A codec is a device or program that encodes or decodes a digital data stream or signal. The term “codec” is a portmanteau of “coder-decoder”.
Codecs are used in a wide variety of applications, including telecommunications, data storage, and multimedia. In telecommunications, codecs are used to compress and decompress voice and video signals. In data storage, codecs are used to compress and decompress data files. In multimedia, codecs are used to compress and decompress audio and video files.