Which video codecs exist on a clean Windows installation?

Question

I need to include some videos with our application that will be playable on a vanilla installation of Windows 7 or Vista. The question is, what format can I use to encode it that will be playable on a clean system install? (ie without requiring a particular version of Internet Explorer, QuickTime, etc)

We want to avoid AVI as it's pretty huge, and WMV as we also need to support playback on Mac. What else could we use? MP4, H264? I assume that QuickTime files won't play because Apple haven't ported QuickTime to 64-bit Windows.

I haven't found any definitive list of the codecs installed by default on windows, though this page tells you how to list the ones you do have installed. Does anyone know of such a list?

Answer 1

I didn't find a page that lists specific codecs, unfortunately.

Microsoft used to have a page titled File types supported by Windows Media Player that listed supported files types for Windows Media Player version 7 through 12. The original is not accessible anymore, but at least it's in the Internet Wayback Machine.

There's an alternative page for versions 6 though 9: File Formats Supported by Windows Media Player Versions 6.0 and Later.

As you mentioned, you can check which codecs are installed using Windows Media Player following the instructions in the WMP FAQ:

1. On the Help menu, click About Windows Media Player.

   If the Help menu is not visible, click Organize, point to Layout, and then select Show menu bar.

2. On the About Windows Media Player dialog box, click Technical Support Information.

   Your web browser will open a page that includes information about the related binary files, codecs, filters, plug-ins, and services installed on your computer. A technical support person might be able to use this detailed information to help you troubleshoot problems on your computer.