Comparison of video player software
| This article is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (July 2009) |
The following comparison of video players compares general and technical information for notable 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.
[edit] General
| Name | Author | First public release date | Stable version | Cost | Software license | Based framework | Written in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALLPlayer | ALLCinema ltd | 1998 | 4.5 (2 November 2008) | Free | Proprietary | FFmpeg | Delphi |
| Banshee | Aaron Bockover | Aug 2005 | 2.2.1 (November 1, 2011) | Free | MIT | GStreamer | C# |
| Chroma | mirailabs | 2003 | 2007.3 (January 1, 2007) | Trialware, US$22.00 | Proprietary | FFmpeg[generalnotes 1] | ? |
| Creative MediaSource | Creative Technology | 2002 | 5.10.38 (December 22, 2006) | Requires Creative product | Proprietary | ? | ? |
| CorePlayer | CoreCodec Inc. | 2006 | US$19.95 | Proprietary | ? | ? | |
| CrystalPlayer | Crystal Reality LLC | Oct 2002 | 1.98 (May 31, 2007) | US$29.95 | Proprietary | FFmpeg | ? |
| DSPlayer | DSPlayer team | 2002 | 0.999 | Free | Proprietary | Delphi, C++ | |
| FFplay | FFmpeg project | 06 Jun 2003[generalnotes 2] | 0.10 (January 27, 2012) | Free | LGPL (partially GPL) | FFmpeg | C |
| GOM Player | Gretech Corporation | 07 Jan 2003 | 2.1.37.5085 (January 9, 2012) | Free | Proprietary | FFmpeg | ? |
| iTunes | Apple Inc. | 09 Jan 2001 | 10.5.3 (January 19, 2012) | Free | Proprietary | QuickTime | ? |
| iTVmediaPlayer | BitMar Networks | 22 Nov 2010 | 3.1.8 | Free | Proprietary | .NET Framework | C# |
| jetAudio (Basic) | Cowon Systems | 1997 | 8.0.16 | Free | Proprietary | FFmpeg | C++ |
| jetAudio (Plus) | Cowon Systems | 1997 | 8.0.16 | US$29.00 | Proprietary | FFmpeg | C++ |
| Kaffeine | KDE | 2003 | 1.2.2 (April 4, 2011) | Free | GPL | xine | C++ |
| K-Multimedia Player | YoungHuee Kang | 01 Oct 2002 | 3.1.0.0 (10 December 2011[1]) | Free | Proprietary | ? | Object Pascal |
| Konqueror Media Player | Koos Vriezen, Joonas Koivunen | Jan 2003 | 0.11.2 (2010-03-04) | Free | GPL | MPlayer | C++ |
| Media Center | JRiver, Inc. | Jul 2003 | 16.0.181 (October 29, 2011) | US$49.98 | Proprietary | original | C++, SSE/MMX Assembly |
| Media Go | Sony Creative Software Inc. | 2009 | 1.6 | Free | Proprietary | ? | ? |
| Media Player Classic | Gabest | 29 May 2003 | 6.4.9.1 (December 10, 2008) | Free | GPL | DirectShow | C++ |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | Casimir666 | 29 Mar 2006 | v1.5.2.3456 (April 22, 2011) | Free | GPL | DirectShow | C++ |
| MediaPortal | Team MediaPortal | 2004 | 1.1.3 (25 February 2011) | Free | GPL | DirectShow | C#, C++ |
| MPlayer | Árpád Gereöffy | Sep 2000 | 1.0rc5 (December 3, 2011) | Free | GPL | FFmpeg + original | C |
| Mplayerxp | Guru Kas aka Nickols_K | 2002 | 0.7.1/06.01.2009 | Free | GPL | FFmpeg + original | C |
| Ogle | Chalmers University of Technology | 1999 | 0.9.2 (November 6, 2003) | Free | GPL | ? | C |
| Plex | Plex, Inc. | 2008 | 9.3.4 | Free | Proprietary | FFmpeg | C++ |
| PowerDVD Standard | CyberLink | 1996 | US$49.95 | Proprietary | ? | ? | |
