diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1973a6c..3c02585 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ set(HEADERS
     src/gui/CoverArtWidget.h
     src/gui/SpectrogramWidget.h
     src/gui/GradientDialog.h
+    src/gui/GradientPresetHeader.h
     src/gui/EqualizerWidget.h
     src/gui/EqualizerPresetManager.h
     src/gui/FreqCurveWidget.h
@@ -87,10 +88,10 @@ set(HEADERS
     src/engine/encoder/StageBuffer.h
     src/engine/encoder/FfmpegGuards.h
     src/engine/encoder/SampleRateUtils.h
-    src/engine/encoder/CodecUtils.h        # new: pickSampleFormat/pickChannelCount/clampBitrate/ChannelLayoutGuard
-    src/engine/encoder/OutputPathBuilder.h # new: buildOutputPath
-    src/engine/encoder/DecoderPipeline.h   # new: input open + decoder context
-    src/engine/encoder/EncoderPipeline.h   # new: encoder + muxer + SWR + encode frame
+    src/engine/encoder/CodecUtils.h        
+    src/engine/encoder/OutputPathBuilder.h 
+    src/engine/encoder/DecoderPipeline.h   
+    src/engine/encoder/EncoderPipeline.h   
     # ffmpeg wrapper
     src/engine/ffmpeg/FormatContext.h
     src/engine/ffmpeg/CodecContext.h
@@ -131,7 +132,7 @@ target_include_directories(SubWave PRIVATE
     src/config
     src/controllers
     src/engine
-    src/engine/encoder   # covers CodecUtils.h, OutputPathBuilder.h, DecoderPipeline.h, EncoderPipeline.h
+    src/engine/encoder   
     src/engine/ffmpeg
     src/playlists
     src/gui
diff --git a/scripts/windeploy.ps1 b/scripts/windeploy.ps1
index e0429fb..be04949 100644
--- a/scripts/windeploy.ps1
+++ b/scripts/windeploy.ps1
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 # completely written by chatgpt btw. dont bother for winslop
+# except one part, which is the dll deletion!
 Set-StrictMode -Version Latest
 $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop"
 
+# this is bullshit, only needed cause QtCreator is needed to compile the App ; which is also bullshit
 $BuildDir   = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE "Documents\SubWave\build\Desktop_Qt_6_10_2_MinGW_64_bit-Release"
 $ZipOutDir  = Join-Path $env:USERPROFILE "Documents\SubWave\build"
 $QtBin      = "C:\Qt\6.10.2\mingw_64\bin"
@@ -11,7 +13,7 @@ $AppExe     = Join-Path $BuildDir "SubWave.exe"
 
 $StagingDir = Join-Path $env:TEMP "SubWave_staging"
 $ZipPath    = Join-Path $ZipOutDir "SubWave.zip"
-$UnpackedDir = Join-Path $ZipOutDir "SubWave_uncompressed"
+$UnpackedDir = Join-Path $ZipOutDir "SubWave"
 
 function Copy-Dll($src, $dst) {
     if (Test-Path $src) {
@@ -125,7 +127,8 @@ $dllsToRemove = @(
     "avdevice-*.dll","libavdevice-*.dll",
     "swscale-*.dll","libswscale-*.dll",
     "postproc-*.dll","libpostproc-*.dll",
-    "libfftw3f-3.dll","libfftw3l-3.dll"
+    "libfftw3f-3.dll","libfftw3l-3.dll",
+    "opengl32sw.dll" # opengl is usually shipped withwindows, so we can safely delete it, mesa is not needed
 )
 
 foreach ($pattern in $dllsToRemove) {
diff --git a/src/engine/AudioEngine.cpp b/src/engine/AudioEngine.cpp
index 8c9e237..b45848a 100644
--- a/src/engine/AudioEngine.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/AudioEngine.cpp
@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@ AudioEngine::State AudioEngine::state() const { return m_state.load(); }
 qint64 AudioEngine::positionFrames() const { return m_posFrames.load(); }
 qint64 AudioEngine::totalFrames() const { return m_totalFrames.load(); }
 int    AudioEngine::sampleRate() const { return m_sampleRate.load(); }
+int    AudioEngine::bitsPerSample() const { return m_bitsPerSample.load(); }
+QString AudioEngine::codecName() const {
+    QMutexLocker lock(&m_metaMtx);
+    return m_codecName;
+}
 
