Best media player around

kkenjinn · Post by **kkenjinn** » May 9th, '04, 16:20

Well well well...

ok you downloaded the movie, ready to play it.. what are you going to use to play it?
Tough uh?
what is your favourite media player and why?

Personnally my choice is VLC (videolan) http://www.videolan.org/
- fast and reliable...
- need less ressources than windows media player
- Can play most media files include streaming / DVD / VCD / CD / etc
- can read partially downloaded file without damaging it.
- read subtitles without a separate codec
- jump bad frames without stopping the movie
- free

Next is Zoom player
http://www.inmatrix.com/
Visit website for details

There is a codec pack available on internet (kazAa lite codec pack)
very complete in case you have problems with some codecs
http://www.k-litecodecpack.com/

vibius · Post by **vibius** » May 9th, '04, 16:40

mplayer for Linux. It plays anything.

Post by **iceberri** » May 9th, '04, 16:45

can't stand Windows media player or winamp when playing my dramas. I normally go with my trusty media player classic. Ever since I first installed it, I haven't had a single problem playing any files, and it's light so it doesn't hog up tons of resources on my comp.

DAvenger · Post by **DAvenger** » May 9th, '04, 17:09

RadLight 4 - http://www.radlight.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=655

NiXZe · Post by **NiXZe** » May 9th, '04, 17:41

vibius wrote:mplayer for Linux. It plays anything.

yepp and it even pretty advanced version for windows too! (for those "few" that are still using that Slugish OS, and yes i'm felling the flamewar comming)

and the url! http://www.mplayerhq.hu

Kasimir · Post by **Kasimir** » May 9th, '04, 19:15

what a crappy poll.... as though those are the best four players were the best or something.... you don't even list bsplayer (which is the best, btw...)

*edit*

i don't feel any particular need to flame anyone for using linux, but as much as i hate windows, i have a job (i.e. i need to ration out my free time now, as opposed to when i was in school.....) and all and i need my computer to work with mimimum effort and actually have it run useful programs

which doesn't happen much with linux without a windows emulator or something.... not much money for serious developers to invest in an opensource community

CoPi- · Post by **CoPi-** » May 9th, '04, 19:29

I use BSPlayer 90% of the time, the controls are simple and varied enough though maybe not as exhaustive as Vlan.

I still haven't found my dream player though, one that would have an option to skip frame when the CPU load is too high for full decoding. If you know any that lets you do that please tell me before I upgrade to a 3Ghz system!

as for playing Real Media files without the real player, you can always download a filter called Real Alternative.

Post by **MoerkJ** » May 9th, '04, 22:18

I prefer Media Player Classic by gabest when watching videos. I use Winamp (old version 2.x) only for mp3s.

tailchaser · Post by **tailchaser** » May 9th, '04, 22:31

I would suggest replacing Windows Media Player with MPC in your poll. I mean, is anyone really going to vote for Mr. Gate's program anyway? I can't compare MPC to recent versions of zoomplayer or radlight because I only have older versions, but MPC never seems to give me any problems. I like it. Isn't the author of radlight considered evil for some of his spyware/malware tactics in the past?

Post by **thetenken** » May 10th, '04, 00:06

I use BSPlayer. Simplest and lowest overhead. You can upgrade the skins if you don't like the default.

Vivid · Post by **Vivid** » May 10th, '04, 00:23

But still i hope that someone could come up with an idea of a software player which could play rm,asf,wmv too then that would be the best player as all extension are playable right

Post by **puccakiss79** » May 10th, '04, 00:40

i use BSPlayer too.

kkenjinn · Post by **kkenjinn** » May 10th, '04, 00:45

Wish i could upload those player in the list sadly, it is not possible anymore..

Bsplayer (media player classic), Mplayer
Sorry to people for not having listed them

it's interesting to see how many media player are out there,
is there any which plays rm (real media files too)?

hideto · Post by **hideto** » May 10th, '04, 00:55

i think real player files are copyrighted by them......I havent seen any player that plays rm files other than the media players from REAL.

