GSpot is a Windows-based freeware designed to identify codec

Codec

A codec is a device or computer program capable of encoding or decoding a digital data stream or signal. The word codec is a portmanteau of "compressor-decompressor" or, more commonly, "coder-decoder"...

s used in video files. In addition, the application checks if the required DirectShow

DirectShow

DirectShow , codename Quartz, is a multimedia framework and API produced by Microsoft for software developers to perform various operations with media files or streams. It is the replacement for Microsoft's earlier Video for Windows technology...

 filters or Video for Windows

Video for Windows

Video for Windows was a multimedia framework developed by Microsoft that allowed Microsoft Windows to play digital video.-Overview:...

 codecs are installed and configured for proper playback. While originally created to support AVI

Audio Video Interleave

Audio Video Interleave , known by its acronym AVI, is a multimedia container format introduced by Microsoft in November 1992 as part of its Video for Windows technology. AVI files can contain both audio and video data in a file container that allows synchronous audio-with-video playback...

, it was expanded to include full support for Ogg

Ogg

Ogg is a free, open container format maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The creators of the Ogg format state that it is unrestricted by software patents and is designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia.The Ogg container format can multiplex...

 and limited support for other commercial container formats, including versions of MPEG, QuickTime movie, and Windows Media Video

Windows Media Video

'Windows Media Video is a video compression format for several proprietary codecs developed by Microsoft. The original video format, known as WMV, was originally designed for Internet streaming applications, as a competitor to RealVideo. The other formats, such as WMV Screen and WMV Image, cater...

. Due to its ceased development many long-time users have turned to MediaInfo

MediaInfo

MediaInfo is a free, Open-source program that displays technical information about media files, as well as tag information for many audio and video files. It is used in many programs such as XMedia Recode, MediaCoder, eMule, K-Lite Codec Pack, Media Player Classic Homecinema and can be easily...

 for the identification of newer video files (ie .m2ts

.m2ts

M2TS is a filename extension used for the Blu-ray Disc Audio-Video MPEG-2 Transport Stream container file format. It is used for multiplexing audio, video and other streams. It is based on the MPEG-2 transport stream container...

files).