Question about downloading uTorrent videos and codecs.

[Shekwan]

When I donwload a video using a torrent I sometimes just get a completely green video. I've seen in comments that I need a codec. What is a codec? Is it basically a fancy word for your video player? I think its xVid I need.

 

[Tiigon]

Codec is (if I'm right) a way to pack the video to make it's size smaller, but without lowering the quality. (I'm not 100% sure though) Download K-Lite codec pack, it should solve your problems with videos. You can download it here.

 

[kalif]

actually, if it is only a xvid/divx codec, you just need a good player like vlc (videolanclient).
i can't give a better explanation than tiigon, a codec is needed for special video/sound formats.

 

[Aramazd]

You could download a codec pack like CCCP or ffdshow, but VLC Player would probably be the simplest.

Codec is (if I'm right) a way to pack the video to make it's size smaller, but without lowering the quality. (I'm not 100% sure though) Download K-Lite codec pack, it should solve your problems with videos. You can download it here.

Codecs can lower quality. Lossy codecs reduce quality, but lossless codecs do not.

 

[Grisu]

GSpot is a nifty tool that tells you exactly which codecs are used in a file...

 

[warpus]

A codec is just a program used for decoding a video stream.

If a video file was encoded with a particular algorithm, and you do not have the corresponding codec installed on your system, your video player will be unable to decode the stream, and thus all you see is black.