Why should I use "K-Lite Codecs" pack?

Hello everyone,

i thought this is the best way to ask some simple questions i can't answer myself, even after reading through the page. If there is any FAQ that is up-to-date which answers all these questions then please let me know. Else it would be great if you could add those answers to a FAQ section. I think a lot of people don't find these "simple" and basic information they need to answer their questions and they have to read through many pages which is very frustrating...



Why should I use K-Lite Codec pack and what makes it "better" or seperates it from something like "Standard/Advanced Codec Pack"? (since they contain the same codecs?)
Why isn't there a complete list of whats included in Standard/Advanced Codecs pack on the page?

Let's assume i have two different setups:

1. Laptop: Here one only needs GPU accelerated video which consumes less power. The overall picture quality doesn't matter that much.

2. Desktop/HTPC: Here you could go full rampage and want the best picture quality one could get with GPU encoding
How do i achieve this?
What are the best settings?
Which codec(s) do i have to choose?
Do i have to change any settings? > Is everything set up for GPU encoding right from the start?
Which player should i use?
I only use MPC-BE (VLC just sucks). Is it enough for me to just install the Codecs?
Whats up with the MPC-BE madVR build? What is it? What does it do? Why should i use it?
Also: What is madVR and what exactly does it replace?


I hope you could and will answer all those questions. Maybe you're considering expanding your FAQ?


Thank you for answering these questions (hopefully) and thanks everyone for their work here on the forum and on the codecs pack!

(sry for my bad english..)

Why should I use K-Lite Codec pack and what makes it "better" or seperates it from something like "Standard/Advanced Codec Pack"? (since they contain the same codecs?)

There are lots of reasons why K-Lite is superior. It is not just about contents, but also how it is used and installed.
K-Lite is smaller and contains much less redundant and unneeded stuff. You can compare file size.
K-Lite offers much more options and flexibility during and after installation.
K-Lite has some unique functionality for detecting and fixing all kinds of codec related problems.
K-Lite has more users than all other codec packs combined. Some people have been happily using it for more than ten years. It is so popular, because it is reliable, and does what it needs to do very well. It is being used at many universities, hospitals, and even in professional flight simulators.
Another important thing is proper support. Here on the forum you can get a friendly answer even to questions that are off-topic. On that other forum where you posted you may get treated differently. There people often get treated very badly if they ask something that shark007 doesn't like. Those topics are later removed to censor things. But shark007 loves to spread lies on its own.

Why isn't there a complete list of whats included in Standard/Advanced Codecs pack on the page?

Because that is made by someone else. Why in the hell would we provide any information about some other inferior product?

1. Laptop: Here one only needs GPU accelerated video which consumes less power. The overall picture quality doesn't matter that much.

There is no difference in quality between software decoding and hardware accelerated decoding!

2. Desktop/HTPC: Here you could go full rampage and want the best picture quality one could get with GPU encoding
How do i achieve this?
What are the best settings?
Which codec(s) do i have to choose?
What is madVR and what exactly does it replace?

To achieve the best quality you need to use MadVR. That is a video renderer. The job of the video renderer is to take the output of the decoder and send it to your screen. The main task in this process is resizing the picture, in case it has a different size than your screen. Using a better algorith for resizing the image results in better quality. MadVR offers several advanced algorithms for resizing with varying complexity (and thus GPU requirements).

Configuring MadVR is very difficult because it has many options and what is 'best' is very subjective and also depends on the capabilities of your GPU. Here is some useful information:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=171787
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=146228

I should mention that the perceived difference in quality is very subjective. It is certainly noticeable for the trained eye. But due to its complexity it is not something that I would recommend to novice users.

I only use MPC-BE (VLC just sucks). Is it enough for me to just install the Codecs?

K-Lite contains MPC-HC, which is very similar to MPC-BE. It is optional, so you can choose any player you want.

MPC-BE uses internal codecs by default. These work good too, but if you want to use the ones from K-Lite then simply disable the internal ones in MPC-BE options.
Selecting MadVR can be done in options>playback>output.

A big Thank you for this long answer! :thumbs up:

Admin wrote:

Why should I use K-Lite Codec pack and what makes it "better" or seperates it from something like "Standard/Advanced Codec Pack"? (since they contain the same codecs?)