| PowerDVD Deluxe | CyberLink | 1996 | US$69.95 | Proprietary | ? | ? | |
| PowerDVD Ultra | CyberLink | 1996 | US$99.95 | Proprietary | ? | ? | |
| QuickTime Basic | Apple Inc. | 02 Dec 1991 | 7.7.1.1680.42 (October 27, 2011) | Free | Proprietary | original | Cocoa (on Mac OS X) |
| QuickTime Pro | Apple Inc. | 02 Dec 1991 | 7.7.1.1680.42 (October 27, 2011) | US$29.95 | Proprietary | original | Cocoa (on Mac OS X) |
| Quintessential Player | Paul Quinn | 1997 | 5.0.121 (February 18, 2009) | Free | Proprietary | ? | ? |
| RealPlayer Basic | RealNetworks | 1995 | Windows: 15.0.1.13 (December 12, 2011)
Mac OS X: 12.0.0.1701 (August 16, 2011[2]) Linux: 11.0.2.2315 (December 4, 2010[3]) |
Free | Proprietary | ? | ? |
| RealPlayer Plus | RealNetworks | 1995 | Windows: 15.0.1.13 (December 12, 2011)
Mac OS X: 12.0.0.1701 (August 16, 2011[2]) Linux: 11.0.2.2315 (December 4, 2010[3]) |
US$19.99 | Proprietary | ? | ? |
| SMPlayer | RVM | 11 Dec 2006[generalnotes 3] | 0.6.9 (2010-02-22) | Free | GPL | MPlayer | C++ |
| Songbird | Tom Lord | 08 Feb 2006 | 1.10.2 (January 25, 2012) | Free | GPL | GStreamer, XULRunner | C++ |
| Splash Lite | Mirillis | 14 Sep 2009 | 1.6.1 (December 10, 2010) | Free | Proprietary | ? | ? |
| The Core Pocket Media Player | Gabor Kovacs | Jul 2004 named "BetaPlayer" | 4.11 (2007-04-07) | Free | GPL | FFmpeg + original | C++ |
| Totem Movie Player | Totem Team | Jul 2002 | 3.2.2 (16 November 2011)[5] | Free | GPL | GStreamer | C |
| VLC | VideoLAN | Feb 2000 | 1.1.13 (not for all OS) (December 20, 2011) | Free | GPL | FFmpeg + original | C, C++ |
| Winamp Lite/Full/Bundle | Nullsoft | Jun 1997 | 5.623 (December 9, 2011) | Free | Proprietary | ? | ? |
| Winamp Pro | Nullsoft | Jun 1997 | 5.623 (December 9, 2011) | US$19.95 | Proprietary | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Player | Microsoft | Nov 1992 | 12.0.7600.16415 (12 October 2009) | Free | Proprietary | DirectShow | C++ (COM) |
| WinDVD Gold | Corel | 1998 | 2010 (10.0.5.703) | US$39.95 | Proprietary | ? | ? |
| WinDVD Platinum | Corel | 1998 | 2010 (10.0.5.703) | US$59.95 | Proprietary | ? | ? |
| XBMC Media Center | Team-XBMC | Oct 2003 | 10.1 (codename: "Dharma") (10 March 2011) | Free | GPL | FFmpeg | C++ |
| xine | xine Team | 15 Aug 2000 | 0.99.6 (March 6, 2010) | Free | GPL | FFmpeg + original | C |
| TotalMedia Theatre | ArcSoft | 15 Nov 2009 | Template:5.0.1.114 | US$99.99 | Proprietary | original | C++ |
| Name | Author | First public release date | Stable version | Cost | Software license | Based framework | Written in |
- ^ "Chroma's credit page". Chromaplayer.com. http://chromaplayer.com/support/credit/. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
- ^ Log of ffplay.c
- ^ "The SMPlayer Project / SMPlayer first anniversary". Smplayer.berlios.de. http://smplayer.berlios.de/forums/viewtopic.php?id=528. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
[edit] Operating system requirement
This section lists the operating systems on which the player works. There may be multiple versions of a player, each one for a given operating system.
