This post details, how you can obtain the media encoder and decoder ( codec) information of your android Android device. First we will show, how you can use media codec API’s to get this information. You just follow the steps from “Android demo application with button click event” to create the demo application and then Modify MainActivity.java as below, package com.demoapp.clickbutton; import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity; import android.os.Bundle; import android.util.Log; import android.view.View; import android.os.Build; import android.widget.Button; import com.demoapp.clickbutton.R; import android.media.MediaCodecInfo; import android.media.MediaCodecList; import android.media.MediaCodecInfo.CodecCapabilities; import android.media.MediaCodecInfo.VideoCapabilities; import android.media.MediaFormat; public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity { Button btn; private static final String TAG = "lynxbee:"; private void printSupportedCodecInfo() { int numCodecs = MediaCodecList.getCodecCount(); for (int i = 0; i < numCodecs; i++) { MediaCodecInfo codecInfo = MediaCodecList.getCodecInfoAt(i); /*if (codecInfo.isEncoder()) { continue; }*/ Log.d(TAG, "--------------------------------"); Log.d(TAG, "getName: " + codecInfo.getName() + " isEncoder: " + codecInfo.isEncoder()); String[] types = codecInfo.getSupportedTypes(); for (int j = 0; j < types.length; j++) { Log.d(TAG, "Type: " + types[j]); MediaCodecInfo.CodecCapabilities cap = codecInfo.getCapabilitiesForType(types[j]); Log.d(TAG, "default format = " + cap.getDefaultFormat().toString()); if (types[j].startsWith("video")) { MediaCodecInfo.VideoCapabilities vcap = cap.getVideoCapabilities(); Log.d(TAG, "getBitrateRange: " + vcap.getBitrateRange()); Log.d(TAG, "getHeightAlignment: " + vcap.getHeightAlignment()); Log.d(TAG, "getWidthAlignment: " + vcap.getWidthAlignment()); Log.d(TAG, "isSizeSupported:640*480: " + vcap.isSizeSupported(640, 480)); Log.d(TAG, "isSizeSupported:720*1280: " + vcap.isSizeSupported(720, 1280)); Log.d(TAG, "isSizeSupported:1080*1920: " + vcap.isSizeSupported(1080, 1920)); Log.d(TAG, "getSupportedWidths: " + vcap.getSupportedWidths()); Log.d(TAG, "getSupportedHeights: " + vcap.getSupportedHeights()); Log.d(TAG, "getSupportedFrameRates: " + vcap.getSupportedFrameRates()); int width = 176; int height = 144; int maxWidth = vcap.getSupportedWidths().getUpper(); int maxHeight = vcap.getSupportedHeightsFor(width).getUpper(); int maxRate = vcap.getSupportedFrameRatesFor(width, height).getUpper().intValue(); int bitrate = vcap.getBitrateRange().clamp( (int)(vcap.getBitrateRange().getUpper() / Math.sqrt( (double)maxWidth * maxHeight / width / height))); Log.i(TAG, "reasonable bitrate for " + width + "x" + height + "@" + maxRate + " " + types[j] + " = " + bitrate); Log.d(TAG, "areSizeAndRateSupported: " + vcap.areSizeAndRateSupported(width, height, maxRate)); } } } } @Override protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); setContentView(R.layout.activity_main); btn = (Button) findViewById(R.id.btn); btn.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() { @Override public void onClick(View view) { Log.e(TAG, "Build.TYPE :: " + Build.TYPE); printSupportedCodecInfo(); } }); } } Now, when you compile this application, install and open this application and click on “ClickButton”, it will print the codec information in Logcat, which you can filter as, $ adb logcat | grep lynxbee If you are looking for only decoder information, just uncomment below code to skip printing encoder information if (codecInfo.isEncoder()) { continue; } You can also use “Media Codec Info” application from playstore https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.tyniw.mediacodecinfo.application&hl=en

Command line execution

Terminalbash
grep lynxbee If you are looking for only decoder information, just uncomment below code to skip printing encoder information if (codecInfo.isEncoder()) {     continue; } You can also use “Media Codec Info” application from playstore  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.tyniw.mediacodecinfo.application&hl=en

Gotchas and common issues

  • Permission checks - verify user access rights and sudo privileges before executing system-level operations.

  • Environment configuration - double-check path variables and dependency versions to prevent runtime failures.

  • Backup safeguards - maintain configuration backups before applying system or database modifications.

Following these steps ensures clean configuration and reliable execution for identify media encoder / decoder (codec) information of android device.