Preferred Filter Tweaker has been designed to offer Windows 7 users a quick and uncomplicated way of changing Direct Show filters in Windows 7. The tool supports a variety of popular formats including H.264, MPEG-4 (Xvid/DivX/MP4V) or MP3. Supported third party filters are (among others) ffdshow, divx, gabest, xvid, arcsoft or cyberlink filters.

Each supported multimedia format is displayed in the program's interface upon startup with a selection of available filters next to it.

Microsoft's upcoming operating system Windows 7 uses Direct Show filters to decode several audio and video formats. Direct Show is being used by several multimedia applications like Windows Media Player or Media Center. It can also be used in third party tools like MPlayer. Users who prefer to use alternative codecs for decoding these audio and video formats can either edit the Windows Registry to do so or use the Preferred Filter Tweaker for Windows 7.

The Microsoft filters are selected by default. All it takes to switch to another filter is to select it from the list. A click on the apply button in the end will make the changes to the system. Please note that these changes only affect media players that use Direct Show to decode the video and audio codecs.

It should also be noted that it might cause problems in some applications when switching to third party filters. Some users have for instance reported that live TV would not function properly in Windows Media Center after switching to alternative filters. The Preferred Filter Tweaker is compatible with Windows 7.

Windows 7 uses its own DirectShow filters for decoding several audio and video formats. Using third party filters instead of the native filters is not possible without making changes to the Windows Registry.

The Preferred Filter Tweaker application was designed to be a small tool that allows you to configure your preferred DirectShow filters with just a few mouse clicks. It is quick, easy, and changes can be always undone. If you for example prefer to use ffdshow or CoreAVC for decoding H.264 video then you can do so by using this tool.

This tool is particularly useful for the Microsoft players, such as Windows Media Player and Media Center. Certain advanced third party players, such as Media Player Classic, are capable of using third party filters without the need for this tool.

This tool can set the preferred filter for the following video formats:
1. H.264
2. MPEG-4 (Xvid/DivX/MP4V)
3. MPEG-2
4. VC-1
5. AAC
6. MP3
7. MP2

Currently supported third party filters (32-bit):
1. ffdshow
2. MPCVideoDec
3. CoreAVC H.264 decoder
4. Xvid MPEG-4 decoder
5. DivX H.264 decoder
6. DivX MPEG-4 decoder
7. DScaler5 MPEG-2 decoder
8. Gabest MPEG-2 decoder
9. Cyberlink H.264 decoder (PDVD 7/9)
10. Cyberlink MPEG-2 decoder (PDVD 7/8/9)
11. Cyberlink VC-1 decoder (patched with VC1Tweak: guid {394DFD1B-6F4C-4096-AA14-EF852B02595B})
12. ArcSoft H.264 decoder
13. ArcSoft MPEG-4 decoder
14. ArcSoft MPEG-2 decoder
15. ArcSoft VC-1 decoder (patched with VC1Tweak: guid {9DAD7B50-4432-4F48-AC60-B2B4E854454B})
16. MONOGRAM AAC decoder

Currently supported third party filters (64-bit):
1. ffdshow
2. MPCVideoDec
3. Xvid MPEG-4 decoder
4. Gabest MPEG-2 decoder

The license of this software is Freeware, you can free download and free use this video player software.