codec

noun co·dec \ ˈkō-ˌdek \

|Updated on: 10 Jul 2018

Definition of codec

: a device or software system that can digitize and often compress an audio or video signal for transmission (as over a telephone line) and convert an incoming signal to audio or video for reception

To permit satellite communication through such a compact antenna, an electronic device called a voice coder-decoder—or codec—translates speech into a digital signal.
—Discover

Recent Examples of codec from the Web

Google pushed its own VP8 codec as a more open alternative.

— timothy b. lee, Ars Technica, "Inventor says Google is patenting work he put in the public domain," 10 June 2018
In order to pull off these new shooting modes, GoPro’s leveraging the new-school video codec, High-Efficiency Video Coding (aka H.265).

— brendan nystedt, WIRED, "Review: GoPro Hero6 Black," 24 Oct. 2017
Previously, lossless quality of FLAC (free lossless audio codec) was available exclusively through Sonos.

— tatiana tenreyro, Billboard, "Deezer Expanding and Rebranding High-Fidelity Offerings, Integrating With Voice Enabled Services," 30 Aug. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'codec.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.