Favorite Video/Media Player? Options

[jcdietz03]

Mine for sure is the free Zoom Player from Inmatrix software.

Why is it good:
1) Works right out of the box.
2) Plays most formats. I don't know if it will pay VIVO format (older internet video format). It also won't play Quicktime format b/c it is closed source. Those are the only 2 it won't play. For me, it won't play real media b/c I don't want their software on my system.
3) A screen capture feature that actually works. This is the first video player that I have ever heard of that actually does it.
4) Works even on molasses slow computers. If you have a high bitrate video and it won't play on your PC, try this, it will work for you. Playing 2.3Mbps takes 30% CPU on my E6600 (on one of the cores). There are even more efficient video players available but their user interface is terrible.
5) Excellent keyboard controls. Has +/- 5 second skip, +/- 120 second skip, and single frame advance/reverse. I have never seen a video player where all of those features actually work. Seek time on skip is typically <0.5 seconds (for video on your hard disk). There are lots more keyboard controls (you can do basically anything from the keyboard), but these are the ones (other than play/pause) I use most often.

Why it is not good:
1) Only for Windows XP and Windows Vista

You can get this from here. Be sure to get the 6.00 beta 2 b/c it is better than the current non-beta 5.2 version.

For Linux users the best one is VLC media player. It has many of the features Zoom Player has. It is open source which is a good thing. However, it does not have frame capture (screenshot) feature and also does not have a working single frame reverse feature. The UI is a bit clunkier as well. But you can't beat free, and Linux + VLC media player = Free. I like that the skip amounts are settable in VLC media player. For Zoom Player, the amounts are fixed (5 and 120 seconds for short and long skip).

Edit: Sorry to troll, but Windows Media Player sucks royally. It is one of the worst media players there is. I don't know what the whole deal with unbundling the media player in Europe is, but almost any other media player beats the built in one. Oh yes, this means all versions, both past and (probably) future. Why? It has no features, and may god have mercy on its soul.

What is your favorite video/media player and why?

This post has been edited by jcdietz03: Jan 14 2008, 02:09 AM