for HD support on the computer H.264 video codec is needed, we will show what hardware requirements (DXVA, processor) HD required on the computer, or which codec HD can be realized.

General
for playing back HD video on the computer a H.264 codec is needed. The H.264 codec is part of the MPEG-4 standard (MPEG4/AVC). Different H.264 require different hardware resources, and can, if relief by DXVA Support Tung (DirectX Video Acceleration), the CPU through the video card (assuming the graphics card has an H.264 acceleration). Thus, the computational performance for HD either with pure CPU power (dual core should be enough), or be achieved with a coordinate your graphics card (with DXVA support) (an old single-core computer is enough then).
With a HD DVB-C DVB-S DVB-T card, the error correction of the H.264 codec required sometimes more than other HD material.

File extension
the extension often says very little about the codec used a file.
As an example, a file with extension. Avi or. Mkv can use all sorts of codec. .avi / .mkv the file container, which for example includes audio and video for its own codec. To see inside this container, the tool can be used Gspot.


multiple HD codec install
Important: it is best to install only one HD codec on the system;
different HD codec can interfere with each other and thus lead to display problems (black screen, no sound, picture attached). This is due to the different components of a HD decoder required to work: Splitter / Demultiplexer, H.264 codec, output filter, audio filter codec.
If more than one HD codec is installed on a system that would allow the individual components are mixed, and may work only partially or not at all anymore.
If still more HD codec is installed, the priorities of the individual components with the tool GSpot be analyzed and adjusted: GSpot codec analysis tool
To HD just to test only once, we recommend VLC player: VLC Media Player - HD (for VLC to be no codec installed, VLC has an internal codec library). For other programs (Windows Media Player), a suitable standalone codec is needed.


Integrated HD modes:
720p / (30/25/24), 1080i / (60/50), 1080p/24
Aspect ratio 16:9

Our test machine:
To estimate the necessary hardware resources for the playback of HD video better, we have used as a test system an old PC: Windows XP SP3, Pentium 4 single core 3 GHz, 1GB Ram, Media Portal 1.1.2; Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 3450; TV Card: Terratec Cynergy DVB C PCI HD
I initially used a graphics card with no HD support (DXVA), placing the CPU when displaying HD video at 100% load and the picture was anything but smooth. Most likely could do without CoreAVC codec areas equipped graphics card, but could offer in our case no smooth playback.

DivX H.264 Decoder
Divx codec included in the Plus Codec Pack
Important: The hardware support must be enabled:
Playback settings: "If available, use DXVA hardware-accelerated"



Download / Source: www.divx.com

MPC - Standalone filter 32bit
Standalone MPC HC codec X86 (Media Player Classic Home Cinema)
MPCVideoDec.ax
The codec and HD video so easily worked with our test system with the most channels, some channels remain the image contrast, are pixelated or after a time quite strong. tested version: 1.4.24499 32bit

Download the file: zip mpchc_x86_v?.
by: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=170561&package_id=264678
the contents to c: windows system32 store
Start Run, and with the command: regsvr32 c: windows system32 register MPCVideoDec.ax

MainConcept MPEG Pro HD
pay,
can also be tested in demo mode:
see: www.mainconcept.com

Cyberlink Video Decoder (PDVD10)
such as PowerDVD mentioned, PowerDVD can be tested in demo mode.
de.cyberlink.com

CoreAVC
Paying CoreAVC: extremely friendly resource HD decoder.
For smooth HD playback at least a dual core machine is required, the hardware support the graphics card is not used by the codec.
Recommended for notebooks, netbooks with enough computing power and a lack of HD support the graphics card
corecodec.com / products / coreavc

Stand Alone (player with integrated codec):

VLC Player:
does not need any external codec and the codec library is integrated into the player, VLC can therefore out of the box to play HD videos.
DXVA VLC should be available since version 1.1, but must be activated in the menu: Tools, Settings, Input & Codecs use GPU acceleration (experimental)

Media Player Classic - Home Cinema
stand alone video player that has DXVA support to relieve the CPU for HD playback.