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 technicians install them on their clients’ computers. 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 included in the K-Lite Codec Pack is the Media Player Classic Home Cinema (except the Basic version).
The only negative is that the codecs are permanently written into the system and no amount of removal can completely get rid of them. But this only creates problems if the user works in professional video editing programs ( Adobe Premiere and others). Otherwise, this is a perfect set. Set it and forget it!
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 is better to leave everything as it is without changing anything. That is, during installation, 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 available:
- Basic - contains everything you need to play all popular audio and video formats.
- Standard (recommended) - the same, but also contains the Media Player Classic Home Cinema player and allows you to fully watch DVDs on your computer.
- Full and Mega - for advanced users. Contains additional codecs for video editing.
Before purchasing or assembling yourself personal computer, the user should have an important question - what operating system does he plan to use? The market is now dominated by Windows and macOS X for home, as well as a host of free, non-commercial operating systems based on the Linux kernel or descendants of Unix-like systems, such as FreeBSD and OpenSolaris. Each operating system has its own rules of operation, in some cases everything more than works “out of the box” or in Live USB mode, in other cases you have to not only spend a considerable amount of time installing drivers, but also solve problems with software part use. This can especially be a serious problem for people who like to watch movies in high resolution(for example, Blu-ray) using files that can reach up to 10-30 gigabytes in size hard memory disk (depending on the container used). To play movies with this extension (most often it is .mkv), the built-in multimedia tools of Windows are not enough, especially in older versions. Of course, you may be able to play the file, but you won’t be able to change the voice acting, subtitles, or use any tools.
And in most cases, such a film will be impossible to watch due to various artifacts, friezes, or lack of synchronization of video and audio tracks.
Therefore, you have to resort to installing additional codecs that perform data encryption and decryption functions. The differences between codec assemblies will be described below, as well as how to install K-Lite Codec Pack correctly.
Difference between sets
K-Lite Codec Pack is a collection of various free codecs that are included in the four available sets: “Basic”, “Standard”, “Full” and “Mega”. Each subsequent set includes the previous one, with additions, for example, the “Media Player CLassic Home Cinema” player (MPC-HC for short). Kits are designed for specific tasks and needs. "Basic" is ideal for those users who only need codecs that can interact with other players, including the standard "Player Windows Media" The “Standard” set includes the previously mentioned “Windows Media Player”. In fact, it makes much more sense to download it separately, without pre-installing codecs, since it includes all the necessary components by default.
Also, “MPC-HC” is rightfully one of the best alternative and, most importantly, free players. In most cases, it outperforms commercial projects such as KMPlayer, while not inferior in performance and ability to play movies with various extensions.
Where to download from
You can download codecs from the official website codecguide, where you can also find sets with descriptions of the components that they contain. In addition to everything, this site has a news and changes section, where, in addition to updates to the main software, there are also convenient links to download video drivers, as well as plug-ins related to the operation of flash elements. All files are downloaded when you click on the hyperlinks.
There is also another website where you can download the latest MPC-HC release.
Official development of this video player is no longer underway, however, source This program is freely available on souceforge. For this reason, you can use unofficial forks, which involve updating codecs.
Installing codecs
Before proceeding with the installation, the user needs to decide for what purposes he needs codecs. Otherwise, he risks clogging his OS with unnecessary components that he will not use. In most cases, the “Basic” set is sufficient, to which you can easily assign any default player. The description of the set says that all audio and video files with the usual extensions will be played, such as: AVI, MKV, MP4, MP3, FLAC, DVD, Blu-ray and so on.
After launching the installer, the user will be asked to use one of two modes: “Normal” and “Advanced”. For more fine adjustments the last option was chosen.
Select default player.
The installation directory does not need to be changed.
Now the most important thing is the components. By default, the recommended values will be set, however, the user can set the configurations that will be most convenient for him. 
Decoder selection. There is no point in changing anything here unless the user is sure that another decoder will not be more effective.
Language settings are set automatically.
Assigning codecs to a particular bit depth of the player. You can leave it as is; the user is unlikely to notice any really significant changes.
Audio and video file associations. If there are no other players in the system, you should make sure that the associations are set for all available file extensions.
Audio decoder settings. In the absence of professional sound card and other equipment, you can also not change anything.
List of files for which thumbnail images will be created.
So, having specified all the settings, the installer will display general information. Then you can click on the “Install” button to begin the installation. This happens in a matter of seconds. To interact with codecs, you need to use the “Codec Tweak Tool”, which is automatically installed.
