Microsoft's first video playback implementation in Windows. Featuring the AVI movie format, Video for Windows (VfW) had to be installed separately in Windows 3.x, but, starting with Windows 95, it was incorporated into the operating system. Initially, the Video 1, RLE and Indeo codecs (compression methods) were included. Windows 95 added the Cinepak codec and provided drivers for Sony ViSCA VCRs and LaserDiscs. Playback quality was rather poor on 486s and earlier Pentiums; however, in the late 1990s, the DivX codec was introduced into the AVI format and greatly improved the video playback. See DivX.
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