

You can switch between audio streams without the player menu by highlighting the option "Hide system icon". In this case, the transition can be done from the tray.

In the field "Tweaks" You can customize subtitles.

The number of settings in this window may vary significantly. I show how I have it, but it may be more or less.

Leave the rest unchanged and click "Next".

Setting up Hardware Acceleration

In this window you can leave everything unchanged. These settings work fine in most cases.

Renderer selection

Here we will set the renderer parameters. Let me remind you that this is a special program that allows you to receive an image.

If the decoder Mpeg-2, the built-in player suits you, then mark "Enable internal MPEG-2 decoder". If you have such a field.

In order to optimize the sound, select the option "Volume normalization".

Language selection

To install language files and the ability to switch between them, select "Install language files". Click "Next".

We get to the language settings window. We choose the main and secondary language that meets your requirements. If necessary, you can select another one. Click "Next".

Now let's select the default player for playback. I will choose "Media Player Classic"

In the next window, mark the files that the selected player will play. I usually select all video and all audio. You can select everything using special buttons, as in the screenshot. Let's continue.

The audio configuration can be left unchanged.

This completes the K-Lite Codec Pack setup. All you have to do is click "Install" and test the product.

K-Lite Codec Pack is a time-tested package of video codecs for Windows; it has been providing comfortable viewing of movies on your computer for more than 10 years.

The program consists of filters and decoders that process media files of different formats. It ensures playback of video and audio recordings without any freezes or errors.

If a movie file does not play on your computer, do not rush to blame the video player. The fact is that initially, along with Windows Media Player, the operating system installed the simplest tools for processing multimedia files. Because of this, there may be errors when playing videos and lack of support for some fairly common formats. To solve this problem, you need to download codecs. One of the best options is the K-Lite Codec Pack for Windows, designed to make media players stable and fully functional.

The developers of this codec pack offer to download video codecs in four versions:

  1. Basic— basic set, the only one that does not include the MPC-HC player
  2. Standard- extended package includes several rarely used decoders
  3. Full— there are also additional DirectShow filters, such as ffdshow and VP7
  4. Mega- the most complete version, which also includes ACM and VFW codecs.

For the average user, the Standard version will be sufficient. If you are interested in additional DirectShow filters, which involve finer image adjustments and subtitle control, then pay attention to the Full and Mega packages.

During installation, the program prompts you to select the formats and decoders you want to work with, as well as remove “broken” components from other packages. Although, it must be said that by default everything is set to the optimal option, so there is no great need to understand the interface. However, at any time you can call the menu through “Start-Programs-Configuration”.

Possibilities:

  • a set of the latest versions of decoders;
  • no conflicts with similar software;
  • playback of all used formats (including such “hard-to-open” ones as MKV, FLAC, RMVB, HDMOV, TS, M2TS, OGM);
  • built-in Home Cinema media player;
  • detection and replacement of damaged or missing decoders;
  • built-in utility for removing a package (or part of it);
  • auto update.

Advantages:

  • simple installation in a minute;
  • opening all popular video files;
  • Download K-Lite Codec Pack is offered free of charge.

Things to work on:

  • there is no Russian-language interface, you can select Russian only in the menu;
  • after deletion, many unnecessary entries remain in the registry.

It is also important to note that the program gets along well with any media players and works even if you already have similar sets from other developers.

However, if you used one of the four packages presented, and then decided to install another, it is advisable to remove the previous one. For example, you had Standard, but you wanted to install Full. In this case, the authors recommend “demolishing” Standard. And in order to clean the registry, use a good one, for example, CCleaner.

Unlike a number of analogues, this codec set eliminates conflicts with components of other packages. And thanks to frequent auto-updates, you will only have the latest versions of codecs.

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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.

The software gets rid of the error that the video format is not supported, installs a player and allows you to encode video and audio using various codecs.

What are codecs

Any information on a computer, including text, photographs, video and sound, can be written as a sequence of zeros and ones. The text can be written down in a very compact form (the entire text part of Wikipedia can fit on a flash drive), while graphics, sound, and especially video take up hundreds or even tens of thousands times more.

Codecs are programs and devices for storing information in digital form (in some format), as well as for compression all this data. All codecs can be divided into two conditional types:

  • Lossless compression data (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 will take up less space on your hard drive.
  • Lossy audio and video compression ( lossy formats). The most typical example is MP3 music files. Codecs that compress into lossy formats throw out “extra” sounds and image details. Due to the loss of some information that a person most likely will not notice, as well as due to lossless compression algorithms, the file size is smaller than lossless. Lossy encoding has one significant disadvantage: you can overdo it with compression, resulting in files with terrible sound and poor picture.

Among lovers of high-quality sound, debate continues about how best to store music - in lossless or lossy formats. On the one hand, lossless compression allows you to achieve one hundred percent compliance with the original, on the other hand, such an audio library will take up too much space. For videos and photos, the storage problem is also relevant. For example, over the years of its existence, the YouTube video site has changed the codecs with which video stored on servers is compressed several times. As a result, we can now watch videos of acceptable quality in 4K resolution, which was impossible to do before, since 4K video simply would not have enough space on the servers’ hard drives.