The installation is complete, now it is possible to play audio and video files with unusual Windows extension, and the user is familiar with how to install the K-Lite Codec Pack.
K-Lite Mega Codec Pack– the most complete package of codecs and DirectShow filters from the K-Lite Codec Pack product line. These codecs and filters are used by the system to encode and decode video and audio files of various formats. Although there are many alternative, paid media players that are used in professional work, only K-Lite Mega Codec Pack does not require an Internet connection to obtain data about a particular rare codec format. The fact is that such programs have built-in the most popular codecs, which are most often found in wide use.
In K-Lite Mega Codec Pack latest version Not only common but also rare formats are collected. You download the program once and be sure that you will not encounter a system refusal to play a particular media file due to the lack of the required codec. Plus, the program is updated quite often to keep up with the latest changes in the field of codecs.
Can't find or download video codecs for Windows 7, 8, 10, try K-Lite Codec Pack - the most conflict-free program for working between different codecs, all its components are selected in such a way as to avoid incidents. When installing the package on your computer, you can mark those tools that will be useful to you in the future. You can download the latest version of K-Lite Mega Codec Pack 32bit and 64bit for Windows for free in Russian via a direct link from the official website on our website.
Main features of K-Lite Mega Codec Pack for Windows 7, 8, 10:
- Supports all codec formats, both common and rare;
- No conflicts between different codecs;
- The ability to select only the tools needed for the job during installation;
- Timely updating of the program.
Tweet
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 amateurs high-quality sound The 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 video of acceptable quality in 4K resolution, which was impossible to do before, since 4K video simply would not have enough space. hard drives servers.
Types of codecs
There are several types of codecs. Included in various collections 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 physical devices like video cameras. Conversion filters 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 images from surveillance cameras and display them on different screens, while simultaneously adjusting the brightness and contrast on some, take sound from separately connected microphones and save it all into one file with many tracks.
VFW standard codecs(Video for Windows). More old format codecs that appeared in 16-bit Windows versions before the appearance of the 95th. 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 be 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 relevant as it was in the past. Windows times 98/2000/ME/XP. OS Windows 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 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 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 in any K-Lite versions 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. This option is for those who like a small package with no bells and whistles. It's small, but it solves most problems with opening video files. The universal Lav Video codec is used for playback.
2.Standard contains several additional functions compared to the base version. But the most important thing is that it has a built-in simple and convenient player Media Player Classic. The DirectShow madVR filter is also built-in, which in conjunction with Media Player Classic gives best quality pictures compared to the system filter (when the picture is stretched, the result is b 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 powerful tool 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-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 chapter 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:
- 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 best choice, because the project is actively developing, all errors found are quickly eliminated and, in general, the codec decodes popular formats without problems.
- Filter ffdshow- outdated this moment decoder, 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 your player does not have filters, 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 you are not satisfied with LAV and ffdshow, but you can leave the above codecs for processing other formats.
- 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.
- 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, etc. formats.
- 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.
- 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 located at at different distances, so that sound waves reach the listener at the same time), carry out mixing 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. 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.
- 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.
- DC-Bass Source Mod- needed to support OptimFROG files (.ofr .ofs extension) and open tracker music (.it .mo3 .mtm .s3m .umx .xm).
In chapter 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.
- MadVR- a very powerful filter that allows you to qualitatively scale the image and, what is important, make the frame change smooth.
- 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.
- ffdshow VFW interface- VFW part for ffdshow, which I mentioned above. Allows you to save in FFV1, HuffYUV, DV and MJPEG.
- Xvid- a free compatible alternative to the once popular DivX (MPEG-4).
- x264VFW- for encoding video in the H.264 format, which is the next evolutionary step after MPEG-4.
- huffyuv- lossless codec for encoding and decoding video files of the same format.
- Lagarith- modified huffyuv, compresses stronger, 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 only be installed 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 there are utilities.
- 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.
- MediaInfo Lite- for display detailed information about codecs inside multimedia files.
- 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.
- Haali Muxer- a utility for packaging individual audio and video files into Matroska containers (.mkv).
- VobSubStrip- a tool for solving a specific task: extracting subtitles for a specific language from files in .idx and .sub formats.
- 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.
- Icaros ThumbnailProvider allows you to see 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 is wrong with them (damaged or missing files and entries in 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 update the codec pack from old version or an alternative one has been installed.
Windows Media Player: register supported file formats- standard Windows player Media 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- in the menu by right click mouse, a new “MediaInfo” item will appear 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 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.