 void AudioEngine::setVolume(float v) {
     m_volume = std::clamp(v, 0.f, 1.f);
@@ -32,6 +37,11 @@ void AudioEngine::play(const engine::Track &track) {
     m_stopReq     = false;
     m_pauseReq    = false;
     m_seekPending = false;
+    m_bitsPerSample = 0;
+    {
+        QMutexLocker lock(&m_metaMtx);
+        m_codecName.clear();
+    }
     m_track       = track;
     m_thread      = QThread::create([this]{ playbackLoop(); });
     m_thread->setObjectName("subwave-audio");
@@ -99,6 +109,11 @@ void AudioEngine::playbackLoop() {
     }
 
     m_sampleRate = decoder.sampleRate();
+    m_bitsPerSample = decoder.bitsPerSample();
+    {
+        QMutexLocker lock(&m_metaMtx);
+        m_codecName = decoder.codecName();
+    }
     m_eq.setSampleRate(m_sampleRate);
     m_eq.reset();
 
diff --git a/src/engine/AudioEngine.h b/src/engine/AudioEngine.h
index ca650d1..6dad29a 100644
--- a/src/engine/AudioEngine.h
+++ b/src/engine/AudioEngine.h
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ public:
     qint64 positionFrames() const;
     qint64 totalFrames()    const;
     int    sampleRate()     const;
+    int    bitsPerSample()  const;
+    QString codecName()     const;
 
     void setVolume(float v);
     void play(const engine::Track &track);
@@ -55,6 +57,7 @@ private:
     std::atomic<qint64> m_posFrames { 0 };
     std::atomic<qint64> m_totalFrames { 0 };
     std::atomic<int>    m_sampleRate  { 44100 };
+    std::atomic<int>    m_bitsPerSample { 0 };
     std::atomic<bool>   m_stopReq     { false };
     std::atomic<bool>   m_pauseReq    { false };
     std::atomic<bool>   m_seekPending { false };
@@ -67,8 +70,10 @@ private:
 
     QMutex         m_pauseMtx;
     QWaitCondition m_pauseCv;
+    mutable QMutex m_metaMtx;
 
     engine::Track m_track;
+    QString m_codecName;
     engine::EqProcessor m_eq;
 
     float m_eqGainDb[EQ_BANDS] {};
diff --git a/src/engine/ffmpeg/CodecContext.cpp b/src/engine/ffmpeg/CodecContext.cpp
index 611297b..23085e8 100644
--- a/src/engine/ffmpeg/CodecContext.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/ffmpeg/CodecContext.cpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 extern "C" {
 #include <libavcodec/avcodec.h>
+#include <libavutil/samplefmt.h>
 }
 
 namespace engine::ffmpeg {
@@ -64,4 +65,18 @@ int CodecContext::channels() const {
     return m_ctx ? m_ctx->ch_layout.nb_channels : 0;
 }
 
+int CodecContext::bitsPerSample() const {
+    if (!m_ctx) return 0;
+
+    if (m_ctx->bits_per_raw_sample > 0)
+        return m_ctx->bits_per_raw_sample;
+
+    if (m_ctx->sample_fmt != AV_SAMPLE_FMT_NONE && m_ctx->sample_fmt != AV_SAMPLE_FMT_NB) {
+        const int bytesPerSample = av_get_bytes_per_sample(m_ctx->sample_fmt);
+        return bytesPerSample > 0 ? bytesPerSample * 8 : 0;
+    }
+
+    return 0;
+}
+
 } // namespace engine::ffmpeg
diff --git a/src/engine/ffmpeg/CodecContext.h b/src/engine/ffmpeg/CodecContext.h
index 4084689..cfb70b3 100644
--- a/src/engine/ffmpeg/CodecContext.h
+++ b/src/engine/ffmpeg/CodecContext.h
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ public:
     bool isOpen()    const { return m_ctx != nullptr; }
     int  sampleRate()const;
     int  channels()  const;
+    int  bitsPerSample() const;
 
