Codec?

[Chubby_01]

What's AC97, Codec, etc. What does it all mean?

[Fingers]

It's an Audio Compression/decompression driver, most likely used by MediaPlayer to play mulitmedia files.

[big_block_buick]

you dont say why you know ac97,is it telling you you need this when you try to play a media file,dvd..it seems to be exclusive to pcs with onboard sound..not much help..

[This message has been edited by big_block_buick (edited 11-27-2000).]

[Chubby_01]

Actually I've seen AC97 listed on the specs of such cards as SB Live.

The only difference is that the onboard sound seems to be software dependent. Why is this? What doesn't onboard sound have?

[JayMan]

ok i don't know this for sure, but from what you said Chubby, what doesn't onboard sound have that makes it require software for ac97 playback. I would think if SB live doesn't require software but supports it this would mean it can decode/encode using hardware (faster) where as onboard sound chipsets, which are made smaller to fit on the mobo, do not have as many features and the hardware to decode/encode this format. Like i said 1st not 100% sure but think is what i would think.

JayMan

[Chubby_01]

Yeah, maybe that's it. Thanks