How to identify the codec of a video file

Some codec identification utilities

Remember the most relevant information you’ll get out of them are:
1. Multimedia container (file type)
2. Video codec, usually identified by fourcc (four character code)
3. Audio codec, usually identified by tag number (can be in decimal or hexadecimal)


GSpot: http://www.headbands.com/gspot
Extract the contents of the zip, then go to the folder you extracted to and run GSpot.exe.
The simplest way to do this is to just drag and drop the video file onto the GSpot window.




AVIcodec: http://avicodec.duby.info
(To download, click on where it says “1.2 build 113 (jan 2007)").

Tip 1: AVIcodec can process multiple files at once, so you can drag a bunch of them.
Tip 2: You can customize AVIcodec to display the information you want by clicking options and selecting what you want displayed in each column.




MediaInfo: http://mediainfo.sourceforge.net




VideoInspector: http://www.kcsoftwares.com/?vtb (Has Relevant Knowledge bundled with it, but that can be uninstalled if the user wishes to)

Some of these don’t work well or at all with MOV, MP4, or 3GP files. See this thread for determining the codecs of those file types.

Keywords: determine codec, identify codec, how to tell codec

hi, everytime i play a downloaded movie, the picture will freeze for a second while audio continues, then they catch up with each other. this happens every few seconds.

I understand. I’ve had the same prob. Just deal with it. SORRY >