     const AVCodecContext *get() const { return m_ctx.get(); }
 
diff --git a/src/engine/ffmpeg/FFmpegDecoder.cpp b/src/engine/ffmpeg/FFmpegDecoder.cpp
index a850f74..8d5d638 100644
--- a/src/engine/ffmpeg/FFmpegDecoder.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/ffmpeg/FFmpegDecoder.cpp
@@ -61,6 +61,28 @@ void FFmpegDecoder::seek(double fraction) {
     m_codec.flush();
 }
 
+QString FFmpegDecoder::codecName() const {
+    const AVCodecParameters *par = m_format.audioCodecPar();
+    if (!par) return {};
+
+    const AVCodecDescriptor *desc = avcodec_descriptor_get(par->codec_id);
+    if (!desc) {
+        const char *fallback = avcodec_get_name(par->codec_id);
+        return fallback ? QString::fromUtf8(fallback).toUpper() : QString();
+    }
+
+    QString name = QString::fromUtf8(desc->long_name && desc->long_name[0] ? desc->long_name : desc->name);
+    const int parenPos = name.indexOf(" (");
+    if (parenPos >= 0)
+        name.truncate(parenPos);
+
+    return name.trimmed().toUpper();
+}
+
+int FFmpegDecoder::bitsPerSample() const {
+    return m_codec.bitsPerSample();
+}
+
 bool FFmpegDecoder::decodeNext(AudioBuffer &buf) {
     if (!m_format.isOpen()) return false;
 
diff --git a/src/engine/ffmpeg/FFmpegDecoder.h b/src/engine/ffmpeg/FFmpegDecoder.h
index 5b37bec..abee56d 100644
--- a/src/engine/ffmpeg/FFmpegDecoder.h
+++ b/src/engine/ffmpeg/FFmpegDecoder.h
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ public:
     int    channels()        const { return m_codec.channels();    }
     double durationSeconds() const { return m_format.durationSecs(); }
     qint64 totalFrames()     const { return m_totalFrames;         }
+    QString codecName()       const;
+    int    bitsPerSample()   const;
 
 private:
     FormatContext m_format;
diff --git a/src/gui/GradientDialog.cpp b/src/gui/GradientDialog.cpp
index d95763e..39a6dc6 100644
--- a/src/gui/GradientDialog.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/GradientDialog.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 #include "GradientDialog.h"
+#include "GradientPresetHeader.h"
 #include <QHBoxLayout>
 #include <QVBoxLayout>
 #include <QPushButton>
@@ -8,47 +9,6 @@
 #include <QPixmap>
 #include <QComboBox>
 
-static QVector<QColor> makePreset4(const QColor &c0, const QColor &c1,
-                                   const QColor &c2, const QColor &c3,
-                                   const QColor &c4)
-{
-    return { c0, c2, c3, c4 };
-}
-
-struct Preset {
-    QString name;
-    QVector<QColor> colors;
-};
-
-// Presets are defined in a Vector for simplicity of adding new ones
-static const QVector<Preset> PRESETS = {
-    { "Default",
-     { QColor("#078D70"), QColor("#26CEAA"), QColor("#98E8C1"), QColor("#FFFFFF") } },
-
-    { "Pastels",
-     makePreset4(QColor("#92ccdd"), QColor("#c7eff0"),
-                 QColor("#f5d5fd"), QColor("#fdc4ec"), QColor("#ffc2cb")) },
-
-    { "Raddish",
-     makePreset4(QColor("#ff0000"), QColor("#b40000"),
-                 QColor("#890000"), QColor("#540000"), QColor("#240000")) },
-
-    { "Blau",
-     makePreset4(QColor("#72c8dd"), QColor("#43b5d2"),
-                 QColor("#14a3c7"), QColor("#1293b3"), QColor("#10829f")) },
-
-    { "Turquoise",
-     makePreset4(QColor("#d8f2f6"), QColor("#8bd9ef"),
-                 QColor("#3ec1d5"), QColor("#319aaa"), QColor("#25737f")) },
-
-    { "Aqua",
-     makePreset4(QColor("#2278FB"), QColor("#3A9AF0"),
-                 QColor("#53BDE6"), QColor("#6BDFDB"), QColor("#1A5BB8")) },
-
-    { "Peaches",
-     makePreset4(QColor("#FFCAA6"), QColor("#FDA8A0"),
-                 QColor("#FA879A"), QColor("#F86594"), QColor("#FFE0CC")) }
-};
 
