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The setup of k-lite codec pack lets me choose between ffdshow DXVA and MPC-HC internal DXVA for H.264 and VC-1.

                  k-lite setup page

What should I choose, and why?

I mostly use MPC (which comes with k-lite) to play videos, but I'd like to know if choosing its internal decoder is best, and if it will make DXVA unavailable to, say, VLC.

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2 Answers 2

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Some implimentations work better with some graphics cards - and the best way to work out which is better is to look up that particular graphics card.

Off the top of my head on windows 7 and older intel IGP implementations, the DXVA codec built into windows worked best, otherwise I used ffdshow. In this specific case, there should be no difference. I'd suggest using the default unless there's a specific issue with one of them. The differences in any case should be minor.

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Your answer addresses the point and I think you're right, differences should be minor. Besides, problems should be obvious (such as video artifacts or bad performance). –  Camilo Martin Jan 21 '13 at 9:28

Just forget about K-Lite at all. Use CCCP-Project's player. K-Lite have always had a fishy reputation.

(As a sidenote, CCCP's MPC-HC uses the ffdshow DXVA implementation, not the internal one.)

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Why it has a fishy reputation? I heard that elsewhere too, but never found an actual explanation of why, and K-Lite always worked for me. I mean, I've been using it since years and it does playback all files. In any case, is CCCP a "drop-in replacement", in the sense that I would have all the playback support I have with K-Lite? –  Camilo Martin Nov 10 '12 at 1:45
Also, it says 2011/11/11 on the CCCP download button. K-Lite gets updated more frequently AFAIK. –  Camilo Martin Nov 10 '12 at 1:47
@CamiloMartin - That's a really good question (rep). Back then it messed up codecs on the computer and such. Now it does strange things too. Managed to wreck two computers complete playback just recently. CCCP may not have the latest and greatest version all the time, but it just works fine. Once they manage to build a stable and fresh package, they will release a new one. The project is def. not dead. –  Shiki Nov 10 '12 at 8:25
You mean K-Lite messed up your computer? Strange... I usually install it before another player (currently using VLC for music and MPC-HC for video), maybe the order matters. But, considering the CCCP package is one year old, I wonder about bugs that there might be on the codecs. And the other download (don't know what it is) is almost six years old! I don't usually mind using old software, but since K-Lite is updated frequently (last update 5 days ago), it just seems like a better choice. And it never messed up anything (which player do you use?). –  Camilo Martin Nov 10 '12 at 18:35

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