View source for VLC Features Formats

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This is a new page that lists the audio/video codecs that VLC can or cannot read. It is still under development, don't hesitate to add a some [[FourCC]] and infos.

It should now be a bit more complete than the official features page on [https://www.videolan.org/vlc/features.html VideoLAN website].

If you have any question about those codecs, just consult our [[Knowledge Base]] or our friends on the [http://wiki.multimedia.cx Multimedia Wiki]. If you don't find information, search with Wikipedia or Google.

== Video Codecs ==

=== Widely Used Video Codecs ===

{| class="wikitable codec-table centered sortable"
|+ '''Most used Video Codecs''' 
|-
! Name !! FOURCC !! Playable !! Encoder !! library !! Comment 
|-
! MPEG-1 Part 2
|| mpeg, mp1v, mpg1, PIM1 || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || libmpeg2 , ffmpeg || 
|-
! MPEG-2 Part 2
|| mp2v, mpg2, vcr2, hdv1, hdv2, hdv3, mx*n, mx*p|| {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || libmpeg2 , ffmpeg || 
|-
! MJPEG (A/B) 
|| ||{{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
! Divx (1, 2, 3) 
|| DIV1, DIV2, DIV3, mp41, mp42, MPG4, MPG3 || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
! DivX 4, 5, 6 , 3ivx D4, MPEG-4 
|| DIV4, DIV5, DIV6, col1, col0, 3ivd || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
! MPEG-4 Part 2 (AVP), Xvid
||  DIVX, Xvid, mp4s, m4s2, xvid, mp4v, fmp4, 3iv2, smp4, ... || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
! H.261 
|| h261 || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
! H.262 
|| h262 || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg || Same as MPEG-2 Video
|-
! H.263 / H.263i 
|| h263 || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
! H.264 / X.264 
(MPEG-4/AVC) 
(MPEG-4 Part.10)
|| h264, s264, AVC1, DAVC, H264, X264, VSSH ||{{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg (decode), x264 (encode) || 
|-
! Sorenson 1 (Quicktime) 
|| SVQ 1 || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
! Sorenson 3 (Quicktime) 
|| SVQ 3 || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
! DV 
|| ||{{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg ||
|- 
! Cinepak 
|| cvid ||{{Yes}} || {{No}} || internal, ffmpeg ||
|- 
! Theora 
|| thra || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}, violated || libtheora ||
|-
! WMV 1/2 (7/8) 
|| wmv1, wmv2 || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmepg ||
|- 
! WMV 3 / WMV-9 / VC-1 
|| wmv3, wvc1, wmva || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || ffmpeg || Not all profiles are supported. See [[DMO]].
|-
! On2 VP3,
|| VP31, VP30, VP3 || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
! On2 VP5 
|| VP50, VP5, VP51 || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
! On2 VP6 (used by FLV) 
|| VP60, VP61, VP62, VP6F, VP6A || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
! On2 VP7
|| VP7 || {{No}} || {{No}} ||  ||
|-
! Flash Screen Video 
|| FSV1 ||  {{Yes}}  ||  {{Yes}}  || ffmpeg ||
|-
! Indeo Video 3  
|| IV31, IV32 || {{Yes}} || {{no}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
! Indeo Video 4/5  
||IV41, IV51 || {{Yes}} || {{no}} || libavcodec ||
|-
!Real Video 1.0, 1.3, 2.0 
|| RV10, RV13, RV20 || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
!Real Video 3.0, 4.0 
|| RV30, RV40 || {{No}} || {{No}} || ||
|- 
! Dirac 
|| BBCD || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || dirac ||
|-
! Huffyuv / <del>Lagarith</del>
|| || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg  ||
|-
|}

=== Rarer Video Codecs ===

{| class="wikitable codec-table centered sortable"
|+ '''Less Used Video Codecs''' 
|-
! Rare codecs !! FOURCC !! Decoder !! Encoder !! library !! Comment 
|-
! Apple Animation, Graphics, Video, QuickDraw 
|| 'rle','smc ','rpza', 'qdrw' || {{Yes}} || {{No}} ||  ffmpeg || 
|-
! SheerVideo 
|| ||  {{No}} || {{No}} || || Professional use, no open source decoders
|-
! CorePNG 
|| || ?? || ?? || ||
|-
! MSU Lossless 
|| || ?? || ?? || ||
|-
! Snow 
|| || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ||
|-
! Pixlet 
|| || ?? || ?? || ||
|-
! Rare codecs (Asus V1, Asus V2) 
|| ASV1, ASV2 || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
! Game Codecs (Some) 
|| || {{Yes}} || {{no}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
! Tarkin
|| || {{No}} || {{No}} || ||
|}