 static int findPresetIndex(const QVector<QColor> &stops)
 {
diff --git a/src/gui/GradientPresetHeader.h b/src/gui/GradientPresetHeader.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1e27b37
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/gui/GradientPresetHeader.h
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+#pragma once
+
+#include <QVector>
+#include <QColor>
+#include <QString>
+
+/** preset function */
+inline QVector<QColor> makePreset4(const QColor &c0, const QColor &c1,
+                                   const QColor &c2, const QColor &c3,
+                                   const QColor &c4)
+{
+    // if you dont define c1 as #FFFF worry, cause it does NOT get used!
+    return { c0, c2, c3, c4 }; 
+}
+
+/** Preset Struct */
+struct Preset {
+    QString name;
+    QVector<QColor> colors;
+};
+
+/** Defined Presets */
+inline const QVector<Preset> PRESETS = {
+    { "Default",
+     { QColor("#078D70"), QColor("#26CEAA"), QColor("#98E8C1"), QColor("#FFFFFF") } },
+
+    { "Pastels",
+     makePreset4(QColor("#92ccdd"), QColor("#c7eff0"),
+                 QColor("#f5d5fd"), QColor("#fdc4ec"), QColor("#ffc2cb")) },
+
+    { "Raddish",
+     makePreset4(QColor("#ff0000"), QColor("#b40000"),
+                 QColor("#890000"), QColor("#540000"), QColor("#240000")) },
+
+    { "Blau",
+     makePreset4(QColor("#72c8dd"), QColor("#43b5d2"),
+                 QColor("#14a3c7"), QColor("#1293b3"), QColor("#10829f")) },
+
+    { "Turquoise",
+     makePreset4(QColor("#d8f2f6"), QColor("#8bd9ef"),
+                 QColor("#3ec1d5"), QColor("#319aaa"), QColor("#25737f")) },
+
+    { "Aqua",
+     makePreset4(QColor("#2278FB"), QColor("#3A9AF0"),
+                 QColor("#53BDE6"), QColor("#6BDFDB"), QColor("#1A5BB8")) },
+
+    { "Peaches",
+     makePreset4(QColor("#FFCAA6"), QColor("#FDA8A0"),
+                 QColor("#FA879A"), QColor("#F86594"), QColor("#FFE0CC")) },
+    
+    { "Windows Green",
+    makePreset4(QColor("#BFFFE3"), QColor("#7FFFC2"),
+                QColor("#43FFAC"), QColor("#27FF97"), QColor("#0EDB7D")) },
+};
diff --git a/src/gui/MainWindow.cpp b/src/gui/MainWindow.cpp
index f98269b..ee1e766 100644
--- a/src/gui/MainWindow.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/MainWindow.cpp
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(QWidget *parent)
             e->positionFrames(),
             e->totalFrames(),
             float(e->sampleRate()));
+        m_nowPlaying->updateAudioInfo(
+            e->sampleRate(),
+            e->bitsPerSample(),
+            e->codecName());
 
         if (e->state() == AudioEngine::State::Stopped)
             m_nowPlaying->setPlaybackActive(false);
diff --git a/src/gui/NowPlayingPanel.cpp b/src/gui/NowPlayingPanel.cpp
index c9720d1..8bdc223 100644
--- a/src/gui/NowPlayingPanel.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/NowPlayingPanel.cpp
@@ -60,11 +60,22 @@ void NowPlayingPanel::buildLayout()
     transport->addWidget(new QLabel("Volume:"));
     transport->addWidget(m_volSlider);
 
