What is a Codec?
Codec stands for Co der- Dec oder (some say Co mpressor- Dec ompressor) and is used to describe anything which turns data into another form for storage or transmission, then changes it back for use. In traditional broadcasting, a codec is a physical device which turns analog video and audio data into digital form to be sent out over the air. It is also capable of turning received digital information back into an analog format. In computers, a codec is used as a way of compressing video, images and audio to a more manageable size. The majority use a lossy(Not all the data can be recovered from the file when decompressed) method of compression, but some are lossless. Lossless codecs, such as MSU or Huffyuv, reproduce the original video exactly, with no subsequent loss if the video is re-encoded. The more common lossy codecs lose varying degrees of information, but can save substantial amounts of space. A lossy codec may be transformative, predictive, or a comb...