| Video player | Windows | Windows CE/Mobile | Mac OS X | iOS | Linux | BSD Unix | Solaris | Unix-like | DOS | BeOS, Haiku, ZETA | OS/2 | PSP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALLPlayer | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Banshee | Yes | ? | incomplete[osnotes 1] | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | 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 | ? | ? | ? |
| DSPlayer | Yes | ? | No | ? | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| FFplay | Yes | network doesn't work | Yes | (ffmpeg4iphone)[osnotes 2] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | (PSP Media Player)[osnotes 2] |
| GOM Player | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| iTunes | Yes | ? | Included | Included | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| iTVmediaPlayer | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| jetAudio | Yes | ? | No | ? | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| Kaffeine | No | ? | No | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? |
| K-Multimedia Player | 2000/XP/Vista/7 only[osnotes 3] | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| KMPlayer | Via KDE for Windows, XP-7 | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Center | Yes | ? | No | ? | 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 | No | No | No | No | No |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| MediaPortal | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | 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 | ? | ? | ? |
| Plex | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| QuickTime | Yes | ? | Included | Included | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| Quintessential Player | Yes | ? | No | ? | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| RealPlayer | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? |
| SMPlayer | Yes | ? | No | ? | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| Songbird | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Official support dropped | No | Official support dropped | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| Totem Movie Player | No | ? | No | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? |
| VLC | Yes | libVLC only | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Winamp | Yes | ? | Beta version | ? | Last version is Winamp 3 | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Player | Included | Included | Dropped (WMP9) | ? | No | No | Dropped (WMP6.3) | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| XBMC | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| xine | unmaintained | ? | WIP for 1.2 series | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? |
| TotalMedia Theatre | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Video player | Windows | Windows CE/Mobile | Mac OS X | iPhone | Linux | BSD Unix | Solaris | Unix-like | DOS | BeOS, Haiku, ZETA | OS/2 | PSP |
- ^ Banshee 1.4
- ^ a b not merged
- ^ Not guaranteed to work on Windows 2000.
[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 |
| Banshee | Yes | Partial[featurenotes 1] | Yes | Yes | In Development | Yes | Yes |
| Chroma | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| CorePlayer | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| DSPlayer | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| FFplay | ? | No | No | ? | Yes | No | No |
| GOM Player | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| iTunes | Yes | Partial[6] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| iTVmediaPlayer | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| jetAudio | Partial[6] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Kaffeine | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| K-Multimedia Player | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[featurenotes 2] | 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 |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | ? | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| MediaPortal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MPlayer | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Mplayerxp | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Plex | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No |
| PowerDVD | ? | Yes | No | ? | Yes | ? | No |
| QuickTime | Partial[featurenotes 3] | Partial[featurenotes 4] | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Quintessential Player | Partial[6] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| RealPlayer | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Yes |
| SMPlayer | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Songbird | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes[featurenotes 5] | Yes |
| Totem Movie Player | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| VLC | Yes | Yes | yes, not Mac | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Winamp | Partial[6] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial[6] | Yes[featurenotes 6] |
| Windows Media Player | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| XBMC | Yes[featurenotes 7] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| xine | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Video playback | Outbound streaming | Skinnable | Media database | Gapless audio decoding | Visualizer | Remote controllable | Intelligent playlists from database (based on criteria) |
[edit] Extended features
| 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 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Banshee | ? | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | 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 |
| iTVmediaPlayer | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| jetAudio | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Kaffeine | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| K-Multimedia Player | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Some[featurenotes 8] | Yes | Yes |
| Konqueror Media Player | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Media Center | Yes | Yes[featurenotes 9] | Yes[featurenotes 9] | 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 |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MediaPortal | ? | No | No | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| MPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes[featurenotes 10] | Yes[featurenotes 10] | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | No | Yes |
| Mplayerxp | Yes | Yes | Yes[featurenotes 10] | Yes[featurenotes 10] | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | No | Yes |
| Plex | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| PowerDVD | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| QuickTime | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[featurenotes 11] | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | No |
| Quintessential Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| RealPlayer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| SMPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[featurenotes 12] | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | Yes | Yes |
| Songbird | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 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 | Partial[6] | Partial[6] |
| WinDVD | Yes | Yes | Yes | 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 |
| 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 |
- ^ The user interface is a pluggable Mono Assembly
- ^ "gapless mp3 playback - The KMPlayer's Forums". Kmplayer.com. http://www.kmplayer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138. Retrieved 2009-12-16.
