Definition: 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 more limited audio range than music, a speech codec is able to achieve the highest voice compression.

 SPEECH CODECS
 Name         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 CODECS
 Name            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            Mac
 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 CODECS
 Name            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 CODECS
 Name            Origin

 H.261           ITU
 H.263           ITU


 MOVIE SOUNDTRACK CODECS
 Name            Origin

 MP2             MPEG-2
 Dolby Digital   Dolby Labs
 DTS             DTS, Inc.

Conversion and Compression