Comparison of video player software

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This article is about video player software. For a comparison of audio player software, see Comparison of audio player software.
For a comparison of hardware device type portable media players, see Comparison of portable media players.

The following comparison of video players compares general and technical information for a number of software media player programs.

For the purpose of this comparison, "video players" are defined as any media player which can play video, even if it can also play audio files.

Contents

[edit] General

Name Author First public release date Stable version Cost Software license Based Framework Written in
ALLPlayer Allplayer ltd 1998 3.7.6.5 (24 December 2008) Free with no codecs, the codecs must be purchased separately. Proprietary ? ?
Chroma mirailabs 2003 2007.3

 (January 1, 2007)

 Trialware, USD$22.00 Proprietary / license violating[generalnotes 1]FFmpeg's Hall of Shame</ref> FFmpeg[generalnotes 2] ?
Creative MediaSource Creative Technology 2002 5.10.38

 (2006-12-22; 2 years ago)

 Requires Creative product Proprietary ? ?
CorePlayer CoreCodec, Inc. 2006 Template:Latest stable software release/CorePlayer USD$19.95 Proprietary ? ?
CrystalPlayer Crystal Reality LLC October 2002 1.98

 (2007-5-31; 2 years ago)

 USD$29,95 Proprietary original ?
FFplay FFmpeg project 2003-06-07[generalnotes 3] 0.5

 (March 10, 2009)

 Free LGPL (partially GPL) FFmpeg C99
GOM Player Gretech Corporation 7 January 2003 2.1.11.4846

 (2009-11-06; 31 days ago)

 Free Proprietary / license violating[generalnotes 1] FFmpeg ?
iTunes Apple Inc. 9 January 2001 9.0.1 (50)

 (2009-09-23; 2 months ago)

 Free Proprietary QuickTime ?
Kaffeine KDE 2003 0.8.8

 (2009-5-23; 6 months ago)

 Free GPL xine C++
KMPlayer Koos Vriezen, Joonas Koivunen January 2003 0.11.0 RC4 (6 June 2008) Free GPL MPlayer C++
K-Multimedia Player Kang, YoungHuee 1 October 2002 2.9.4.1435

 (2009-09-15; 2 months ago)

 Free Proprietary / license violating[generalnotes 1] ? ?
Media Center J. River July 2003 14.0.46

 (2009-08-07; 3 months ago)

 USD$40.00 Proprietary ? C++, SSE/MMX Assembly
Media Go Sony Creative Software Inc. 2009 1.2 Free Proprietary ? ?
Media Player Classic Gabest 29 May 2003 6.4.9.1

 (2008-12-10; 11 months ago)

 Free GPL DirectShow C++
Media Player Classic Home Cinema Casimir666 29 March 2006 1.3.1249

 (2009-8-28; 3 months ago)

 Free GPL DirectShow C++
MPlayer Árpád Gereöffy September 2000 1.0rc3

 (2009-11-01; 36 days ago)

 Free GPL FFmpeg + original C99
Mplayerxp Nick Kurshev 2002 0.7.1/06.01.2009 Free GPL FFmpeg + original C99
Ogle Chalmers University of Technology 1999 0.9.2

 (2003-11-06; 6 years ago)

 Free GPL ? C
PowerDVD Standard CyberLink 1996 9.0.2320.0

 (2009-12-02; 5 days ago)

 USD$49.95 Proprietary ? ?
PowerDVD Deluxe CyberLink 1996 9.0.2320.0

 (2009-12-02; 5 days ago)

 USD$69.95 Proprietary ? ?
PowerDVD Ultra CyberLink 1996 9.0.2320.0

 (2009-12-02; 5 days ago)

 USD$99.95 Proprietary ? ?
QuickTime Basic Apple Inc. 2 December 1991 7.6.5

 (2009-11-19; 18 days ago[1][2])
10.0 (90.3.1)  (2009-11-9; 28 days ago[3]) (Mac OS X v10.6)

 Free Proprietary original Template:Cocoa (on Mac OS X)
QuickTime Pro Apple Inc. 2 December 1991 7.6.5

 (2009-11-19; 18 days ago[1][2])
10.0 (90.3.1)  (2009-11-9; 28 days ago[3]) (Mac OS X v10.6)