- ^ Available with QuickTime Streaming Server.
- ^ Only the media creator can create skins.
- ^ Apple Remote ability, and dbus add-on for Linux
- ^ Via media library in "modern" skin
- ^ 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)
- ^ Bookmarks are limited to 20 files and are stored with absolute paths, which renders them inaccessible when files are moved
- ^ a b For Audio files only.
- ^ 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
- ^ www.apple.com/quicktime/pro/ - A-B repeat using Play Selection Only command
- ^ As of SVN 3349
[edit] Video format ability
Information about what video formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins/filters that provide such abilities.
| 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 |
| Banshee | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | No | Yes[7] | ? |
| Chroma | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | No | Partial | No | ? | ? |
| CorePlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | ? | ? |
| DSPlayer | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Yes | Partial[9] | Partial[8] | Yes | ? | ? |
| FFplay | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GOM Player | Yes | Partial[8] | Yes | Partial[8] | Yes | Partial[9] | Partial[8] | Yes | ? | ? |
| iTunes | Yes | Partial[videonotes 1] | Yes | Yes | Partial[10] | No | Partial[11] | Yes | ? | ? |
| iTVmediaPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| jetAudio | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Yes | Partial[9] | Partial[8] | Yes | ? | ? |
| K-Multimedia Player | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial[8] | Yes | Partial[8] | ? | ? |
| Konqueror Media Player | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Media Center | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? |
| Media Player Classic | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial[9] | Yes | Partial[12] | ? | ? |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| MediaPortal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mplayerxp | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Plex | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| QuickTime | Yes | Partial[videonotes 1] | Yes | Yes | Partial[10] | No | Partial[11] | Yes | ? | ? |
| Quintessential Player | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? |
| RealPlayer | Yes | Yes | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Yes | Yes | Partial[6] | Yes | ? | ? |
| SMPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| Songbird | ? | ? | Yes[13] | Yes[13] | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| TotalMedia Theatre | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No | ? | No |
| Totem Movie Player | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | No | Yes[7] | ? |
| VLC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Winamp | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Yes | Partial[9] | Partial[8] | Yes | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Player | Yes | Yes | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Yes | Partial[9] | Partial[8] | Yes | ? | ? |
| XBMC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[videonotes 2] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| xine | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| 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 |
- ^ a b The playing compatibility depends on the availability of MPEG2 component for Quicktime.
- ^ 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 no higher than that.[citation needed]
[edit] Audio format ability
Information about what audio formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins/filters that provide such abilities.
| 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 |
| Banshee | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] |
| CorePlayer | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| DSPlayer | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | 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[11] | No | Yes | No | No | Partial[11] | Yes | No | No |
| iTVmediaPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| jetAudio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| K-Multimedia Player | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial[8] | Yes |
| Konqueror Media Player | 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 | Yes | Yes | Partial[8] | Yes | Yes | Partial[8] | Yes | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial[8] | Yes | Yes | Partial[8] | Yes | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Yes |
| MediaPortal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 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 |
| Plex | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| QuickTime | Yes | Partial[10] | No | Partial[11] | No | Yes | Partial[6] | No | Partial[11] | Yes | No | No |
| Quintessential Player | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Partial[6] | Partial[6] | No | No | Partial[6] |
| RealPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial[6] | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| SMPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Songbird | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| TotalMedia Theatre | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | No | No |
| Totem Movie Player | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] |
| VLC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Winamp | Yes | Yes | Partial[8] | Yes | Partial[14] | Yes | Partial[14] | Partial[14] | Yes | Partial[14] | Partial[14] | Partial[14] |
| Windows Media Player | Yes | Yes | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] |
| 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 |
| Video player | MP3 | WMA | RealAudio | Vorbis | Musepack | AAC | AC3 | APE | FLAC | ALAC | SHN | WV |
[edit] Container format ability
Information about what container formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or filters that provide such abilities.
