codec examples

Following is a list of popular speech, audio and video codecs. A codec is a hardware circuit that performs the conversion from analog signals to digital data, and it is also software and/or hardware that further compresses the digital data into less space (for more details, see codec). See lossy compression, data compression formats, video format, SD formats and HD formats.

Speech Codecs Are Specialized
Speech codecs are audio codecs that look for sound and language patterns. In addition, since the human voice falls into a much more limited audio range than music, a speech codec is able to achieve the highest voice compression.

SPEECH CODECSName Purpose A-Law PCM telephony in Europe µ-Law PCM telephony in U.S. DV Audio MiniDV audio GSM 6.10 GSM cellphone G.711 A/V conferencing (ITU) G.722 A/V conferencing (ITU) G.723.1 VoIP, A/V conferencing (ITU) G.728 A/V conferencing (ITU) G.729 A/V conferencing (ITU) AMR-NB GSM, 3GPP (ETSI narrowband) AMR-WB GSM, 3GPP (ETSI wideband) ACELP.net General speech (VoiceAge) ACELP.wide High quality (VoiceAge) Ogg Speex Low bitrate MUSIC CODECSName Origin MP3 MPEG AAC MPEG AAC Protected MPEG with DRM WMA Windows WMA Protected Windows with DRM WMA Lossless Windows high quality RA, RAM RealNetworks AIFF Macintosh AU Sun ACELP.live VoiceAge Ogg Vorbis Mid to high bitrates FLAC CD quality Apple Lossless High quality DSD High quality (SACD) DVD-Audio High quality AptX Bluetooth audio MOVIE/VIDEO CODECSName Origin MPEG-1 Video CD MPEG-2 DVD/TV standard MPEG-4 Enhanced MPEG-2 H.264 Enhanced MPEG-4 H.265 (HEVC) Enhanced H.264 VP8 Google VP9 Google AV1 Alliance for Open Media M-JPEG Motion JPEG DV DV tape camcorders HDV DV tape camcorders HDCAM Tape camcorders AVCHD Tapeless camcorders XDCAM Tapeless camcorders DNxHD Avid post-production ProRes Apple post-production FLV Flash video VC-1 SMPTE AVI Windows DivX DivXNetworks WMV Windows RM, RV RealNetworks Indeo Intel Cinepak SuperMac Technologies Sorenson Sorenson Media Ogg Theora Xiph.Org Daala Xiph.Org & Mozilla VIDEOCONFERENCING CODECSName Origin H.261 ITU H.263 ITU MOVIE SOUNDTRACK CODECSName Origin MP2 MPEG-2 Dolby Digital Dolby Labs DTS DTS, Inc.

Conversion and Compression

Compressing audio and video is a two-stage process. The first stage converts the signals from the source into an uncompressed digital format. At that point, one of several compression algorithms is used to further compress the digital code.