Determine which codecs are used in a video file

Posted on July 6, 2009 at 5:49 am

To play a particular video, you need to install the same codec that was used to create (compress) the video in the first place, regardless of the media player application you’re using. To determine which codec was usedin a video file, you’ll need a program like GSpot: http://www.headbands.com/gspot/ or AVIcodec: http://avicodec.duby.info, both of which are free.

Just drag-drop the video file onto GSpot or AVIcodec, and the program will display the file’s video codec, audio codec, and other statistics. See the example below for one of my downloaded video files:

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Let’s take a close look at it’s content.  At the video panel you can see the codec details used by the video:

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In the example above, it used a standard h264 MPEG-4 codec supported by popular media playing apps like VLC and GOM.  You can also determine if you have the codecs necessary to play this video:

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Other useful video statistics are available too:

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On the audio codecs section you will see the codec information used to encode its audio:

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In the example above it is an MP3 with 44Khz sampling rate.  You will also see if the codec is installed in your computer or not – good for troubleshooting movie files that doesn’t play an audio!

Unlike Sherlock: The Codec Detective, this particular tool is more useful in my opinion especially if you have an example of a file that you could not play.  With this tool you can determine the exact codec used for both video and audio and it does it instantly.

Ben Carigtan shows you how it’s done.

» Filed Under Computer Tips

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Comments

4 Responses to “Determine which codecs are used in a video file”

  1. mmg1818 said on : July 6th, 2009 at 7:40 am

    MediaInfo

    http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net/en


  2. HuRRR said on : July 8th, 2009 at 10:02 am

    Hi :)

    Do you know if there’s any php script that can do this if my media files are on a web server ?


  3. Mary said on : March 15th, 2010 at 10:08 pm

    Thanks! I was trying to play a file on my XBox, but it said the format was not valid. I was guessing it was using a codec that is not supported. Sure enough, it was using DivX.


  4. Message said on : March 17th, 2010 at 1:03 pm

    Can the XBox see video from Windows Media Player 12? I thought it WMP could play a file, the XBox could also? Is this not true?


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