Endec

In electronic communications, an endec is a device which acts as both an encoder and a decoder on a signal or data stream, either with the same or separate circuitry or algorithm. The combining of these names is a portmanteau. In electronic communications, an endec is a device which acts as both an encoder and a decoder on a signal or data stream, either with the same or separate circuitry or algorithm. The combining of these names is a portmanteau. The general difference between an endec and a codec (compressor / decompressor) is that hardware is usually considered to be an endec, while software is considered to be the codec. A device or program which uses a compression algorithm to create MPEG audio and/or video is often called an encoder, and one which plays back such files is a decoder. However, this is technically a codec, especially if performed in software.