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 receiving data from a file with video, music, and even from physical devices like video cameras. Conversion filters They allow you to decode and recode data, apply effects, and so on. Rendering (visualization) filters can display video and sound on 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, simultaneously adjusting the brightness and contrast on some, take sound from separately connected microphones and save it all into one file with multiple tracks.

VFW standard codecs(Video for Windows). An older codec format that appeared in 16-bit versions of Windows before the advent of 95. They are simpler than DirectShow filters and more limited in 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 legacy standard as VFW, but for audio. Using these codecs, you can open and compress files into MP3, OGG, AAC, etc. formats.

Codecs can be installed on the system so that all programs can use them, or they can be used in separate software. Codecs can also be a separate program. The most typical example is an encoder. You can't watch a video with it, but you can easily convert it to another format. Such programs are not included in codec packs, because The purpose of the packs is to ensure that multimedia files can be opened in any program.

Codec packs are no longer needed to watch videos.

The problem of playing files is no longer as pressing as it was in the days of Windows 98/2000/ME/XP. The Windows 7/8/10 operating systems 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 still tasks where codec packs are useful: video editing And working with archived video and sound recordings, where files can be of very different formats

There are less popular codec collections:

  • CCCP: Combined Community Codec Pack (discontinued)
  • Kawaii Codec Pack (development stopped in 2015)
  • Codec Pack All-In-1 (the latest 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 a 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 “megaversion” 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, both 32 and 64 bit.

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, with it you will open AVI, MKV, MP4, OGM and FLV. The option is intended for those who like a small package without bells and whistles. It's small, but it solves most problems with opening video files. For playback, the universal Lav Video codec is used.

2.Standard contains several additional functions compared to the basic version. But the most important thing is that it has a built-in simple and convenient Media Player Classic player. The madVR DirectShow filter is also built-in, which, in conjunction with Media Player Classic, gives better picture quality compared to the system filter (when the picture is stretched, it turns out to be O better clarity).

3. Included Full(full) 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 the GraphStudioNext program. This is a powerful tool for codec and filter developers, 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-option is the most complete K-Lite collection. Option for working with video. It contains standards codecs VFW And ACM For video and audio encoding and editing.

What to choose during installation

At the beginning of the installation, you can select a mode: Normal or Advanced. The difference is that in Advanced mode a step for selecting components (“Select components”) will appear. 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 several questions.

Preferred video/audio player- which player to prefer for opening multimedia.

Preferred 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- options for a set of codecs, the middle point is optimal. In Advanced mode, you can refine the set at the component selection step.

Install VFW codecs for video encoding- install codecs for encoding, i.e. creating videos.

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 significantly more codecs. Most likely, you know what you are doing if you choose these versions, but for those who are curious, I will tell you in more detail what is in them.

Right at the beginning of the installation, you can choose whether to install only codecs for playback, whether to install a player, or select your own set (Custom Selection item).

Let's go through all the points.

MPC-HC is a Media Player Classic player. Functional player with many useful options. There are two versions to choose from, the difference is in the bit depth. It’s better to choose only one that matches the bitness 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 the section DirectShow video decoding filters there are modern codecs for video playback in any players, including standard Media Player and Windows 10 Video Player. The choice is given:

  1. Filter LAV Video- standard for Basic and Standart 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 is the best choice because the project is actively developing, all errors found are promptly eliminated, and in general the codec decodes popular formats without any problems.
  2. Filter ffdshow- the decoder is currently outdated, its development has been discontinued. Supports H.264, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, VC-1 and others. The decoder has one interesting feature: in the ffdshow settings you can enable image processing, making it brighter, increasing sharpness, turning it sideways, and so on. If you don't have filters in your player, but you need them, then decoding video via ffdshow will help you.
  3. Xvid- for (de)coding MPEG-4 files. You can choose if for some reason you are not satisfied with LAV and ffdshow, but you can leave the above codecs for processing other formats.
  4. Microsoft- the item is needed so that the selected format is still decoded by the codecs built into Windows.

Component selection options affect not so much the choice of what to install, but how codecs should behave. If the package version contains LAV Video and ffdshow, they will be installed in any case, they will simply not be used for formats where a different codec is selected.

Chapter DirectShow audio decoding filters contains codecs for sound playback.

  1. LAV Audio- the same as LAV Video, a modern universal DirectShow filter. Supports formats AC3, DTS, E-AC3, MLP, LPCM, TrueHD, AAC, FLAG, OGG Vorbis, MP1, MP2, MP3, WMA, etc.
  2. ffdshow also present in 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 with video, filters can be applied to audio.
  3. AC3Filter- for decoding AC3, DTS, E-AC3, TrueHD, LPCM, AAC and MPEG. This DirectShow filter holds the record for the number of audio processing settings. You can amplify the sound, compress the dynamic range, adjust the delay of individual audio tracks (necessary if the speakers are at different distances so that the 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, the file extensions AVI, MP4, MKV indicate different containers.

