A codec (the term is a portmanteau of the words code and decode) is a computer program that uses compression to reduce the size of a large movie file or convert it between analog and digital sound. You may see the word used when referring to audio codecs or video codecs.
What is a codec and what does it do?
Video and music files are huge, which means they’re usually hard to send over the Internet. To speed up downloads, algorithms encode or shrink a signal for transmission and then decode it for playback or editing. Without codecs, video and audio would take three to five times longer to download than it does today.
There are hundreds of codecs in use. You need combinations that play your files specifically.
Different codecs specialize in audio and video compression, for streaming media over the Internet, voice, video conferencing, playing MP3s, and screen recording. If you download regularly, you probably need 10 to 12 codecs to play all the different types of music and movies you have.