| Video player | AVI | ASF | QuickTime | Ogg | OGM | Matroska | MP4 | NUT | FLV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALLPlayer | 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 |
| DSPlayer | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| 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[11] | No | No | Yes | ? | ? |
| iTVmediaPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| jetAudio | Yes | Yes | Partial[13] | Vorbis only | Yes | Yes | Partial[8] | ? | ? |
| K-Multimedia Player | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Konqueror Media Player | 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 |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| MediaPortal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mplayerxp | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Plex | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| QuickTime | Yes | Partial[10] | Yes | Partial[11] | No | Yes[15] | Yes | ? | Yes[15] |
| Quintessential Player | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| RealPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial[6] | Partial[6] | No | Yes | ? | ? |
| Songbird | Yes | No | Yes[13] | Yes | No | No | Yes | ? | ? |
| TotalMedia Theatre | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | Yes | No | Yes |
| Totem Movie Player | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | Yes[7] | ? | Yes[7] |
| VLC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Winamp | Yes | Yes | Partial[13] | Vorbis only | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Yes | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Player | Yes | Yes | WMP12 Yes[13] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | Partial[8] | WMP12 Yes[8] | ? | Yes |
| XBMC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| xine | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| Video player | AVI | ASF | QuickTime | Ogg | OGM | Matroska | MP4 | NUT | FLV |
- ^ A hack allows playback.
[edit] Scalable, composite and emulation format abilities
| 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 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| iTVmediaPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| jetAudio | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| K-Multimedia Player | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Konqueror Media Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Center | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Player Classic | Partial | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Partial[9] | Partial[9] | Partial[9] | Partial[9] | Partial[9] | No | No | No |
| MediaPortal | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MPlayer | Partial | ? | ? | ? | ? | Partial | ? | Yes (via xmms-plugins) | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Mplayerxp | Partial | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| QuickTime | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Quintessential Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| RealPlayer | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Songbird | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| TotalMedia Theatre | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Totem Movie Player | Partial | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| VLC | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Winamp | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes (plugin) | Yes (plugin) | Yes (plugin) |
| Windows Media Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| XBMC | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| xine | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 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 |
[edit] Protocol abilities
Information about which internet protocols the players understand, for receiving streaming media content. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins that provide such abilities.
[edit] General protocols
| 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 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Banshee | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| CorePlayer | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| DSPlayer | No | ? | ? | No | No | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| FFplay | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | 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 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| iTVmediaPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| jetAudio | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| K-Multimedia Player | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Konqueror Media Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Center | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Player Classic | Yes | ? | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | Yes | ? | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPortal | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
| 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 | ? |
| Songbird | Yes | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Totem Movie Player | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| VLC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | 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 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 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 | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Banshee | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| CorePlayer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| FFplay | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| GOM Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| iTunes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| iTVmediaPlayer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| jetAudio | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| K-Multimedia Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Konqueror Media Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Center | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Player Classic | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPortal | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MPlayer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Mplayerxp | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? |
| Quod Libet | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| QuickTime | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Quintessential Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| RealPlayer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Songbird | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Totem Movie Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| VLC | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Winamp | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | Yes |
| XBMC | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| xine | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| XMMS | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Video player | DAAP | DMAP | DPAP | EsounD protocol | PulseAudio Simple protocol | PulseAudio Native protocol | DLNA |
[edit] Playlist format ability
Information about which playlist formats the players understand.