  1. LAV Splitter- for AVI, MP4, Matroska (MKV), MPEG-TS (MTS), MPEG-PS (PS) and others. When you select LAV Splitter as the standard source filter, you will be able to change audio tracks on the fly in any player via the LAV Splitter icon in the tray.
  2. Haali Media Splitter- a once popular filter, it was used to turn on subtitles in unsupported players and switch audio tracks. Now it has been replaced by LAV Splitter as more functional.
  3. DC-Bass Source Mod- needed to support OptimFROG files (.ofr .ofs extension) and open tracker music (.it .mo3 .mtm .s3m .umx .xm).

In the section DirectShow subtitle filter there is only one point DirectVobSub. This filter will allow you to automatically connect subtitles from video files of the same name. It is 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.

  1. MadVR- a very powerful filter that allows you to qualitatively scale the image and, what is important, make the frame change smooth.
  2. Haali Video Renderer- a filter whose development has long been discontinued, does not really work, it is unclear why it was 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.

  1. ffdshow VFW interface- VFW part for ffdshow, which I mentioned above. Allows you to save in FFV1, HuffYUV, DV and MJPEG.
  2. Xvid- a free compatible alternative to the once popular DivX (MPEG-4).
  3. x264VFW- for encoding video in the H.264 format, which is the next evolutionary step after MPEG-4.
  4. huffyuv- lossless codec for encoding and decoding video files of the same format.
  5. Lagarith- modified huffyuv, compresses stronger, no data loss either.

ACM Audio Codecs needed for audio compression.

  1. MP3 (LAME) is a popular MP3 codec for audio compression in programs such as VirtualDub. It will only be installed if there are no other MP3 codecs in the system.
  2. 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. There are no problems with this in Windows players.

In the section Tools there are utilities.

  1. Codec Tweak Tool- a program for reconfiguring codecs and resetting their settings. In it you can replace LAV with ffdshow without reinstalling the K-Lite Codec Pack.
  2. MediaInfo Lite- to display detailed information about codecs inside multimedia files.
  3. GraphStudioNext- a very powerful utility for DirectShow filter developers. In the K-Lite Codec Pack, it is most likely included because of the function of viewing which filters are used when opening a particular file.
  4. Haali Muxer- a utility for packaging individual audio and video files into Matroska containers (.mkv).
  5. VobSubStrip- a tool for solving a specific task: extracting subtitles for a specific language from files in .idx and .sub formats.
  6. FourCC Changer- a program that changes the label about the codec used in video files. This is useful if the required codec is not used when opening a video file.

IN Explorer shell extensions Windows Explorer extensions are located.

  1. Icaros ThumbnailProvider allows you to see the contents of video files in popular formats in thumbnail view.
  2. 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 codecs And Detect broken DirectShow filters, which include checking codecs and DS filters already installed in the system. If something is wrong with them (damaged or missing files and entries in the Windows registry), they can be deleted. The same function is available in Codec Tweak Tool.

Additional Tasks and Options Section

In the next step, the installer will clarify several settings.

Their number will differ depending on your choice in the previous step. Most of the settings are clear based on their names; I’ll tell you only about the most important ones:

Reset all settings to their defaults- reset all codec settings. Useful if you are updating a codec pack from an old version or have installed an alternative one.

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 adjust the system codec settings to optimal values, according to the authors of K-Lite Codec Pack. You can later change them manually using the Codec Tweak Tool.

Add to Explorer context menu- a new “MediaInfo” item will appear in the right-click menu to easily open video and music files in the MediaInfo program.

Hardware acceleration section

Here you configure hardware acceleration of video decoding. This is important for watching high definition movies.

You can select the decoding method (universal and problem-free - DXVA2 copy-back), and also enable acceleration only in the Media Player Classic player (item “Only use hardware acceleration in combination with MPC-HC”).

MPC-HC configuration section

Appears when you select Media Player Classic.

An important option here is the choice of video renderer (“Video renderer”). If you bet madVR, choose it, otherwise the optimal one will be Enhanced Video Renderer (Custom Presenter).

Preferred language(s) for audio and subtitles section

Here you can set your 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 be included. If not, then English and subtitles in Russian (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 assign programs manually through Control Panel - Default Applications.

Depending on the checked boxes, additional steps will appear where you can select in detail the associations of the program with file types.

Audio Configuration Section

Here you can select the type of your speakers.

Thumbnails section

Last step. Here you can set which videos to show in the thumbnail view.

After installation

Restart your computer, otherwise some codecs will not work correctly.

If you need to change any codec or filter settings, there will be a K-Lite Codec Pack folder in the Start menu with shortcuts to settings and utilities.