 USD$29.95 Proprietary original Template:Cocoa (on Mac OS X
Quintessential Player Paul Quinn 1997 5.0.121

 (2009-2-18; 9 months ago)

 Free Proprietary ? ?
RealPlayer Basic RealNetworks 1995 SP 1.0.5 (12.0.0.343) (Windows),
11.1.0 (build 1116) (Mac OS X),
11.0.1.1056 (Linux/Unix),
1.6.1 (Palm)

 (2009-11-11; 26 days ago (Windows)
2009-10-7; 61 days ago (Mac OS X))

 Free Proprietary ? ?
RealPlayer Plus RealNetworks 1995 SP 1.0.5 (12.0.0.343) (Windows),
11.1.0 (build 1116) (Mac OS X),
11.0.1.1056 (Linux/Unix),
1.6.1 (Palm)

 (2009-11-11; 26 days ago (Windows)
2009-10-7; 61 days ago (Mac OS X))

 USD$19.99 Proprietary ? ?
SMPlayer RVM 11 December 2006[generalnotes 4] 0.6.8 (26 July 2009) Free GPL MPlayer C++
The Core Media Player Basic CoreCodec, Inc. June 2006 named "TCMP" 4.11

 (January 20, 2006)

 Free Proprietary ? ?
The Core Media Player Plus CoreCodec, Inc. June 2006 named "TCMP" 4.11

 (January 20, 2006)

 USD$9.95 Proprietary ? ?
The Core Pocket Media Player Gabor Kovacs July 2004 named "BetaPlayer" 4.11 (7 April 2007) Free GPL FFmpeg + original C++
Totem Movie Player Totem Team July 2002 2.28.4

 (2009-11-14; 23 days ago)

 Free GPL GStreamer C
VLC media player VideoLAN February 2000 1.0.3

 (2009-10-31; 37 days ago)

 Free GPL FFmpeg + original C,C++
Winamp Lite/Full/Bundle Nullsoft June 1997 5.5.6.2512

 (2009-07-01; 5 months ago)

 Free Proprietary ? ?
Winamp Pro Nullsoft June 1997 5.5.6.2512

 (2009-07-01; 5 months ago)

 USD$19.95 Proprietary ? ?
Windows Media Player Microsoft November 1992 12.0.7600.16385

 (6 August 2009)

 Included in Microsoft Windows. Proprietary DirectShow C++ (COM)
WinDVD Gold Corel 1998 2010 (10.0.4.258)

 (2009-09-16; 2 months ago)

 USD$39.95 Proprietary ? ?
WinDVD Platinum Corel 1998 2010 (10.0.4.258)

 (2009-09-16; 2 months ago)

 USD$59.95 Proprietary ? ?
XBMC Team-XBMC October 2003 9.04 (Babylon)

 (6 May 2009)

 Free GPL FFmpeg C++
xine xine Team 15 August 2000 0.99.5

 (2007-05-03; 2 years ago])

 Free GPL FFmpeg + original C
Zoom Player Pro Inmatrix 31 December 2000 Template:Latest stable software release/ZoomPlayer USD$27.95 Proprietary ? ?
Zoom Player WMV Pro Inmatrix 31 December 2000 Template:Latest stable software release/ZoomPlayer USD$35.95 Proprietary ? ?
Name Author First public release date Stable version Cost Software license Based Framework Written in
  1. ^ a b c FFmpeg's Hall of Shame
  2. ^ Chroma's credit page
  3. ^ Log of /trunk/ffplay.c
  4. ^ The SMPlayer Project / SMPlayer first anniversary

[edit] Operating system requirement

This section lists the operating systems on which the player works. There may be multiple versions a player, each one for a particular operating system.

