High Definition Video Playback

Ok, so first of all, a little bit of general knowledge about high definition and what it is all about. A little boring, I know, but in my opinion, rather necessary.

High Definition ("HD") is when the resolution of a video is at least 1280x720 (you could also speak about 720p or "HD ready"). There is also a much higher resolution, 1080p or "True HD", at 1920x1080.

Software needed before even thinking about High Definition video playback:

• - A Media Player – The program that renders the movie. Some of the best media players out there are: VLC Media Player, Media Player Classic, Cyberlink PowerDVD, BSPlayer, KMPlayer
• - Video Codecs - a device or software that enables video compression and or decompression for digital video. Known HD video codecs are H.264 (aka x264, h264, AVC, MPEG-4 AVC), Xvid/DivX, MPEG2 and WMV (aka WMV9, VC-1)
• - Audio Codec - Common Audio Codecs are as follows: AC3, DD+, DTS, TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, Flac, LPCM.
• - Container - a computer file format that can contain various types of data, compressed by means of standardized audio/video codecs. Most common are .ASF, .AVI, .MKV.

Ok, so now that we cleared that up and assuming you have all the necessary requirements, it is time to just answer the question “How do we play these things?”

Well, things are fairly easy. There are two methods.

1. Easy Method

You could simply install VLC Media Player, open a HD video with the player and enjoy!

2. Advanced Method

Install all segments of the software separately.

• - This is also the best way for slow/old computers
• CoreAVC is the fastest codec/decoder around
• - CoreAVC for Windows @ 720p video at 24-30 frames per second
• - 2.2 GHz Pentium 4 or faster processor
• - At least 512MB of RAM
• - 128MB or greater video card
• - Windows 98, 2000 or XP

Recommended Software

• Media Player Classic (Info & Download)
• CoreAVC (Homepage)
• Haali Media Splitter (Info & Download)
• AC3Filter (Homepage)
• FFDShow (Info & Download)

Setup Software

First, install all recommended software with their latest versions. If you're using an old version, first uninstall and reboot before you proceed.

So that’s pretty much it. There are, of course, a lot of aspects that weren’t debated in this general guide, but for the sake of simplicity, I kept only what was very important.

Now, all you have to do is put on a movie and relax.

Enjoy!