Free Media Player VLC 2.0.2 Plays Almost Any Video File - schroederfrossuche

At a Peek

Expert's Paygrad

Pros

Plays virtually everything
Tons of controls and effects

Cons

Occasionally hangs on underhand files

Our Finding of fact

The ability to play virtually any file typecast without external codecs and cornucopia of controls makes VLC a moldiness-have download.

If you don't have VLC, aka the VideoLAN Player, installed on your system, the chances are you don't watch a whole lot of TV. VLC has millions of users and supports virtually all type of video found happening the Web, as well equally audio. IT's also mellowed, unchanging, cross-platform, and provides much of features not found in Windows Media Instrumentalist or the Quicktime player.

VLC screenshot — VLC 2.0.2 backside play almost any video you can find.

VLC is my default player, simply because I never get a message locution that a codec isn't gimbaled. That includes playing commercial Videodisk movies. So, the only typecast of movie that VLC doesn't support is commercial Blu-ray discs because of the copy protection tangled. It does, withal, fully support the .mkv files commonly rendered from these.

There are boatloads of controls, tweaks, and personal effects to be found in VLC. Luminance, contrast, saturation, playback speed, audio frequency interim compensation, a spatializer, EQ, slur, motion smudge, color removal, lighting… I could go on. The latest version, 2.02, also has the ability to boost volume up to 200% of normal. Make predestined you adjust the book in the preferences dialog to start at normal or your preferred percentage. The volume boost causes optical aberration and will wake the neighbors.

About the only thing I escape in VLC is some sort of psychoacoustic bass voice sweetening à la Windows Media Player's SRS TruBass or iTunes' Sound Foil. For that reason (and the miss of cataloging features) I use those to play audio files. You should visit the site just to scan the list of hanging down files types, though–it's truly amazing. VLC supports virtually every audio lodge type, including the less common APE, Flac, Ogg, etc. natively. And, if you hadn't guessed by the mention, you can also playing period streamed telecasting or music crosswise networks, including the Internet.

If I have some ailment in the least about VLC, information technology's that it wish occasionally hang when playing binding a spoil or incomplete file, forcing the economic consumption of task manager to close its summons. Separate players do more checking up front. However, the fact that VLC will play many incomplete files allows you to preview stuff you'rhenium downloading. This is dependent upon file type, but to me it's worth the occasional hang. The hangs have ne'er taken down the system of rules, so it's just an occasional inconvenience.

Even if you choose other video player, you should have VLC installed on your system. PCWorld hosts the Windows version, but are versions available at the vendor's site for every in operation system–even the obscure BeOS, for goodness sakes. VLC may not turn your favourite, but information technology's handy for those multiplication when on that point's a video operating theater audio file you want to play that's not supported by the aforementioned whacking guys.

–Jon L. Jacobi