== Audio Codecs ==

{| class="wikitable codec-table centered sortable"
|+ '''Audio Codecs Status''' 
|-
! Name !! FOURCC !! Decoder !! Encoder !! library !! Comment 
|-
! MPEG-Audio 1 Layer-1/2 
|| mpga || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || libmad (decoding), twolame (encoding) || ISO/IEC MPEG
|-
! MP3 
|| mp3, .mp3, LAME || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || libmad (decoding), ffmpeg-mp3lame  || ISO/IEC MPEG - '''(recompile needed for encoding)'''
|-
! AAC
|| mp4a||  {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || faad (decode), faac (encoding) || ISO/IEC MPEG
|-
! HE-AAC 
|| ||  {{Yes}} || {{Untested}} || faad (decode), libaacplus + ffmpeg (encoding) || ISO/IEC MPEG, AAC+ encoding through libaacplus + ffmpeg (patched) - untested
'''RECOMPILE VLC & ffmpeg for this''' Audio codec
|-
! AC-3 
|| a52, a52b || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || liba52 (decode), ffmpeg (encode) ||
|-
! ATRAC 
|| atrc ||{{Yes}} || {{No}} || ||
|-
! iLBC 
|| ILBC, ilbc || {{Untested}} || {{Untested}} || QuickTime (decode) || (check for encoder and free decoder)
|-
! Mu-Law 
|| ||{{Yes}} || {{No}} || ffmpeg || (check for encoder)
|-
! NellyMoser
|| ||{{Yes}} || {{No}} || ffmpeg || 
|-
! QCELP (PureVoice)
|| Qclp ||{{Yes}} || {{No}}? || ffmpeg || Usually in QCP container. [https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/ticket/5347 buggy?]
|-
! Real Audio 
|| lpcJ, 28_8, dnet, sipr, cook, atrc, raac, racp, ralf || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || || Some work. Half don't
|-
! Shorten 
|| shrn || {{No}} || {{No}} || || ffmpeg and ffplay do it. VLC doesn't. (It is in the FOURCC list in VLC's {{VLCSourceFile|modules/codec/avcodec/fourcc.c}} --[[User:Dionoea|Dionoea]])
|-
! Speex 
|| spex || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || libspeex ||
|-
! Vorbis 
|| vorb || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || libvorbis ||
|-
! DTS 
|| dts || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || libdca || DTS-HD unsupported
|- 
! MPC 
|| || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || libmpcdec ||
|-
! WMA 1/2
|| wma1, wma2 || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}, violated || ffmpeg || WMA9 is not supported
|-
! Flac 
|| flac || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || libflac || lossless
|-
! Apple Lossless Audio Codec 
|| alac || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || ffmpeg || lossless 
|-
! Monkey's Audio 
||  ||{{Yes}} || {{No}} || || lossless
|-
! Musepack 
|| || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || libmpcdec ||
|-
! ADMPCM (various) 
|| || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg and internal ||
|-
! AMR 
|| samr || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg + libamrnb + libamrwb || '''RECOMPILE VLC for this''' Speech codec
|-
! Sonic 
|| SONC ||  {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || ffmpeg ||
|-
|}

== Subtitles Codecs ==
{{Transcluded|Subtitles codecs}}
<!-- Editors: This page includes content from Subtitles codecs. Make edits to this section there. -->
{{:Subtitles codecs}}

== Format/Container/Muxers ==

{| class="wikitable codec-table centered sortable"
|+ '''Muxer''' 
|-
! Name !! extensions !! Playable !! Savable !! Comment 
|-
! 3GP
|| .3gp || {{Yes}} || {{Untested}} ||
|-
! AIFF
|| .asf, .wmv || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || 
|-
! ASF
|| .asf, .wmv || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || 
|-
! AU
|| .au || {{Yes}} || ||
|-
! AVI
|| .avi || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}, violated || 
|-
! DMF
|| || {{Untested}} || {{Untested}} ||
|-
! FLV
|| .flv || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || through ffmpeg
|-
! MOV
|| .mov || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} ||
|-
! MP4
|| .mp4 || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} ||
|-
! OGG
|| .ogm, .ogg || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} ||
|-
! MKV
|| .mkv, .mka || {{Yes}} || {{No}}, WIP || Summer of Code 2007 Project
|-
! MPEG-2 / TS
|| .ts, .mpg || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} ||
|-
! MPEG-2 / ES, PS, PVA, MP3
|| .mpg, .mp3, .mp2 || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} ||
|-
! NSC
|| .nsc || {{Yes}} || {{No}} ||
|-
! NSV
|| .nsv || {{Yes}} || {{No}} ||
|-
! Nut
|| .nut || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || Muxable through libavformat
|-
! Real
|| .ra, .ram, .rm, .rv , .rmbv || {{Partial}} || {{No }} ||  version 4 and 5, no support for version 3
|-
! Raw (a52, dts, aac, flac, .dv, .vid)
|| .a52, .dts, .aac, .flac, .dv, .vid || {{Yes}} || ?? ||
|-
! True Audio Codec
|| .tta, .tac || {{Yes}} ||  {{No}} ||
|-
! Ty Tivo
|| .ty || {{Yes}} || {{No}} ||
|-
! Wav 
|| .wav, .dts || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} ||
|-
! Xa
|| .xa || {{Yes}} || {{No}} ||
|-
|}

== HD-Discs codecs ==
{{Transcluded|HD-Discs codecs}}
<!-- Editors: This page includes content from HD-Discs codecs. Make edits to this section there. -->
{{:HD-Discs codecs}}

[[Category:Codecs]]
[[Category:Knowledge Base]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:*}}