Video player Windows Windows CE/Mobile Mac OS X iPhone Linux BSD Unix Solaris Other Unix DOS (FreeDOS, Dr-DOS) BeOS (Haiku, ZETA) OS/2 PSP
ALLPlayer Yes ? No ? No No No No No ? ? ?
Chroma No ? Yes ? No No No No No ? ? ?
CorePlayer Yes ? Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? ? ?
CrystalPlayer Yes ? No ? No No No No No ? ? ?
FFplay Yes network doesn't work Yes (ffmpeg4iphone[osnotes 1]) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (PSP Media Player[osnotes 1])
GOM Player Yes ? No ? No No No No No ? ? ?
iTunes Partial No Included Included No No No No No No No No
Kaffeine No ? No ? Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? ? ?
KMPlayer Yes ?  ? ? Yes  ?  ?  ?  ? ? ? ?
Media Center Yes ? No ? No No No No No ? ? ?
Media Go Yes No No No No No No No No No No ?
Media Player Classic Yes ? No ? No No No No No ? ? ?
MPlayer Yes No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Mplayerxp Yes ? No ? Yes Yes  ?  ? No ? ? ?
Ogle No ? No ? Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? ? ?
QuickTime Yes ? Included ? No No No No No ? ? ?
Quintessential Player Yes ? No ? No No No No No ? ? ?
RealPlayer Yes ? Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? ? ?
The KMPlayer 2000/XP/Vista only[osnotes 2] ? No ? No No No No No ? ? ?
Totem Movie Player No ? No ? Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? ? ?
VLC Yes No[osnotes 3] Yes Yes[VLC4iphone 1] Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes ? ?
Winamp Yes ? Mac 9 ? Last version is a beta of 2.x No No No No ? ? ?
Windows Media Player Yes Yes Dropped No Dropped No Dropped No No No No No
XBMC Yes ? Yes ? Yes No No No No ? ? ?
xine unmaintained ? WIP for 1.2 series ? Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? ? ?
Zoom Player Yes ? No ? No No No No No ? ? ?
Video player Windows Windows CE/Mobile Mac OS X iPhone Linux BSD Unix Solaris Other Unix DOS (FreeDOS, Dr-DOS) BeOS (Haiku, ZETA) OS/2 PSP
  1. ^ VLC media player for iPhone
  1. ^ a b not merged
  2. ^ Not guarantted to work on for Windows 2000.
  3. ^ VLC media player for WinCE / PocketPC

[edit] Features

Video player Outbound streaming Skinnable Media database Gapless audio decoding Visualizer Remote controllable Intelligent playlists from database (based on criteria)
ALLPlayer Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Chroma No No No No No Yes No
CorePlayer Yes Yes No No No No Yes
FFplay ? No No ? Yes No No
GOM Player Yes Yes No No No Yes No
iTunes Yes Partial[4] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Kaffeine Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No
KMPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Media Center Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Media Go No No Yes No No No SensMe
Media Player Classic No No No No No Yes No
MPlayer Yes Yes No No No Yes No
Mplayerxp Yes No Yes No No No No
PowerDVD ? Yes ? ? Yes ? ?
QuickTime Partial[featurenotes 1] Partial[featurenotes 2] No Yes No Yes No
Quintessential Player Partial[4] Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ?
RealPlayer No Yes Yes No Yes ? Yes
The KMPlayer Yes Yes Yes No[featurenotes 3] Yes Yes ?
Totem Movie Player No No No No Yes No No
VLC Yes Yes Template:Yes, not Mac. No Yes Yes No
Winamp Partial[4] Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial[4] Yes[featurenotes 4]
Windows Media Player Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
XBMC Yes[featurenotes 5] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
xine No Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
Zoom Player Yes Yes Yes No No Yes ?
Video playback Outbound streaming Skinnable Media database Gapless audio decoding Visualizer Remote controllable Intelligent playlists from database (based on criteria)

