Bandicam MPEG-1 Decoder 1.0

A Bandicam recording that plays perfectly on the PC you made it on can refuse to open on any other computer.

That is not a corrupt file, and it is not Bandicam misbehaving.

The decoder went with the recorder, and this 1.4 MB package is how you put it back.

First, Check Whether You Need This At All

Most people do not. Bandicam records to H.264 in an MP4 container by default, and every modern player and editor opens those without help.

This package only matters if the recording is an AVI file made with Bandicam's MPEG-1 or MJPEG codec, which is a setting you have to choose deliberately in the output options.

If you are not sure which you have, right-click the file and check the extension first. MediaInfo will tell you exactly which codec is inside, and our browser-based Codec Finder does the same without installing anything.

What Is Actually in the Package

Three decoders, and it matters which interface each one supports, because that determines which programs benefit.

That last row is the one that catches people out. If you recorded in MJPEG and your player is DirectShow-based, installing this package will not be enough on its own.

For that case, add LAV Filters or ffdshow, both of which supply a DirectShow MJPEG decoder.

Why Windows Cannot Play These Files On Its Own

Two separate reasons, one per codec.

MPEG-1 is a 1993 standard built around small frames at modest frame rates, and most decoders that claim to support it only really expect files that stay inside those bounds. Bandicam records well past them, at desktop and gameplay resolutions, so a generic MPEG-1 decoder meets a file it was never written for. If the format itself is unfamiliar, our guide to what MPEG-1 actually is is a short read.

MJPEG is simpler and the problem is blunter: Windows has never shipped a Video for Windows MJPEG decoder. There is nothing to be out of date, because there was never anything there.

Which Computer to Install It On

The one that is failing, which is almost never the one you recorded on.

Bandicam installs these decoders as part of its own setup, so recordings always play on the recording machine. Move the file to an editing workstation, a colleague's laptop, a render box or a client's PC, and the decoder does not travel with it.

That is the whole reason this exists as a separate 1.4 MB download rather than as part of Bandicam. Installing Bandicam itself on the second machine would also work, and is a great deal more software than the job needs.

The licence is unusually relaxed about this. It is free for individuals, schools, public institutions and businesses alike, and you may redistribute it as long as the installer is unmodified, which makes it legitimate to hand to an editor or bundle with a deliverable.

If You Only Want to Watch the File

Then install nothing. Players that carry their own decoders open Bandicam AVI recordings straight away, with no system codec involved.

• VLC Media Player - opens MPEG-1 and MJPEG immediately after install
• MPC-HC and MPC-BE - through their bundled LAV Filters
• PotPlayer - native decoding, nothing to configure

Install this package when a program that relies on the system - an editor, an older player, a batch tool - needs to read the file. Watching it is not that.

If you want the fix to cover everything at once rather than Bandicam files specifically, the K-Lite Codec Pack installs LAV Filters system-wide and handles MPEG-1 and MJPEG alongside every other format your PC currently refuses.

System Requirements, Including the Windows 98 Build

The requirements tell you how old this component is more honestly than any description could: a Pentium III and 256 MB of RAM.

It runs on Windows 98SE, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 and 11, in both 32-bit and 64-bit. There are two installers, and the standard one does not cover the oldest systems.

Windows 2000 and later take BDMPEG1SETUP.EXE. Windows 98 and ME need BDMPEG1SETUP_98.EXE instead, which Bandicam Company still hosts.

If you are keeping an old machine working, that second installer is a genuinely rare thing to still find maintained, and it is the reason this page is worth bookmarking rather than just using once.

Installing It Silently

The installer accepts the standard /S switch for unattended setup, which is what you want when rolling it out to a room of editing machines. Upgrades install over the top with no extra steps.

Unlike a codec pack, it registers only its own three decoders and leaves the rest of your system configuration alone, which is the argument for using it rather than something broader on a machine you did not build.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

The tell is whether this keeps happening. Installing a decoder fixes the file in front of you; it does not stop the next one arriving with the same problem.

If you are moving Bandicam recordings between machines regularly, the durable fix is upstream: record to H.264 MP4 in Bandicam's output settings and none of this is ever needed again.

For recordings you already have, converting once is less work than installing decoders everywhere. HandBrake does it with presets and a window, and FFmpeg does a whole folder from one command.

And if the real job is editing rather than playback, a decoder is only step one. DaVinci Resolve has a free tier that reads these files directly, and there are more options in the Video Editors category.

Still stuck after all that? Our Codec Troubleshooter walks through what is failing and why, which is quicker than installing things one at a time to see what sticks.

Quick questions

Download Bandicam MPEG-1 Decoder and see whether the file that would not open now does, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.

There are screenshots here, and 164 more formats in the Video Codecs category.