Date First Published: 15th August 2023
Topic: Computer Systems
Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions
Difficulty: MediumDifficulty Level: 6/10
Learn about what a codec is in this article.
Stands for a coder-decoder. A codec, sometimes known as a compressor-decompressor is an algorithm used to encode and decode data. It is most commonly used to compress and decompress large amounts of data so that it can be transmitted over a network more quickly and efficiently.
Codecs are often invisible to end users and come built into the software or hardware of the devices. For example, Windows Media Player, a preinstalled program that comes with every edition of Windows, provides a limited set of codecs to play media files. If users need to open a specific file, they can download and install a codec pack or a player program.
There are a wide variety of codecs that are used, which can cause compatibility issues. In order to listen to audio or watch a video that has been encoded using a codec, the computer needs to have the same codec to decode it, which is the process of reversing the encoding for playback or editing.
Codecs can be software or hardware-based. Software-based codecs are used with audio and video data to compress the data to ensure that it can be transmitted over a network quickly. This is because the data will take up less space, speeding up downloads.
Hardware-based codecs perform analogue-to-digital conversion. They encode analogue data into digital data, which computers can store and use. They then decode the digital data into analogue form. An example of this is a modem, which sends data traffic over analogue voice circuits.
Although it is possible to encode a file without compressing it, most codecs also compress the original data to reduce the file size. Codecs can be lossy or lossless. Lossless codecs like PNG and Apple Animation QuickTime, allow the file to be restored to its original state without losing a single bit of data when the file is decompressed. Lossy codecs, like HEVC and MPEG-4, permanently delete certain bits of data to reduce the file size. This process is irreversible, meaning that the file cannot be decompressed to restore it to its original form.
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