Opticodec-PC Streaming Encoder LE V2.1.16
Hardware-accelerated decoding
A device that decodes a compressed video stream is called a hardware-accelerated decoder (HAD). A device that decodes a compressed audio stream is called a hardware-accelerated decoder (HAD).
On Microsoft Windows, HADs are required to be installed on the system and available to the video- and audio-decoding software via the appropriate codec API. Devices and drivers that implement the API are referred to as codec software (CS) or decoder software (DS).
To use a HAD, the decoder software must be able to locate and access the HAD during the execution of the program. Some drivers that support only devices of one type or another use one or more specific techniques to locate and access HADs, such as registry entries or the VGA BIOS to locate an HAD.
The term HAD can also refer to a device that plays back a pre-recorded video or audio stream that is compressed in a certain format.
On Apple Mac OS X, a HAD is a device that can decode and playback any video stream with any or a mix of video codecs that Apple's video software can play.
Compression and decompression
Compression is the process of converting a signal from the source into a representation suitable for transmission or storage. Decompression is the reverse process. A typical example of compression is when moving from a telephone conversation to an email, the number of audio samples in a telephone conversation is significantly reduced. Likewise, a typical example of decompression is when an email arrives and needs to be decompressed to a telephone conversation.
Other applications of compression and decompression include:
 Compression of digital video signals.
 Decompression of digital video signals.
 Compression of digital audio signals.
 Decompression of digital audio signals.
 Compression of digital image data.
 Decompression of digital image data.
Video compression formats
Video compression formats are used to compress digital video signals.
One of the earliest video compression formats was the MacGuffin compression format introduced in 1991. It is designed to be a highly efficient compressed video format that can be decoded by a wide variety of computing platforms. The MacGuffin standard was licensed by Microsoft.
The Video for Windows (VfW) standard, first published in 1992, is an industry-standard video compression format designed for Windows PCs. It
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