I personally like VLC, im using VLC on linux, though i came across a problem with it playing 3ivx file (cant get sound to work), but it worked under windows. Anyways, thumbs up for VLC, oh mplayer for linux is good too.

vibius · Post by **vibius** » May 10th, '04, 01:07

hideto wrote:i think real player files are copyrighted by them......I havent seen any player that plays rm files other than the media players from REAL.... oh mplayer for linux is good too.

If you use Linux, mplayer will play real media files if you've installed the codecs for it. I've even ripped some real media streams directly off the web with some success using mplayer.

Post by **thetenken** » May 10th, '04, 01:07

Vivid wrote:But still i hope that someone could come up with an idea of a software player which could play rm,asf,wmv too then that would be the best player as all extension are playable right

BSPlayer can play all those formats if you hack it to, I think. I have encountered some problems with playing some RM files with BSPlayer...

There is also something called the RealPlayer Alternative.
http://home.hccnet.nl/h.edskes/finalbuilds.htm

Hold_That_Tiger · Post by **Hold_That_Tiger** » May 10th, '04, 01:07

If you install the "Real Alternative Codec" you can play Real media files on any player you want. Which is great cause RealPlayer sucks big time!

CoPi- · Post by **CoPi-** » May 10th, '04, 02:07

hideto wrote:i think real player files are copyrighted by them......I havent seen any player that plays rm files other than the media players from REAL.

You can download a filter here:
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/Rea ... native.htm

delsxyz · Post by **delsxyz** » May 10th, '04, 02:27

As it is known to call home, ( unless you want to have spys all the time),
remove Realplayer.
And install
realalt122.exe ( See above for Copi's post)
It will install Windows Media Player Classic, from which you
can play RM, RMVB files.

Also install realmediasplitter_20040125
With the above installed, and the use of TMPGEnc (version
2.53.35.130), you can convert RMVB to VCD or SVCD mpg.
Then, suddenly RMVB is no longer an orphan format.

TMPGEnc fails to decode RMVB audio in conversion if you
do not use TMPGEnc v2.53.35.130. Later version pretends
it decodes and you find out later that there is no sound in mpg.

Post by **MoerkJ** » May 11th, '04, 00:24

I added bsplayer, MPC, and mplayer to the poll. so we can all vote now.

hakurey · Post by **hakurey** » May 11th, '04, 00:47

Bsplayer for me, especially with movies requiring subs and it integrates well with the AC3 stuff.
It's so easy to manipulate the subs, resizing, sync and moving you just need CTRL arrows.
The interface of Bsplayer beats VLC hands down.

is2hyolee · Post by **is2hyolee** » May 11th, '04, 03:39

... VLC & WMP ...

BT-Slut · Post by **BT-Slut** » May 11th, '04, 04:02

hakurey wrote:Bsplayer for me, especially with movies requiring subs and it integrates well with the AC3 stuff.
It's so easy to manipulate the subs, resizing, sync and moving you just need CTRL arrows.
The interface of Bsplayer beats VLC hands down.

I went ahead and gave Bsplayer a try. It's not bad. I may be using it often in the future.

Post by **Kai Lien** » May 11th, '04, 09:38

I voted for BS player. It's hands down the best out of all of them. Except recently it seems to skip around and miss some subtitles.

BT-Slut · Post by **BT-Slut** » May 11th, '04, 21:26

hakurey wrote: It's so easy to manipulate the subs, resizing, sync and moving you just need CTRL arrows.
.

Hmm.. Does BSplayer play .smi sub files? It doesn't seem to be able to play them for me. I have to use VobSub to play .smi files.

Post by **xiaryx** » May 11th, '04, 22:03

bsplayer is pretty good, but I still use the old msplayer to play non sub files.
How about Divx player? It is not too bad is it?

alina · Post by **alina** » May 11th, '04, 23:23

Having tried several players, bsplayer is the best so far. wmp takes too much resources and don't like the border, it takes too many space and changing skins there's a button so no good. Videolan can play any files also incomplete mpg, but when skipping back or forward is too slow en don't like interface. And real/quicktime alternative's are no good. It doesn't play all rm/quicktime files. So better use the pro versions of realmedia and quicktime. Bsplayer has a simple/functional design and especially combined with the maclight skin it's the best.

