Appendix D - Codecs

By installing Microsoft’s Media Player (installed by default with Windows XP and Vista) various standard video codecs are preinstalled, including support for Windows Media Video files (WMV).

To support other file formats such as MPEG-2 or DivX you need to install the appropriate codec.

For MPEG-2 support, download and install the GPL MPEG-2 codec: http://sourceforge.net/projects/gplmpgdec/

For DivX or Xvid support, download and install the ffdshow codec pack: http://sourceforge.net/projects/ffdshow-tryout/

For high definition codecs additional licenses may be required. Contact Isenzo Sales at sales@isenzo.com for more information.

Note: If you are using media that is compressed using a non-windows-standard codec (DivX, MPEG2, etc). That codec must also be installed on each player PC for correct playback.

If you are unsure which codec a media file has been encoded with, you can use the free GSpot Codec Information Appliance: http://gspot.headbands.com/

To use GSpot, drag and drop the media file you want to investigate from ‘My Computer’ onto GSpot. The frame titled ‘Container’ will display which codec was used to encode the media file.

If you have many codecs installed on your system and want to determine which codec will be used to decode the media file, use the frame at the bottom of GSpot titled ‘Proposed Codecs Solutions and Tests’ and click the ‘1’ buttons to examine which codec will be used to decode the media file.