It contains everything you need to play all common audio and video file formats. K-Lite Mega Codec Pack is designed as a user-friendly solution for playing all your movie files. Basic, Standard, Full, Mega as well as the latest update. This fee likely reflects the cost of licensing the codecs for Microsoft.K-Lite Codec Pack is a free collection of components needed for audio and video playback in DirectShow players such as Windows Media Player, Media Center, and Media Player Classic.

If you search the Store for HEVC, you’ll see the $0.99 HEVC Video Extensions package. Both are identical, but one costs $0.99 and one is free. There are actually two different codec packages you can get from the Store. You have no guarantee that they’re safe, even if you run them through antivirus tools like VirusTotal to check. Your only alternative is to try to download the codecs from a third-party website, which is potentially risky. If you use video editing software that relies on Microsoft’s HEVC codecs to import and export H.265 video, like DaVinci Resolve, you’ll need to pay for the codecs. Unfortunately, that means you must now either pay the 99 cents for the other codecs available from Microsoft or opt to use a third-party video player, like VLC, to play back videos encoded with H.265. RELATED: What Is HEVC H.265 Video, and Why Is It So Important for 4K Movies? How to Install the Codecs for Free Update, 4/7/23: Microsoft has finally pulled the free HEVC codec from the Microsoft Store. These codecs are also required for encoding video in HEVC (H.265) format in applications that use Windows 10’s system codecs. These aren’t included with the latest versions of Windows 10 but must be installed from the Microsoft Store.

For built-in support, you’ll need the codecs.

Codec lite player