A demultiplexer (often abbreviated as a demuxer or dmux) is a software or hardware tool that creates two or more streams of data from a single-stream input. A demultiplexer performs the inverse function of a multiplexer, which essentially consolidates numerous data streams into one single stream of information or media.
Demultiplexers take transmissions and divide them into their designated components. They perform the inverse function of multiplexers. Generally speaking, multiplexers are devices or programs that consolidate multiple inputs into a single output. For example, if a video file needs stereo audio added to it, it can be multiplexed (muxed) with the right and left audio channels. Inversely, if audio needs to be extracted from a video file, demultiplexing (demuxing) the source file would output separate audio and video files.
Synonyms
Demuxer
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