Redrum · Post by **Redrum** » May 11th, '04, 23:59

I use Zoom Player most of the time. Also use Media Player Classic for corrupted avi files and for radio streams.

Divx player sucks the last the time I tried it. Only plays divx files.

ArchAngel · Post by **ArchAngel** » Aug 14th, '04, 02:52

I personally use The Core Media Player
but I'm giving this VLC Media Player a try.
Anyway I downloaded off download.com and it's endning(extension) is .dmg
and I don't know how to open it.
What do I do?

NiXZe · Post by **NiXZe** » Aug 14th, '04, 16:00

ArchAngel wrote:I personally use The Core Media Player
but I'm giving this VLC Media Player a try.
Anyway I downloaded off download.com and it's endning(extension) is .dmg
and I don't know how to open it.
What do I do?

looks like you have completly the wrong file... check out their homepage http://www.videolan.org/

ArchAngel · Post by **ArchAngel** » Aug 14th, '04, 19:28

Thanks buddy
the one i download was vlc-0.7.2.dmg
this one is vlc-0.7.2-win32.exe
Exe, that I know

ajewell · Post by **ajewell** » Aug 16th, '04, 01:48

I love BSPlayer-- it has a lot of extra featrues that most of the others don't. I love using the capture picture option, and the subtitle capabilities are very useful!

rooter · Post by **rooter** » Aug 16th, '04, 02:15

windows media player 9 series...its kinda heavy..but i've been seeing a great improvement over the years

it even gets pass those parts of the movies and dramas where it locks up..

i hate bsplayer..i think its bullsh*t (get it? bs..bullsh*t

)...nah its alright..its really choppy for me for some reason..i only use it when i am desperate..like when i play those ogm files..and other wacky files that i can't remember...

sammyd_100 · Post by **sammyd_100** » Aug 16th, '04, 03:55

Although BSpalyer is more reliable then Window Media 9.
I Like WM9 best bcus of the extra functions and looks
more professional. BS looks kinda cheap.....

rs200 · Post by **rs200** » Aug 16th, '04, 04:28

Using BSplayer as my primary player - and WM9 as secondary(rarely used)

clouds421 · Post by **clouds421** » Aug 16th, '04, 04:33

I like WMC 'cause it plays everything I need & size so small. None of that fancy, bulky stuff I don't need anyway.

Post by **bludawn** » Aug 16th, '04, 04:41

bs player > wm classic > vlc for anything else (it seems to play any file that other players won't..)

kood · Post by **kood** » Aug 16th, '04, 08:28

Any player can play any file with the right codecs.

I'm on Windows XP with SP2 using WM9 with FFDshow v2004.08.08, XviD v1.01, and DivX v5.2 installed in that order and FFDshow not decoding XviD.
All the latest version is recommended.

Plays every .avi and .mpeg-1smoothly with no problems.
If .mpeg-2, which is SVCD, I'll use InterVideo's WinDVD v6.
If .mkv, I'll use Windows Media Classic with the Matroska Pack installed.

Post by **jholic** » Aug 16th, '04, 23:12

i agree w/ aznkoodies. i use wm9 and i have no problems playing every file that i have downloaded. i really think it has more to do w/ the codecs than with the player. i also think a graphics card and your system's memory are bigger factors to playing files than the player is.

Kito · Post by **Kito** » Aug 16th, '04, 23:48

As jholic say

...a graphics card and your system's memory are bigger factors to playing files than the player is.....

for someone who still use win98 inside a 400mhz

(me)
window media player doesnt go futher than the wm7 version

until I get a new pc or something
BsPlayer still my main media player and my savior fo all the drama that have been brought up through d-Addicts

so long live to BsPlayer........(until a new pc is bought my point of view may change

)

ArchAngel · Post by **ArchAngel** » Aug 19th, '04, 22:58

How do i load softsubs on the VLC player?

koolau · Post by **koolau** » Aug 25th, '04, 07:20

.dmg is the extension of disk image for Mac OS X. It is a super compressed file that can contain folders or images of cds or dvds that can be burned or virtually mounted.