[edit] continued

Video player Color Controls Time Stretching Pitch Shifting A-B Repeat Audio Resync Subtitle Resync Chapter (dvd, mkv, mp4, ogm) Bookmark (dvd, video, audio) Auto Resume (dvd, video, audio) Shutdown on play complete
ALLPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Chroma Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes No No No
CorePlayer Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No
FFplay No No No No ? No No No No Yes
GOM Player Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
iTunes No Yes No No No No Yes Yes Yes No
Kaffeine Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
KMPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Media Center Yes Yes[featurenotes 6] Yes[featurenotes 6] No ? ? Yes Yes Yes No
Media Go No No No No No No No No No No
Media Player Classic Yes No No No Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
MPlayer Yes Yes Yes[featurenotes 7] Yes[featurenotes 7] Yes Yes Partial No No Yes
Mplayerxp Yes Yes Yes[featurenotes 7] Yes[featurenotes 7] Yes Yes Partial No No Yes
PowerDVD Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes ?
QuickTime Yes Yes Yes Yes[featurenotes 8] ? ? Yes ? ? No
Quintessential Player ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
RealPlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
SMPlayer Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Partial ? Yes Yes
The KMPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Some[featurenotes 9] Yes Yes
Totem Movie Player Yes No No No No No Yes No Yes No
VLC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Winamp No Yes Yes ? ? ? ? Yes ? ?
Windows Media Player Yes Yes No No No No DVD Only No Template:Buggy No
WinDVD Yes Yes No Yes ? ? Yes No Yes ?
XBMC Yes No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
xine Yes Audio plugin No No Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
Zoom Player Yes No No Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Video player Color Controls Time Stretching Pitch Shifting A-B Repeat Audio Resync Subtitle Resync Chapter (dvd, mkv, mp4, ogm) Bookmark (dvd, video, audio) Auto Resume (dvd, video, audio) Shutdown on play complete
  1. ^ Available with QuickTime Streaming Server.
  2. ^ Only the media creator can create skins.
  3. ^ gapless mp3 playback - The KMPlayer's Forums
  4. ^ through media library in "modern" skin
  5. ^ XBMC (XBoxMediaCenter) has a built-in UPnP AV MediaServer, FTP-server (based on FileZilla), and a web server (however the web-server is mainly designed for remote control and not for streaming, but it can be used for streaming with some small modifications any user can make)
  6. ^ a b For Audio files only.
  7. ^ a b c d Pitch-shifting and AB-Repeat are not included in Mplayer's interactive keyboard controls, but can be set up via command line parameters. Mplayer manual
  8. ^ www.apple.com/quicktime/pro/ - A-B repeat using Play Selection Only command
  9. ^ Bookmarks are limited to 20 files and are stored with absolute paths, which renders them inaccessible when files are moved

[edit] Video format capability

Information about what video formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about capabilities of future versions of the players or plugins/filters that provide such functionality.

Video player MPEG-1 MPEG-2 MPEG-4 ASP (MPEG-4 Part 2) MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) (MPEG-4 Part 10) WMV RealVideo Theora Flash Dirac Snow
ALLPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Chroma Yes Yes Yes Partial Partial No Partial No ? ?
CorePlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes ? ?
FFplay Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial[videonotes 1] Yes
GOM Player Yes Partial[5] Yes Partial[5] Yes Partial[6] Partial[5] Yes ? ?
iTunes Yes Partial[videonotes 2] Yes Yes Partial[7] No Partial[8] Yes ? ?
KMPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Media Center Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes No Yes ? ?
Media Player Classic Yes Yes Partial[5] Partial[5] Yes Partial[6] Partial[5] Partial[6] ? ?
MPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mplayerxp Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
QuickTime Yes Partial[videonotes 2] Yes Yes Partial[7] No Partial[8] Yes ? ?
Quintessential Player Yes No No No Yes No No No ? ?
RealPlayer Yes Yes Partial[5] Partial[5] Yes Yes Partial[4] Yes ? ?
SMPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ?
The KMPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Totem Movie Player Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] No Yes[9] ?
VLC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (with Dlls, or Partial)[10] Yes Yes Yes Yes
Winamp Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Yes Partial[6] Partial[5] Yes ? ?
Windows Media Player Yes Yes Partial[5] Partial[5] Yes Partial[6] Partial[5] Yes ? ?
XBMC Yes Yes Yes Yes[videonotes 3] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
xine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ?
Zoom Player Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Yes Partial[6] Partial[5] Partial[6] ? ?
Video player MPEG-1 MPEG-2 MPEG-4 ASP (MPEG-4 Part 2) MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) (MPEG-4 Part 10) WMV RealVideo Theora Flash Dirac Snow
  1. ^ with external library
  2. ^ a b The playing compatibility depends on the availability of MPEG2 component for Quicktime.
  3. ^ XBMC running on Linux, Mac and Windows plays MPEG-4 ASP and H.264. Because of the relatively 'slow' Intel Pentium III 733 MHz processor inside the Xbox, the Xbox version of XBMC is limited to decoding 480x576 resolution H.264 video encoded without CABAC and deblocking, or 352x288 resolution MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) video encoded with CABAC and deblocking. As the FFmpeg-based codec is optimized further, XBMC on Xbox might be able to decode MPEG-4 AVC (H.264) at 720x480 resolution on the Xbox hardware, but probably not higher than that.[citation needed]

[edit] Audio format capability

Information about what audio formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about capabilities of future versions of the players or plugins/filters that provide such functionality.