| Video player | asx/wax/wvx | m3u/m3u8 | pls | xspf | ram/rmm | sdp | rpl | xpl | bdmv | mpcpl | wmx |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALLPlayer | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Chroma | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| CorePlayer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| DSPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| FFplay | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? |
| GOM Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| iTunes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| iTVmediaPlayer | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| jetAudio | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| K-Multimedia Player | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Konqueror Media Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Center | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Player Classic | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MediaPortal | ? | 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 | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| Songbird | Yes | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Totem Movie Player | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| VLC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
| Winamp | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Player | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| XBMC | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| xine | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Video player | asx/wax/wvx | m3u/m3u8 | pls | xspf | ram/rmm | sdp | rpl | xpl | bdmv | mpcpl | wmx |
[edit] Subtitle ability
Information about what subtitle formats the players understand. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or filters that provide such abilities.
| 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[stnotes 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[stnotes 2] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| iTunes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| iTVmediaPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| jetAudio | Yes | Partial[stnotes 2] | Yes | No | No | Yes | ? | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | Yes | ? | Yes |
| K-Multimedia Player | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[8] | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Konqueror Media Player | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Media Center | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Player Classic | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[9] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[8] | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| MediaPortal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mplayerxp | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| QuickTime | No | Yes[15] | Yes[15] | 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[6] | No | Yes[6] | Yes | Yes | Yes[6] | ? | Yes[6] | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| TotalMedia Theatre | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
| Totem Movie Player | Yes | Partial[stnotes 2] | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| VLC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Winamp | Yes[stnotes 3] | Yes[stnotes 3] | Yes[stnotes 3] | Yes[stnotes 3] | No | Yes[stnotes 3] | No | Yes[stnotes 3] | Yes[stnotes 3] | Yes[stnotes 3] | Yes[stnotes 3] | Yes[8] | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Windows Media Player | Yes[stnotes 3] | Yes[stnotes 3] | Yes[stnotes 3] | Yes[stnotes 3] | No | Yes[stnotes 3] | No | Yes[stnotes 3] | Yes[stnotes 3] | Yes[stnotes 3] | Yes[stnotes 3] | Yes[8] | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| XBMC | Yes | Partial[stnotes 2] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No[stnotes 4] | No[stnotes 4] | No[stnotes 4] | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| xine[stnotes 5] | Yes | Partial[stnotes 2] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 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 |
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c d e 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r For Windows, one can add the ability to use many subtitle formats by installing VSFilter or ffdshow.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "FAQ | Kaffeine - KDE Media Player". Kaffeine FAQ. http://kaffeine.kde.org/?q=faq#question9. Retrieved 2009-10-02.
[edit] Metadata ability
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 abilities of future versions of the players or plugins that provide such abilities.
| 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 | ? |
| DSPlayer | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | No | No |
| FFplay | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| GOM Player | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| iTunes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | Yes |
| iTVmediaPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| jetAudio | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Partial[metadatanotes 1] | ? |
| K-Multimedia Player | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Konqueror Media Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Center | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | Yes |
| Media Player Classic | Yes | No | ? | Partial | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | Yes | Yes | ? | Partial | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MediaPortal | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| MPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial[metadatanotes 2] | ? |
| Mplayerxp | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | No | No |
| QuickTime | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Quintessential Player | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| RealPlayer | Yes | Yes | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | Yes | |
| Songbird | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | No | ? |
| Totem Movie Player | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| VLC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Winamp | Yes | Yes | Partial[metadatanotes 3] | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Partial[6] | Yes |
| Windows Media Player | Yes | Partial[metadatanotes 4] | ? | Partial[6] | ? | Yes | ? | No | Partial[6] |
| XBMC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
| xine | Yes | Partial[metadatanotes 5] | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Video player | ID3v1 | ID3v2 | APEv2 tag | Vorbis comment | AMF | ASF metadata | MOV metadata | Cue sheet | CD-Text |
- ^ Supports via plugin available in COWON Forums
- ^ MPlayer can read .cue files with cue:// type URL, but has problems, see Talk:Cue sheet (computing)#mplayer have more faults
- ^ Winamp relies on the tagging of its decoder. Replacing the standard decoder with an APEv2 capable one is possible.
