A codec is a special program that compresses and decompresses video files. It is used by video players to create and play media. Usually a codec consists of two elements - a decoder and an encoder.
Instructions
Step 1
Open the folder with the file for which you want to find out the video codec, right-click on the file, select the "Open with" item from the context menu. From the list that appears - Windows Media Player.
Step 2
Start playing the video file, in the right part of the window in the playlist, right-click on the file name. Select Properties from the context menu. Go to the "File" tab. To find out the video codec, see the Video Codec section. It will contain the name of the codec.
Step 3
Download the GSpot program, it is designed to work with video files and identify video and audio codecs. The program is able to recognize 719 video codecs and 245 audio. Also supports over sixty media file formats.
Step 4
To download the program, go to the website of the official manufacturer https://www.headbands.com/gspot/, click on the required version of the program, then select the Download GSpot link, select the location to save the file. Then wait until the download is complete, install the program on your computer to find out the video file codecs
Step 5
Run GSpot to see what codec the video file was compressed with. In the program window, click the "File" menu, select the "Open" command. Then, in the dialog box that opens, select the folder where the video is located, click on it and select the "Open" option.
Step 6
Wait for the file to be added to the program, the time will depend on the file size. The GSpot window will display all the information you are interested in, in particular, in the Video section, the name of the codec with which the video file is compressed will be indicated.
Step 7
A similar program for detecting codecs is a utility called Videoinspektor, to download it, go to the manufacturer's website - https://www.kcsoftwares.com/?vtb. After installation, the program commands will be available in the context menu of video files
Step 8
To find out the codec, just right-click on the desired video file and you will get the information you need from the context menu.