Video player Lossy compression Lossless compression
MP3 WMA RealAudio Vorbis Musepack AAC AC3 APE FLAC ALAC SHN WV
ALLPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
CorePlayer Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes
FFplay Yes Partial[audionotes 1] Partial[audionotes 1] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
GOM Player Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No No No No
iTunes Yes yes, no DRM No Partial[8] No Yes No No Partial[8] Yes No No
KMPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Media Center Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Media Player Classic Yes Yes Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Yes Yes Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5]
MPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mplayerxp Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
QuickTime Yes Partial[7] No Partial[8] No Yes Partial[4] No Partial[8] Yes No No
Quintessential Player Yes Yes No Yes No Yes No Partial[4] Partial[4] No No Partial[4]
RealPlayer Yes Yes Yes Partial[4] No Yes No No No No No No
SMPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
The KMPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial[5] Yes
Totem Movie Player Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9]
VLC Yes Yes Yes (with Dlls, or Partial)[10] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Winamp Yes Yes Partial[5] Yes Partial[11] Yes Partial[11] Partial[11] Yes Partial[11] Partial[11] Partial[11]
Windows Media Player Yes Yes Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5]
XBMC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
xine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Zoom Player Yes Yes Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5]
Video player MP3 WMA RealAudio Vorbis Musepack AAC AC3 APE FLAC ALAC SHN WV
  1. ^ a b can't understand some codecs

[edit] Container format capability

Information about what container formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about capabilities of future versions of the players or filters that provide such functionality.

Video player AVI ASF QuickTime (MOV) Ogg OGM Matroska MP4 MPEG-21 NUT FLV
ALLPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Chroma Yes Partial Yes No Partial Partial Partial ? ? ?
CorePlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes
FFplay Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes
GOM Player Yes Yes Yes Vorbis only Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes
iTunes No[containernotes 1] Win: yes
Mac: file is parsable		 Yes Partial[8] No No Yes ? ? ?
KMPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes
Media Center Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes
Media Player Classic Yes Yes Yes Vorbis only Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes
MPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes
Mplayerxp Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes
QuickTime Yes Partial[7] Yes Partial[8] No Yes[12] Yes ? ? ?
Quintessential Player Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ?
RealPlayer Yes Yes Yes Partial[4] Partial[4] No Yes ? ? ?
The KMPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes Yes
Totem Movie Player Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] Yes[9] ? ? ?
VLC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Winamp Yes Yes Partial[6] Vorbis only Partial[5] Partial[5] Yes ? ? ?
Windows Media Player Yes Yes Partial[6] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] ? ? Yes
XBMC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
xine Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? Yes
Zoom Player Yes Yes Partial[6] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] Partial[5] ? ? ?
Video player AVI ASF QuickTime Ogg OGM Matroska MP4 MPEG-21 NUT FLV
  1. ^ A hack allows playback.

[edit] Scalable, composite and emulation format capabilities

Video player Flash RealPix QuickTime Video Effects in mov HTML+TIME(+VML) Silverlight smil/smi SVG MIDI(smf) MIDI(kar) MIDI(xmf) MIDI(rmi) MIDI(xmi) NSF SPC PSF
ALLPlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Chroma ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
CorePlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
FFplay Partial No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
GOM Player ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
iTunes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
KMPlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Media Center ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Media Player Classic ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
MPlayer Partial ? ? ? ? Partial ? Yes(via xmms-plugins) ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mplayerxp Partial ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
QuickTime ? ? Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Quintessential Player ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
RealPlayer ? Yes ? ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
The KMPlayer Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Totem Movie Player Partial ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
VLC Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes [compositenotes 1] ? ? ? ? Yes Yes ?
Winamp ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes (plugin) Yes (plugin) Yes (plugin)
Windows Media Player ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
XBMC ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
xine ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Zoom Player ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Video player Flash RealPix QuickTime Video Effects in mov HTML+TIME(+VML) Silverlight smil/smi SVG MIDI(smf) MIDI(kar) MIDI(xmf) MIDI(rmi) MIDI(xmi) NSF SPC PSF
  1. ^ Tested only on Mac OS X

[edit] Protocol capabilities

Information about which internet protocols the players understand, for receiving streaming media content. Footnotes lead to information about capabilities of future versions of the players or plugins that provide such functionality.