Mac players that I like are MplayerOSX, I'm not sure if it is similar to the linux version. It plays well, nice subtitle fonts for the softsubs, has a nice fast forward/backward and it is easy to load the subtitle onto the video file, no need to rename anything.

VLC is good, and it will play most anything too.

There are times when people will encode with WMV formats that are proprietary or not ported to the Mac. Then I cannot watch it on my nice powerbook and have to switch over.

Post by **Kai Lien** » Aug 26th, '04, 06:12

My fave is probably BS player. VLC comes very close though. The only con about vlc is that the subtitles are unstable. That is my only problem with it. Other than that I love how it plays everything. My third choice is wmc.

ArchAngel wrote:How do i load softsubs on the VLC player?

go to video>>subtitle>>then press track 1. If that doesn't work then I dunno. It really makes me mad when I can't get subs to work on vlc.

Edit: hrmm...maybe there is a newer version out there...

ryuushin · Post by **ryuushin** » Sep 16th, '04, 02:18

Bsplayer is by far the best... as long as u dl the codec.. VLC is good but it can't play partially dl'ded files.. but it has 98% of the codecs..

Mplayer is really good, though some errors occur.

coloured · Post by **coloured** » Sep 16th, '04, 08:07

winamp/vlc

Celestial_Maiden · Post by **Celestial_Maiden** » Sep 16th, '04, 09:49

I use BSPlayer most of the time. I find it very reliable and simple to use. Plus I can take screenshots very easily

Hudsonn · Post by **Hudsonn** » Sep 16th, '04, 09:56

I think VLC is great player but i still prefer MPC because i'm really used to it and it's similar to old win95 MP which was really simple but quite effective. It's just like old habits die hard!
I don't really need that much options that VLC provide and as long as MPC works like it has i stick to it!

Post by **lilswtangel** » Oct 23rd, '04, 08:28

i usually use Windows Media Player for everything besides my dramas that have separate subs. however, some people have mentioned that Media Classic Player can play separate subs as long as they're in the same directory and named the same. however, for some odd reason i couldn't get Media Classic Player to work so i used VideoLan and it worked.

BSPlayer....is that any good? i guess i should d/l it and give that a try in case it's better than VideoLan.

aziatik · Post by **aziatik** » Feb 24th, '05, 19:14

Video i don't really care as long as it plays but i guess over all would be wmp even though i don't like it. But for mp3's Has always been Winamp. no matter what others i've tried winamp is the best for nething related to music, plus the visuals. very trippy!

Fociis · Post by **Fociis** » Feb 24th, '05, 19:48

MPC is my fav. Its looks like Windows Media Player 6.4, compact and functional but is so much more technologically advanced.

Winamp 2.9 is my preference b/c its compact (see a pattern?) and uses little system resources. It doesn't offer much in terms of aesthetic appeal but how often do you "watch" winamp when you're playing music?

Post by **Kai Lien** » Feb 24th, '05, 19:52

I think I've given my input here in 2 posts already but wmp is still bulky to me. Really want people to try out bs.

1. BS player
although sometimes it gives me minor problems, like unable to load a skin I like

2. VLC
only because it plays almost anything. Especially the stuff I burned wrong.

3. MPC
Takes awhile to load, in my opinion, still good but its kind of ugly.

As for mp3's I use audioactive. It's compact and gives great sound.

impression151 · Post by **impression151** » Jul 29th, '05, 05:45

I usually use WMP as much as possible because I like the lighting effect where I can make a video brighter. Next is probably WMC...it's great but I can't increase the brightness.

So this brings me to this question, what player can I use for OGM files and have the ability to increase the brightness like WMP? My monitor is dark even with maxed out brightness/contrast. And raising the brightness on my driver doesnt really make the video any better.

kusmog · Post by **kusmog** » Jul 29th, '05, 07:03

impression151 wrote:I usually use WMP as much as possible because I like the lighting effect where I can make a video brighter. Next is probably WMC...it's great but I can't increase the brightness.

