Multimedia API Reference for Windows

Explore the Windows multimedia APIs that enable applications to handle audio, video, and other media streams. This reference provides descriptions, usage examples, and best‑practice guidelines.

Key APIs

• PlaySound

  Plays a waveform sound. Simple API for synchronous or asynchronous playback of .wav files.

• waveOut*

  Legacy wave output functions for low‑level audio rendering. Includes waveOutOpen, waveOutWrite, etc.

• DirectSound

  Provides low‑latency sound playback with support for 3‑D positioning and hardware acceleration.

• Media Foundation

  Modern framework for audio/video codecs, streaming, and playback. Supports hardware acceleration and DRM.

Sample: Play a WAV File

#include <windows.h>
#pragma comment(lib, "winmm.lib")

int main() {
    // Play a sound synchronously
    PlaySound(TEXT("example.wav"), NULL, SND_SYNC);
    return 0;
}