[edit] General

Video player HTTP HTTPS FTP RTSP (RTSPU, RTSPT) MMS (MMSU, MMST) RTMP Netstream (mpst://) Podcasting PeerCast RDT TCP UDP SCTP Gopher SFTP NFS SMB/CIFS PNA (pnm://, pna://) RTP


ALLPlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Amarok Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
aTunes Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
CorePlayer Yes ? ? Yes No ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
FFplay Yes No No Yes No Yes No No No No Yes Yes No Yes No No No No Yes
GOM Player Yes ? ? No Yes ? ? No ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
iTunes Yes ? ? Yes No ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
KMPlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Media Center Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Media Player Classic Yes ? ? No Yes ? ? No ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
MPlayer Yes ? Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes No ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes(optional) ? Yes
Mplayerxp Yes No Yes No Yes No No No No No No Yes No No No ? No Yes Yes
Quod Libet Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
QuickTime Yes ? ? Yes No ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Quintessential Player Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
RealPlayer Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes ?
The KMPlayer Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? No ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Totem Movie Player Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? No ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
VLC media player Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes No No No No No No Yes
Winamp Yes ? ? No Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Windows Media Player Yes ? ? Yes Dropped
(WMP10)		 ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
XBMC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? Yes Yes Yes ? Yes
xine Yes ? ? Yes Yes ? ? No ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
XMMS Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Zoom Player Yes ? ? No Yes ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Video player HTTP HTTPS FTP RTSP (RTSPU, RTSPT) MMS (MMSU, MMST) RTMP Netstream (mpst://) Podcasting PeerCast RDT TCP UDP SCTP Gopher SFTP NFS SMB/CIFS PNA (pnm://, pna://) RTP

[edit] Other

Video player DAAP DMAP DPAP EsounD protocol PulseAudio Simple protocol PulseAudio Native protocol DLNA
ALLPlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Amarok ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
aTunes ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
CorePlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
FFplay No No No No No No No
GOM Player ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
iTunes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ?
KMPlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Media Center ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Media Player Classic ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
MPlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Mplayerxp No No No No No No ?
NicePlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Quod Libet ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
QuickTime ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Quintessential Player ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
RealPlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
The KMPlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Totem Movie Player ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
VLC media player ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Winamp ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Windows Media Player ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
XBMC Yes ? ? ? Yes Yes Yes
xine ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
XMMS ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Zoom Player ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Video player DAAP DMAP DPAP EsounD protocol PulseAudio Simple protocol PulseAudio Native protocol DLNA

[edit] Playlist format capability

Information about which playlist formats the players understand.

Video player asx/wax/wvx m3u/m3u8 pls xspf ram/rmm sdp rpl xpl
ALLPlayer No Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ?
Chroma ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
CorePlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
FFplay No No No No No No No No
GOM Player ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
iTunes No No No No ? ? ? ?
KMPlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Media Center ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Media Player Classic ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ?
MPlayer Yes Yes Yes No ? ? ? ?
Mplayerxp Yes Yes Yes No No No No No
QuickTime ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Quintessential Player ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
RealPlayer ? ? Yes ? Yes Yes Yes Yes
The KMPlayer Yes Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ?
Totem Movie Player Yes ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ?
VLC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ?
Winamp Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ?
Windows Media Player Yes Yes No ? ? ? ? ?
XBMC ? Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ?
xine ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Zoom Player ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Video player asx/wax/wvx m3u8 pls xspf ram/rmm sdp rpl xpl

[edit] Subtitle capability

Information about what subtitle formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about capabilities of future versions of the players or filters that provide such functionality.