So this brings me to this question, what player can I use for OGM files and have the ability to increase the brightness like WMP? My monitor is dark even with maxed out brightness/contrast. And raising the brightness on my driver doesnt really make the video any better.

try adjusting the video overlay's brightness from your card's driver instead of the regular brightness. On an ATI Radeon card it's under the Overlay tab. I forget where you'd find it on a Geforce card but it's there. That adjusts the brightness for videos, but not your desktop.

impression151 · Post by **impression151** » Jul 29th, '05, 16:15

awww dude, awesomeness. Thanks man. I never knew about the overlay thing.Hell, I never even knew what overlay was hah. Now I can see on MPC.

x_XJules · Post by **x_XJules** » Jul 30th, '05, 03:09

I use BS Player about 95% of the time. Whatever doesn't work on BS i can play with Radlight.

I'm sure there might be something better out there... but for now BS Player is my savior!

capucine · Post by **capucine** » Jul 30th, '05, 03:20

Always use VLC. Easy and no codec required!

Sometimes use Window Media Player, too.

kusmog · Post by **kusmog** » Jul 30th, '05, 04:01

capucine wrote:Always use VLC. Easy and no codec required!
Sometimes use Window Media Player, too.

My main problem with VLC is the "seek"-ing on some videos. By that I mean, when you drag to the point of a video you want to see (useful for going straight to a particular scene, or skipping OP/ED, etc). On some videos, it takes awhile before the video syncs and looks "normal" -__-; it's rather annoying. Also the fact that in doesn't have a playlist kinda turns it off for me. I use it as my backup when I can't get my default player to play it because it really does play virtually anything you throw at it... with no codecs pre-installed.

slashdevdsp · Post by **slashdevdsp** » Jul 30th, '05, 04:20

one player to rule them all: mplayer

Amazing performance (speed), plays virtually all the formats, I just dont see any other player competing with mplayer.

I think there is linux, macos and windows versions you can download http://mplayerhq.hu

The only other one i can think of is for music playing: amarok: http://amarok.kde.org for widows users a similar one called musikcube can be found at http://www.musikcube.com/

Cheers

gunjourui · Post by **gunjourui** » Jul 31st, '05, 11:39

BSPlayer is my choice

praning · Post by **praning** » Jul 31st, '05, 11:47

i use GOM Player and i think it's the best video player out there
plays all codecs and it's korean

..

got mine @ ipop.co.kr

mikomi · Post by **mikomi** » Aug 1st, '05, 23:11

I use Media Player Classic mostly now, even though BSPlayer is a really great player as well. I just alternate between the two, but recently, I have a lot of troubles opening files with BSPlayer. That leaves me with MPC, and I believe that is one of the best media players around.

kimmie_ai_ni4 · Post by **kimmie_ai_ni4** » Aug 1st, '05, 23:17

bsplayer.............cuz it works good lol

Bahamut619 · Post by **Bahamut619** » Aug 2nd, '05, 21:19

I've been using Windows Media Player Classic forever... Simple = best

Lowest · Post by **Lowest** » Aug 2nd, '05, 23:49

I use MPC because it's just simple and good theres no bloat like with a lot of others.. I also have VLC because that media player will just play anything you throw at it (it works better then avipreview programs for incomplete files

)

What I also like about MPC is that I can maximise the window and keep the video size the same (I get distracted by wall papers and such easily

)

kurokebi · Post by **kurokebi** » Aug 3rd, '05, 00:06

I use Media Player Classic because it pulls plugins from every other player you have installed, and does a better job. Also, the forced codecs feature is a lifesaver for people with bad monitors like me that need ffdshow to maintain color balance.

Also, if you've never used the keypad in MPC for proportion/ratio changing, you should really try it. It helps a lot when you're attempting to make anamorphic stuff.

yt_toshi · Post by **yt_toshi** » Aug 3rd, '05, 00:16

I use a lot of media players like Quicktime, Realplayer, Irfanview, WMP (version 10) and WMP (classic version and not the MPC).

