Been looking around for a codec to play MPEG2 and AVCHD for a long time now. My computer can play MPEG2, but no thumbnails are visible for the files. AVCHD just comes to a standstill.

I did however, come across a very nice solution.

Review of Sony HDR-SR1…

Scroll down to playback of AVCHD (or search PowerDVD). Basically, you can install the trial of PowerDVD and have all its codecs (playback of MPEG2 and AVCHD + thumbnails) at your disposal.

To use the codecs without keeping the trial installed (which btw, is disgustingly filled with ads asking you to buy the product), go to the PowerDVD directory.

Do a search for CL264dec.ax and copy that to C:\Windows\system32\

Click Start > Run and type C:\windows\system32\regsvr32 CL264dec.ax to register the codec.

You can now play MPEG2 and AVCHD in most players + see its thumbnails.