Video player Bitmap Text Bitmap Text
VobSub (.idx+.sub) SubStation Alpha (.ssa+.ass) SubRip (.srt) SAMI (.smi) RealText (.rt) MicroDVD (.sub) SubViewer (.sub) Text file[subtitlenotes 1] (.txt) PowerDivx (.psb) Universal Subtitle Format (.usf) Structured Subtitle Format (.ssf) XSUB (.divx embedded subtitles) DVB subtitles DVD subtitles PGS (.sup) Closed captioning
ALLPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes ? ? ? ?
Chroma Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No ? ? ? ?
CorePlayer No No No No No No No No No No No No ? ? ? ?
FFplay No No No No No No No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
GOM Player Yes Partial[subtitlenotes 2] Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No No No ? ? ? ?
iTunes No No No No No No No No No No No No ? ? ? ?
KMPlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Media Center No No No No No No No No No No No No ? ? ? ?
Media Player Classic Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[6] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[5] ? ? ? ?
MPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No Yes ? ? Yes
Mplayerxp Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No No No ? ? ? ?
QuickTime No Yes[12] Yes[12] No No No No No No No No No ? ? ? ?
Quintessential Player No No No No No No No No No No No No ? ? ? ?
RealPlayer Yes[4] No Yes[4] Yes Yes Yes[4] ? Yes[4] No No No No ? ? ? ?
The Core Media Player ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Yes ? ? ? ? ? ?
The KMPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes[5] ? ? ? ?
Totem Movie Player Yes Partial[subtitlenotes 2] Yes No No ? ? ? No No No No ? ? ? ?
VLC media player Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No ? ? ? ?
Winamp Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] No Yes[subtitlenotes 3] No Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[5] ? ? ? ?
Windows Media Player Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] No Yes[subtitlenotes 3] No Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[5] ? ? ? ?
XBMC Yes Partial[subtitlenotes 2] Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No[subtitlenotes 4] No[subtitlenotes 4] No[subtitlenotes 4] Yes ? ? ? ?
xine [subtitlenotes 5] Yes Partial[subtitlenotes 2] Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No No No ? ? ? ?
Zoom Player Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] No Yes[subtitlenotes 3] No Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[subtitlenotes 3] Yes[5] ? ? ? ?
Video player VobSub (.idx+.sub) SubStation Alpha (.ssa+.ass) SubRip (.srt) Sami (.smi) RealText (.rt) MicroDVD (.sub) SubViewer (.sub) TXT (.txt) PowerDivx (.psb) Universal Subtitle Format (.usf) Structured Subtitle Format (.ssf) XSUB (.divx embedded subtitles) DVB subtitles DVD subtitles PGS (.sup) Closed captioning
  1. ^ This player can open files with the extension .txt, but those could contain any script language. So there is no guarantee it will play it.
  2. ^ a b c d This player understands some of the formatting data from SSA/ASS (at most coloring but no positioning, animation, typesetting etc.), but some players could understand the rest of it by using VSFilter as external subtitle filter instead of the built-in one.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa For Windows, one can add the ability to use many subtitle formats by installing VSFilter or ffdshow.
  4. ^ a b c XBMC (XBoxMediaCenter) uses the subtitle library / source code from MPlayer so when/if MPlayer can display these subtitles then XBMC will soon be able to display them too.
  5. ^ "FAQ | Kaffeine - KDE Media Player". Kaffeine FAQ. http://kaffeine.kde.org/?q=faq#question9. Retrieved 2009-10-02. 

[edit] Metadata capability

Information about what metadata, or tagging, formats the players understand. Most other containers have their own metadata format and the players usually use them. Footnotes lead to information about capabilties of future versions of the players or plugins that provide such functionality.