- ^ ID3 V2.4 not supported (even on Windows Media Player 12).
[edit] Optical media ability
Information about what kinds of optical discs the players can play. Footnotes lead to information about abilities of future versions of the players or plugins that provide such abilities. 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 | ? | ? | ? | No | Yes | ? | ? |
| Chroma | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | ? |
| CorePlayer | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? |
| DSPlayer | Yes | Yes | 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 | No |
| iTVmediaPlayer | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| jetAudio | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| K-Multimedia Player | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Konqueror Media Player | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Media Center | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Media Player Classic | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| MediaPortal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes[opticalmedianotes 1] | ? |
| MPlayer | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Mplayerxp | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| Ogle | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | ? |
| QuickTime | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Quintessential Player | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| RealPlayer | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Songbird | No[opticalmedianotes 2] | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| TotalMedia Theatre | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Totem Movie Player | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| VLC | Yes | Yes[opticalmedianotes 3] | No | Yes | Partial[opticalmedianotes 4] | Yes | No | No |
| Winamp | Yes | No | Yes | No | 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 | No |
| Video player | CD | DVD-Audio | HDCD | VCD | SVCD | DVD | Blu-ray | HD DVD |
| Audio | Video | |||||||
- ^ See this thread on team-mediaportal.com
- ^ See this thread on Getsatisfaction.com
- ^ DVD Audio files are playable in VLC 1.1
- ^ Handling still frames and switching between different video formats is problematic.
[edit] See also
- List of codecs
- Open source codecs and containers
- Comparison of video codecs
- Comparison of audio codecs
- Comparison of container formats
- Subtitle (captioning)
- Comparison of portable media players
- Comparison of video encoders
[edit] References
- ^ "[2011/09/26] The KMPlayer 3.0.0.1442 R2 Release". 2011-09-26. http://www.kmplayer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22193. Retrieved 2011-09-26.
- ^ "RealNetworks, Inc. Releases Update to Address Security Vulnerabilities". Real.com. RealNetworks, Inc. 16 August 2011. http://service.real.com/realplayer/security/08162011_player/en/. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ^ "RealPlayer 11.0.2.2315 GOLD". Softpedia. SoftNews NET SRL. http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia/Video/RealPlayer-2742.shtml. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- ^ "RealPlayer 1.1". Softpedia. SoftNews NET SRL. http://handheld.softpedia.com/get/Multimedia-Graphics/Video-Players/RealPlayer-80639.shtml. Retrieved 21 August 2011.
- ^ Piñeiro Iglesias, Alejandro (2011-11-16). "GNOME 3.2.2 released". gnome-announce mailing list. https://mail.gnome.org/archives/gnome-announce-list/2011-November/msg00020.html.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Plugin available.
- ^ 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 Available via Gstreamer plugin.
- ^ 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 The playing compatibility depends on the availability of DirectShow filters.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l The playing compatibility depends on the availability of RealMedia filters. There is a distribution known as Real Alternative which bundles the needed RealPlayer components without the need to install the corresponding player.
- ^ a b c d The playing compatibility depends on the availability of WMV Player component for Quicktime.
- ^ 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.
- ^ The playing compatibility depends on the availability of Shockwave filters.
- ^ a b c d e f The playing compatibility depends on the availability of QuickTime filters. There is a distribution known as QuickTime Alternative which bundles the needed QuickTime components without the need to install the corresponding player.
- ^ a b c d e f Available via plugins that can be automatically downloaded during installation
- ^ a b c d 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.
[edit] Notes
[edit] Related lists on other projects
- m:Open Source Toolset - short sections on Audio editing and Video editing
- Software - short lists of Ogg audio and video editors
- Help:Converting video - tools for manipulating audio and video
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