There are lots of reasons why K-Lite is superior. It is not just about contents, but also how it is used and installed.

Thanks for clarification! Is it possible for you to explain this a bit further? I know this a bit indepth information but i think it would be interesting for some people to know (... like me )

Admin wrote:K-Lite is smaller and contains much less redundant and unneeded stuff. You can compare file size.

Already did that and that was one argument for me to go with K-Lite! Also K-Lite appeals  much "mature": The homepage looks better, there is a huge forum, a FAQ section, etc.

Admin wrote:Another important thing is proper support. Here on the forum you can get a friendly answer even to questions that are off-topic. On that other forum where you posted you may get treated differently. There people often get treated very badly if they ask something that shark007 doesn't like. Those topics are later removed to censor things. But shark007 loves to spread lies on its own.

Here i get an answer whereas on the other forum i never get answers nor even seems that anyone recognizes me. Very frustrating. I really dunno why they are like this to complete strangers? So yes, you are right. Sad but true. And thanks again for answering my questions!

Admin wrote:

Why isn't there a complete list of whats included in Standard/Advanced Codecs pack on the page?

Because that is made by someone else. Why in the hell would we provide any information about some other inferior product?

I am sorry. I meant K-Lite codec pack and not the inferior product. My vault! So is there a list?

Admin wrote:

1. Laptop: Here one only needs GPU accelerated video which consumes less power. The overall picture quality doesn't matter that much.

There is no difference in quality between software decoding and hardware accelerated decoding!

I think you got me wrong on this one. To my knowledge madVR has a somewhat better image quality but needs more processing power (=consumes more power). That is what my question is all about.

Admin wrote:

2. Desktop/HTPC: Here you could go full rampage and want the best picture quality one could get with GPU encoding
How do i achieve this?
What are the best settings?
Which codec(s) do i have to choose?
What is madVR and what exactly does it replace?

To achieve the best quality you need to use MadVR. That is a video renderer. The job of the video renderer is to take the output of the decoder and send it to your screen. The main task in this process is resizing the picture, in case it has a different size than your screen. Using a better algorith for resizing the image results in better quality. MadVR offers several advanced algorithms for resizing with varying complexity (and thus GPU requirements).

Configuring MadVR is very difficult because it has many options and what is 'best' is very subjective and also depends on the capabilities of your GPU. Here is some useful information:
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=171787
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=146228

I should mention that the perceived difference in quality is very subjective. It is certainly noticeable for the trained eye. But due to its complexity it is not something that I would recommend to novice users.

Also thanks for clarification on this one. So my thoughts about using madVR on a Laptop were correct.

Admin wrote:

I only use MPC-BE (VLC just sucks). Is it enough for me to just install the Codecs?

K-Lite contains MPC-HC, which is very similar to MPC-BE. It is optional, so you can choose any player you want.

So it is not the player (expect VLC) that determines if something like GPU-encoding is used, it's all about the codec. So it is possible to use.. let's say WMP and have real gpu encoding cause it's using LAV?

Admin wrote:MPC-BE uses internal codecs by default. These work good too, but if you want to use the ones from K-Lite then simply disable the internal ones in MPC-BE options.
Selecting MadVR can be done in options>playback>output.

Ok.. this is why they also have a bundle for the components.

Thank you again for answering everything and you really should considering to "enhance" (sry.. dunno how to say it) your FAQ section. Your answers are very easy but explain a lot.

This page explains the global differences and also contains links for the detailed contents:
http://codecguide.com/download_kl.htm
Here are comparisons of contents and capabilities:
http://codecguide.com/klcp_contents_comparison.htm
http://codecguide.com/klcp_ability_comparison.htm

In the codec (read: decoder) you can choose between software (CPU) and hardware (GPU) decoding. There is no difference is quality. Al decoders are supposed to give the same output.

MadVR is not a "codec" it is a video renderer. It takes uncompressed video as input, so the video has already been decoded (by for example LAV Video decoder).

I love your site! You really have all the information to answer everything now. This is just great.

Thanks again for all your answers and many thanks for your work here! I really appreciate it