+    auto *metaRow = new QHBoxLayout;
+    metaRow->setSpacing(8);
+    metaRow->addWidget(new QLabel("Sample rate:"));
+    metaRow->addWidget(m_lblSampleRate);
+    metaRow->addWidget(new QLabel("Bits/Sample:"));
+    metaRow->addWidget(m_lblBitsPerSample);
+    metaRow->addWidget(new QLabel("Codec:"));
+    metaRow->addWidget(m_lblCodec);
+    metaRow->addStretch();
+
     auto *right = new QVBoxLayout;
     right->setSpacing(4);
     right->addWidget(m_lblTitle);
     right->addWidget(m_lblArtist);
     right->addWidget(m_lblAlbum);
+    right->addLayout(metaRow);
     right->addLayout(seekRow);
     right->addLayout(transport);
 
@@ -73,14 +84,25 @@ void NowPlayingPanel::buildLayout()
     hlay->addLayout(right, 1);
 }
 
+void NowPlayingPanel::clearAudioInfo()
+{
+    m_lblSampleRate->setText("-");
+    m_lblBitsPerSample->setText("-");
+    m_lblCodec->setText("-");
+}
+
 void NowPlayingPanel::updateTrack(const engine::Track *t)
 {
-    if (!t) return;
+    if (!t) {
+        clearAudioInfo();
+        return;
+    }
     m_cover->setTrack(t);
     m_lblTitle->setText(t->displayTitle());
     m_lblArtist->setText(t->artist);
     m_lblAlbum->setText(t->album +
         (t->year > 0 ? "  (" + QString::number(t->year) + ")" : ""));
+    clearAudioInfo();
     m_seekBar->setValue(0);
     m_btnPlay->setText("Pause");
 }
@@ -101,6 +123,13 @@ void NowPlayingPanel::updatePosition(qint64 posFrames, qint64 totalFrames, float
         m_seekBar->setValue(int(posFrames * 1000 / totalFrames));
 }
 
+void NowPlayingPanel::updateAudioInfo(int sampleRate, int bitsPerSample, const QString &codec)
+{
+    m_lblSampleRate->setText(sampleRate > 0 ? QString("%1 Hz").arg(sampleRate) : "-");
+    m_lblBitsPerSample->setText(bitsPerSample > 0 ? QString("%1").arg(bitsPerSample) : "-");
+    m_lblCodec->setText(!codec.isEmpty() ? codec : "-");
+}
+
 void NowPlayingPanel::setPlaybackActive(bool playing)
 {
     m_btnPlay->setText(playing ? "Pause" : "Play");
diff --git a/src/gui/NowPlayingPanel.h b/src/gui/NowPlayingPanel.h
index e8e4dde..c2f3912 100644
--- a/src/gui/NowPlayingPanel.h
+++ b/src/gui/NowPlayingPanel.h
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ public:
 public slots:
     void updateTrack(const engine::Track *track);
     void updatePosition(qint64 posFrames, qint64 totalFrames, float sampleRate);
-    void setPlaybackActive(bool playing);   
+    void updateAudioInfo(int sampleRate, int bitsPerSample, const QString &codec);
+    void setPlaybackActive(bool playing);
 
 signals:
     void playPauseClicked();
@@ -31,12 +32,16 @@ signals:
 
 private:
     void buildLayout();
+    void clearAudioInfo();
 
     CoverArtWidget *m_cover;
     QLabel         *m_lblTitle  = new QLabel("No track selected");
     QLabel         *m_lblArtist = new QLabel(" ");
     QLabel         *m_lblAlbum  = new QLabel(" ");
     QLabel         *m_lblTime   = new QLabel("0:00 / 0:00");
+    QLabel         *m_lblSampleRate = new QLabel("—");
+    QLabel         *m_lblBitsPerSample = new QLabel("-");
+    QLabel         *m_lblCodec      = new QLabel("—");
     QSlider        *m_seekBar   = new QSlider(Qt::Horizontal);
     QPushButton    *m_btnPrev   = new QPushButton("|<");
     QPushButton    *m_btnPlay   = new QPushButton("Play");