A Critical Examination of VLC’s Rivals

VLC media player review and alternatives

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

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VLC Media Player Review

If you are finding some trouble for playing your favourite videos on media player due to some compatibility issues then it is good to try VLC for once. This open source and free to use software tool is capable enough to play almost all popular video file formats and rest all can be easily converted to supported ones using same interface. When WinAmp and Windows Media Players fail, then you can expect right solution for VLC platform. It works perfectly on Linux, Macintosh and Windows platform and will help users enjoy wide range of features without investing a single penny from their hard earned money.

Pros

• It can play almost any media file format that you want to add to its platform. If it cannot play directly, then it can offer easy conversion without quality loss.
• It has ability to encode outbound streams.
• VLC Media Player cab play TV and Internet radio as per your choice.
• Open source tool and available for free with all incredible features.

Cons

• It lacks in Blue-Ray playback compatibilities.

Features

VLC media player not only plays video clips rather it can process audio files along with extended support to Podcasts and Internet Radio. On its viewing screen, you will find the name of artist along with song title and it works in much finer way as compared to Windows Media Player. VLC is currently serving a large community throughout the world and it has all powerful features that beginners and professionals often demand from players.

Some of the best features of VLC are its ability to create bookmarks for playlists. Further, it can also store various internet radio stations, local media files and podcast subscription details. You will love to access its awesome organizational facilities that make it stand out against all big time players in market such as Windows Media Player and iTunes. Users can also play DVDs using VLC platform and it also allows easy ripping to these external storage devices. You can access fast forward function, video scrubber and many more professional settings here. As you can simulate performance of player with few easy settings so that it can provide effective results at concert hall recording and amphiteater needs. Enjoy taking screenshots while playing video on VLC and it will be saved to your documents folder with MPG extension.

Bottom Line

It is a versatile and free of cost media player that extends its interactive support to many other files formats. Users can also record as well as stream their audio and video content on this platform.

VLC Media Player Alternatives

1. GOM Player:

GOM Player is a full-fledged VLC competitor with huge set of advanced features and extended support to all popular media file formats. As it supports all clips with impressive audio-video synchronization, so it is naturally the biggest hope of all movie freaks. GOM player allows very smooth processing for all video files like MOV, FLV, MKV and AVI etc. whereas if you need to convert any file format then there is no need to download codec from internet rather GOM Player will do it automatically. Considering all the advanced abilities of GOM Player, we can say that it is a handy solution for professionals as well as beginners. One can enjoy better control over video files with customized video effects and speed controls. There are easy customization options with addition of logos and skins.

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows Only (Can work on Window XP SP2, Window 7, 8.1, 8 and higher).

2. Pot Player:

You will definitely love to watch your favourite video files on Pot Player because it supports 3D glasses so that users can enjoy impressive viewing experience with 3D touch. It further extends support to all subtitle formats like SRT and SMI etc whereas Blue Ray subtitles are also included. There is no need to spend time for installation of additional codecs because Pot Player provides wide support to all open source codecs so that users can enjoy easy and efficient conversion. Here you can expect seamless and smooth video playing hours and it also allows users to add bookmarks on favourite scenes or chapters.

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows only (XP, Vista, 7/8 and 8.1)

3. Media Player Classic (MPC-HC):

Media Player Classic works like a magic when you are already fed up with VLC. It is perfect combination of minimalistic design and wide support where simple to use UI makes user experience much impressive. Here you will easily find all the new generation features of media players such as native support towards Matroska, DVD, VCD playback, built-in codec and it also allows users to play DTS audio, AC3, 3GP and MP2. People love to use this player because of its light weight design that appears too efficient with all new features. It will never demand too many resources from your CPU and hence saves more energy of your system to manage other things. There is wide range of plugins and extensions that you can add for MPC-HC to make it more useful.

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows Only.

4. KMPlayer:

KM Player can work like a useful alternative to VLC if you are searching for enhanced solution. One of the biggest reason behind its popularity is its ability to play all essential media file formats like FLV, 3GP, OGG and MKV etc. Further, if you start using KMPlayer at once, you will soon get addicted to its interactive user interface because it has so many interesting things to offer. Well, KMPlayer is not just about videos rather it can be used for playing audio files. With advanced library management system, KM Player becomes handier where you can manage huge playlists inside libraries. You will be glad to know that KMPlayer also supports 3D Movies and it will never even create overload on your CPU.

Price: Free

Compatibility: Windows only but you can access dedicated applications for iOS and Android.

5. SMPlayer:

SM Player is a powerful solution for Linux and Window users with interactive built in codecs so that users can play almost every media file format over here. There is no need to install external codec packs. One of the most advanced and interesting feature of SMPlayer is its ability to remember all user defined settings to enhance usability for future. You can leave your movie in between and get back to the same time point after hours because SM Player can save this location for ease of access. You will definitely love its award winning GUI that allows users to play YouTube videos with subtitles.

Price: Free.

Compatibility: Windows and Linux

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

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