Codec Comparison

[Bigaldoc]

In View topic - DIVX thread, Stuck and I mention a couple of codec enhancement packages and I wonder if Ken or anyone else has any thoughts about which of these two is the better:

        K-Lite Codec Pack

        Shark007's FREE Codec solutions

I installed the Shark package some time ago and have not encountered any problems, but am wondering for the long-term sake whether the K-Lite package is a better choice. So, fact or opinion, I'd like to hear. Thanks!

[stuck]

I can't really comment, since I've only ever tried K-lite and my media playback requirements are minimal. A quick Google for comparisons truns up some hits that suggest that Shark's codecs are 'better' than K-lite and others that argue K-lite is better than Shark. I also came across the suggestion that if you are running Win 7 then such enhancement packs are redundant, Since Win 7 already contains numerous codecs.

It looks like this is akin to the perennial "which free AV program is best?" question, where the answer is always, "The one that works best for you."

Ken

[Bigaldoc]

Thanks, Ken. You're right - I also saw somewhere that Win 7 doesn't need ... etc.

BUT on one of our two codec sites (don't remember which one) I saw some brief comments that seemed to disagree with the "holiness" of Win 7.

I'll try to find those words again later, after I make my weekly (mandatory) trip to the grocery market!

[Roderunner]

I've always used K Lite Full Codec Pack, mainly because it has Media Player Classic which I use to test Video & music files before burning them. Only time it fails is if a file is found to be corrupt or damaged.
As for Win7 built-in codecs is news to me.

[wasbit]

I haven't needed to install any codecs for quite a few years.
The days are long gone since we needed to use Quicktime Alternative to avoid the bloat & adverts of quicktime software. The same applied to Real Alternative for Real files which at one time had a reputation as malware.

In the past I've found that what VLC Player couldn't handle Media Player Classic would.
VLC - http://www.videolan.org/vlc/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
MPC - http://sourceforge.net/projects/guliverkli/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Now I just use VLC Player or Media Player Classic Home Cinema which seem to handle everything thrown at them.
MPCHC - http://mpc-hc.sourceforge.net/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I know a lot of people don't like it, but to my unmusical ears, Winamp still has the best tonal quality of all the players & has 1000s of plug-ins, visualizations & skins.

Now that I've reminded myself of Winamp, I may just try it again.
Winamp - http://www.winamp.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HansV]

Windows 7 may include more media types than previous versions of Windows, but - as far as I know - it has no built-in support for .flv files (Flash video, such as downloaded YouTube movies). A codec pack such as K-Lite will add that.

I don't think it really matters whether you go with K-Lite or Shark007 unless you're a real media fanatic. Either will let you play 99.9% of the formats you're likely to encounter.