Safe codecs?

So has this behavior changed? The last time I loaded the Shark007 codecs (which has been a few months), there was no opt-out...

 

Never had an issue playing video files with MPC Home Cinema. I did have to install Klite (full) so WMP can play certain files like mkv.

 

Bundled toolbar was/is optional only. Perhaps you have missed part of installation step where you can uncheck it.

 

No, it wasn't there and a while back, there were many angry posters of Shark007's forum hammering him for it. It was the reason Shark007 created the "no toolbar installation" registry entries (there would have been no need for them if the option to leave the Toolbar off was always there.) As I noted, I have not tried Shark007's codecs for a while. It's great if the old "issue" is a thing of the past.

 

I have used this codec package for quite a while and have never had a toolbar installed. Since I wasn't up to date with it anyway, I downloaded and installed the latest version today. No opt-in, opt-outs for any toolbars, but there is one for Weatherbug. I unchecked that and I have no Weatherbug, no Ask toolbar and no Bing toolbar.

Another thing, it amazes me that so many people here get bent out shape over a toolbar in free applications. For some, it appears to be too much trouble to read what's in the installer and uncheck a box. Even if the Bing toolbar were to get installed anyway (which has never happened here) you can uninstall it. That's about two minutes of your time. Now think about how much time these people put into applications that they offer you for free. This guy is also handicapped and most likely has limited means of earning a living, so in my opinion people should cut him a little slack.

 

Using K-lite Mega codec pack with Media player classic without any problem, in windows 7 x64. (btw, Windows Media Player classic allows to select the audio language in movies packed with more than one)

Also used shark007 codecs, and i was pleased. I´ve changed because of some compatibility problems with SubtitleWorkshop.

 

I decided against installing any (including Shark's) codec packs some time ago. Some problem or the other is always caused by them. Windows Media player is not that great a player to bother making it play everything. Instead I use Media Player Classic Home Cinema which has a native 64-bit version.

 

Will Media Player Classic Home Cinema play various formats without the need of install additional codecs?

 

It has codecs built-in like VLC so it does not mess up system settings. Performance wise, I find it faster to launch and load movies than VLC. Also, the seek times are much better.

 

I tryed VLC once, but i disliked because of poor image quality and some occasional "stops" when playin or try to move foward ou back. I´ll try Media Player Classic Home Cinema without codecs (maybe i´ll have to install Real alternative lite in order to play RMVB files, but thats ok). Thanks

May you´ll not need it with Media Player Classic Home Cinema, as sugested by RaviG.

h**p://www.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/Video-Players/Media-Player-Classic-Home-Cinema.shtml

"Supported Video, Audio and Image File Formats:
· WAV, WMA, MP3, OGG, SND, AU, AIF, AIFC, AIFF, MIDI, MPEG, MPG, MP2, VOB, AC3, DTS, ASX, M3U, PLS, WAX, ASF, WM, WMA, WMV, AVI, CDA, JPEG, JPG, GIF, PNG, BMP, D2V, MP4, SWF, MOV, QT, FLV, WEBM"

 

Just to clarify here's a couple of grabs showing the relevant portion of the EULA and the ultimate install of the junk.Note that the part mentioning the junk is a fair way down the lengthy EULA.

It does say that "for certain installation in particular regions" the stealth install will occur,presumably those not experiencing it are outside of those regions,unlike me in the UK.

It's fair enough that developers of freeware try and get some income by offering bundled extras,however when there's no opt-out it crosses the line IMO.

 

Media Player Classic Home Cinema asks to install the latest Directx a 93.63MB download...

 

I completely agree with you. I've had it for years on several computers and I never noticed anything extra installed.

 

Negatory. Both the MPC standard player and the Home Cinema are just players.
They're bundled with the K-Lite codec packs. When you install one of those codec packs, you can choose a player to go with it.

You can also install just the codecs, or just a player.
But only installing a player doesn't automatically bring along any codecs (and vice-versa), and the player will only render files that there are codecs and splitters already available on the machine to use.

I believe the stand-alone MPC Home Cinema may natively include an H264 decoder or something, but that's not the same thing as "codecs built-in like VLC".

 

From the product description -

Here are some key features of "Media Player Classic - Home Cinema":

Supported Decoding:
· MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 playback. Media Player Classic is capable of VCD, SVCD and DVD playback, without the need to install any additional software or codecs.
· It has built-in codecs for MPEG-2 video and codecs for LPCM, MP2, AC3 and DTS audio, and also contains an improved MPEG splitter that supports playback of VCDs and SVCDs using its VCD/SVCD/XCD Reader. A *.mp4 and MPEG-4 Timed Text support added. An AAC decoding filter makes MPC suitable for AAC playback in MP4.
· MPC Home Cinema also has H.264 and VC-1 with DXVA support, DivX, Xvid, and Flash Video formats is available in MPC HC. MPC can also use the QuickTime and the RealPlayer architectures. Media Player Classic supports native playback of OGM and Matroska container formats.

 

My favourite codec pack is by far Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP), because it is the simplest and most unintrusive of the bunch. However it will play 99% of the formats with subtitles. Furthermore, it has never caused any problems for me, probably thanks to its simplicity.

It contains:

• Haali Media Splitter
• VSFilter
• FFDShow tryout
• MPEG-2 Decoder
• CoreWavPack
• FLV Splitter
• Media Player Classic - Home Cinema (optional)

Also they created the CCCP Insurgent to easily check if you don't have other packs installed.

Website: http://www.cccp-project.net/
Documentation: http://www.cccp-project.net/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Note: This one only for 32-bit players, so if you have a 64-bit version of Windows you might have problems with playback on Windows Media Center. Windows Media Player has both an 32-bit and 64-bit executable, by default it always launches the 32-bit version.

 

There's a difference between what it will support and what can be played without any additional codecs and splitters installed.

Having said that, I'll grant that you were correct in saying the install of that player seems to bring along a whole lot more native ability than I thought it had.

 

I agree, its about individual preference, and I cant speak for Gamers use of codecs because thats a subject Im not familier with.

I actually use a variety, VLC for previewing part files (as your downloading a file you can preview it with VLC), MPC for playing video files, and WMP 12 for playing DVDs, Klite Mega for the tools and so I can play 99% of the video files out there, the quality between VLC and WMP 12 is noticeable at least on my end WMP plays movies with much better quality, MPC is faster than vlc and wmp in my opinion, so I can go threw a folder of video clips faster.

Again I think it is as Spysnake was pointing out, Its all about the individual user and what works for them, "If you don't need it, don't install it."

Their is a complete list of information on the About Page at codecguide.com, scroll to the bottom of the page and their is a link for each Variant of Klite, here are some quick links...Comparison of contents...and Comparison of abilities.

Yes you should have the latest Directx that is compatible with your GFX hardware regardless if your going to install MPC or not, Directx can actually accelerate your gfx hardware. so in turn your videos can have better quality and play faster...

 

The only thing I dont like about K-lite codecs is they Update their software so frequently and dont have an Update feature that lets you know their is an update available, so you have to manually check for updates..