Video player ID3v1 ID3v2 APEv2 tag Vorbis comment AMF ASF metadata MOV metadata Cue sheet CD-Text
ALLPlayer Yes Yes No No ? ? ? No No
Cog Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes ?
CorePlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes ?
FFplay Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
GOM Player No No No No ? ? ? ? ?
iTunes Yes No No No No No Yes No Yes
KMPlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Media Center Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes Yes
Media Player Classic Yes No ? Partial ? ? ? ? ?
MPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial[metadatanotes 1] ?
Mplayerxp Yes Yes No Yes ? ? ? No No
QuickTime Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Quintessential Player Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? ?
RealPlayer Yes Yes ? No ? ? ? Yes
The KMPlayer Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes Yes
Totem Movie Player Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? ? ? ?
VLC Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Partial Yes
Winamp Yes Yes Partial[metadatanotes 2] Yes ? ? ? Partial[4] Yes
Windows Media Player Yes Partial[metadatanotes 3] ? No ? Yes ? No ?
XBMC Yes Yes Yes Yes ? ? ? Yes ?
xine Yes Partial[metadatanotes 4] ? Yes ? ? ? ? ?
Zoom Player Yes Yes ? Yes ? ? ? ? ?
Video player ID3v1 ID3v2 APEv2 tag Vorbis comment AMF ASF metadata MOV metadata Cue sheet CD-Text
  1. ^ MPlayer can read .cue files with cue:// type URL, but has problems, see Talk:Cue sheet (computing)#mplayer have more faults
  2. ^ Winamp relies on the tagging of its decoder. Replacing the standard decoder with an APEv2 capable one is possible.
  3. ^ ID3 V2.4 not supported (even on Windows Media Player 12).
  4. ^ Displays basic ID3v1 / ID3v2 / Ogg Vorbis tags

[edit] Optical media capability

Information about what kinds of optical discs the players can play. Footnotes lead to information about capabilities of future versions of the players or plugins that provide such functionality. Playback of Super Audio CD is not possible for any media player, because no suitable hardware exists. All media players capable of audio CD playback will also play the Redbook core of any HDCD disc, providing no sound-quality benefits over standard audio CDs.

Video player Audio Video
CD DVD-Audio HDCD VCD SVCD DVD Blu-ray HD DVD
ALLPlayer Yes ? ? ? ? Yes ? ?
Chroma No No No No No Yes No ?
CorePlayer No No No No No No No ?
FFplay No No No No No No No No
GOM Player Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No ?
iTunes Yes No No No No No No ?
KMPlayer ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Media Center Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes ?
Media Player Classic Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No ?
MPlayer Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No ?
Mplayerxp Yes No No Yes Yes Yes ? ?
Ogle No No No No No Yes No ?
QuickTime Yes No No Yes Yes No No ?
Quintessential Player Yes No No No No No No ?
RealPlayer Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No ?
The KMPlayer Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No ?
TotalMedia Theatre Yes ? ? ? ? Yes Yes ?
Totem Movie Player Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No ?
VLC Yes No No Yes Partial [opticalmedianotes 1] Yes No ?
Winamp Yes No Yes No No No No ?
Windows Media Player Yes No Yes Yes No Yes No ?
XBMC Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No No
xine Yes No No Yes Yes Yes No ?
Zoom Player Yes No No Yes No Yes No ?
Video player CD DVD-Audio HDCD VCD SVCD DVD Blu-ray HD DVD
Audio Video
  1. ^ Handling still frames and switching between different video formats is problematic.

[edit] See also

Free software portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ "QuickTime 7.6.4 for Mac". 2009-09-09. http://support.apple.com/downloads/QuickTime_7_6_4_for_Mac. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  2. ^ "QuickTime 7.6.4 for Windows". 2009-09-09. http://support.apple.com/downloads/QuickTime_7_6_4_for_Windows. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  3. ^ "Apple to Ship Mac OS X Snow Leopard on August 28". 2009-08-24. http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/08/24macosx.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Plugin available.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn The playing compatibility depends on the availability of DirectShow filters.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k The playing compatibility of Media Player depends on the availability of DirectShow, QuickTime, RealMedia and Shockwave filters. There are two distributions known as QuickTime Alternative and Real Alternative which bundle the required QuickTime and RealPlayer components without the need to install the corresponding players.
  7. ^ a b c d The playing compatibility depends on the availability of WMV Player component for Quicktime.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h 3rd party plugins are available. The Xiph QuickTime Components allow any QuickTime application to parse Ogg files and play Vorbis, FLAC (Doesn't work with FLAC containers), Speex, and Theora.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa Available through a Gstreamer plugin.
  10. ^ a b Partial native decoding an all platforms since 0.9.9. Windows and Linux can also decode through Real Dlls[citation needed]
  11. ^ a b c d e f Available via plugins that can be automatically downloaded during installation
  12. ^ a b c The open source Perian plug-in adds the ability to use many video formats and codecs to QuickTime. It also adds the ability to use SubRip and SubStation Alpha subtitles.
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