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The tools for creating ASF content use compression/decompression algorithms (codecs) to compress audio and/or video media, either from live sources or other media formats, to fit on a network's available bandwidth. Microsoft Windows Media Player then uses the same codec to decompress the ASF information prior to playing it. Separate codecs are applied to the audio and video portion of the ASF stream.
Codecs are designed to compress their source files to a certain bit rate, so not all codecs can be used to compress a file to a particular size. The difference in compression ratio also means a difference in playback quality. The codecs that do not compress their sources as much usually sound and look richer and more dynamic.
Windows Media Encoder can use any codec installed on your computer; however, the computer on which Windows Media Player is installed must also have the codec to play the .asf file or ASF stream. Windows Media Encoder does not come with the same number of codecs as Windows Media Player.