BSPlayer is a good one to use also, but I haven't used ZoomPlayer before and I might take a look at it.

I used to use VLC a long time ago until it crashed on me a lot. I haven't checked up on it in a while, but I'll see if it has improved since that time I lasted used it. The same goes for mplayer although I heard it was pretty good on most formats thrown at it (just like VLC).

Now, as to which one of these media players are the best, I can say that it's a tough call since they all work the same to me (if you exclude the formats in which every since one of them can play).

snowflake · Post by **snowflake** » Aug 3rd, '05, 00:58

i haven't really played around with different players, i just use the one that was installed on my comp to begin with. so, of course i use media player.

kurokebi · Post by **kurokebi** » Aug 3rd, '05, 01:08

Vivid wrote:But still i hope that someone could come up with an idea of a software player which could play rm,asf,wmv too then that would be the best player as all extension are playable right

Media Player Classic

RM can be played back using the DirectShow Realplayer plugins;
ASF/WMV decoding is supported by ffdshow, and you can use that in conjuction with the regular DirectShow WMDecoder.

You'd have to install Realplayer (or Quicktime) in order to use it with MPC, but at least you don't have to waste your time with their bad GUI and CPU hogging, or their ads.

sweetie_babe · Post by **sweetie_babe** » Aug 3rd, '05, 04:48

I use a lot of media player like DIVX, Pro BSplayer, WMP10, Media player classic, VLC, and GOM! I prefered GOM the most which is not listed in the list!

ooijanice · Post by **ooijanice** » Aug 3rd, '05, 04:53

I still prefer BS Player cos I'm use to it.

jAnA · Post by **jAnA** » Sep 5th, '05, 13:00

praning wrote:i use GOM Player and i think it's the best video player out there
plays all codecs and it's korean ..

got mine @ ipop.co.kr

sweetie_babe wrote:I use a lot of media player like DIVX, Pro BSplayer, WMP10, Media player classic, VLC, and GOM! I prefered GOM the most which is not listed in the list!

Everyone should try this player... Before, I used BSplayer to watch 'Full House', the video was always not in sync with the audio... but it plays perfectly with GOM Player!!

Links
*Info
*GOM Player Website

slashdevdsp · Post by **slashdevdsp** » Sep 5th, '05, 13:08

mplayer Ownz all of them :p

http://mplayerhq.hu

its available for nix, mac, win. its the best if you dont mind using the command line interface. (subtitles/video/audio synch no problems and plays almost everything i throw at it, even jpeg )

kameemak · Post by **kameemak** » Sep 6th, '05, 09:49

I use ViPlay since 2002.

It's such a wonderful free player.

It supports 59 different subtitle formats and has an inbuilt
subtitle delay.
So if subtitles are some seconds/frames off you can adjust them easily yourself.
Also your subtitles don't have to be named like the video file or be in the
same folder. You can load them separately, even audio streams.
It has more than 30 languages inbuilt.
You can even configure searching(skipping).
You can take screen shots simply by pressing p.
If you like winamp's GUI you'll feel very comfortable using ViPlay.

I've tried other players like zoomplayer but wasn't satisfied.

The only other players I use are MPC for streams (web-TV, Real-Media) and
foobar for audio files.

Post by **jholic** » Sep 6th, '05, 10:30

i'm currently using media player classic with the k-lite codec pack myself.

(moving to 'tech talk')

SakuraG89 · Post by **SakuraG89** » Sep 6th, '05, 15:13

My vote's for Zoom player. It plays everything (including real media files) and the codec manager and other utilities are worth keeping it even if you still loved an old player! I like also the frame copy command, so handy for making those pesky avatar snaps! BTW, even windows media player will play rmvb files. It gives you a stupid message about not recognizing the file type and asks if you want it to try playing it anyway. Say yes, and away you go.

Asian DramaWiki Forum

Best media player around

Vote for the best media player...

Best media player around

Real Alternative

Realplayer

one player to rule them all

Who is online