If you are looking for a good media player program for your PC and you want something different from the default Microsoft suggestion for such software, you should probably read the current article as it will introduce you to arguably one of he best media players out there. Within the next lines, you will be able to learn more about KMPlayer – a free media player software tool that comes with an impressive array of features that are sure to meet even the highest of expectations that one could have.
Introduction
KMPlayer is a heavy-duty program and it comes packed with all sorts of options and settings that would require quite some time until you can actually say that you have explored most of them. This is actually one issue that some users might have with this program – it isn’t as simple and as straightforward as other similar and more popular applications. The fact that there seems to be no user manual in English doesn’t help either. All of this leads to the need for a certain period of getting used to the program but once you are past that, you are going to realize its full potential. It certainly isn’t a simple tool in any way and if you are looking for a more regular player, you should probably go for something else like, for example MPC or VLC. However, if you value versatility and being able to choose from many different options and have access to a wide variety of features, then you might enjoy working with KMP.
Interface
The Interface of KMP is nothing special, yet it looks slick and stylish. There is also a lot of customization to be had there as you can download different skins and modify the outlook of the program to your liking (even if this means making the player unrecognizable). There are two main menus that come with different options. The first one gets displayed when you left-click on the KMP logo located at the top-right corner of its window and the settings in there are focused on file navigation such as opening new media files, loading subtitles, disk management, etc. The other menu, which is the main one, can be accessed by right-clicking anywhere within the program’s window. Here, you will find that most of the buttons inside this menu are sub-menus of their own. A bit of exploring should be enough to recognize just how vast this player is and how much you can get out of it. However, as said earlier, it takes some time to get used to all that so bear that in mind – many options aren’t self explanatory and as there’s no user’s manual, it would require for you to manually explore the player on your own.
Compatibility
Even though it is good to be provided a lot of extra features by a media player, the main criteria which determines how useful the software is would be, in our opinion, its ability to play different media files. KMP does this well as it supports a lot of file formats so you are unlikely to come across a media file that the program cannot open. That said, there are better software tools in this regard out there – you can read about two such players here and here. Still, though, there is no denying that KMPlayer is good at what it does and is a solid choice for anyone who needs a reliable player with extra features.
Overview of main features
We simply cannot go over everything that KMP has to offer because, as we stated above, it is really a vast and big player. However, just to give you a general idea of what it can do, here are several examples:
- Extensive screen control menu allowing the user to modify the screen ratios in a variety of ways as well as a number of other options related to the way movies are displayed.
- Many settings related to the playback of a video including audio syncing, repeating sections, skipping sections, and a lot more.
- A wide range of filters for when playing videos. There are two separate Video sub-menus, one is labeled Basic which still offers quite a lot of options and the other one Advanced, which is obviously made for geeks and people who know what they are doing and/or enjoy tweaking around.
- 3D and VR support and settings related to that.
- Extensive subtitle management.
- Audio and video capturing.
…and much more…
Advertisement
One thing that we did not like about KMP is its ads. During installation, there were no hidden or misleading clauses and the program did not try to change any of our browser settings (as many other free applications often try to do) but after the installation was over, we were asked whether we want to install Avast Antivirus. Some might see this as an useful addition but we believe that it is rather on the intrusive side and is unnecessary. Another irritating thing is the advertisement materials that get displayed within the player’s window. There are even ads a the side of the player when a movie is being played if the screen isn’t maximized. Back in the day, when there were no ads on KMP, the player looked much better but currently, all the irritating advertisements you see kind of ruin the whole outlook of the program. This, in our opinion, is a serious drawback and makes the program less desirable than some less intrusive options out there that still come with nearly the same level of functionality. Still, readers shouldn’t get the impression that KMP is unusable due to the ads – nothing like that! As long as you remember not to click on them and as long as you don’t mind seeing them, the player is still a very good tool that is certainly worth it.
Conclusion
KMP is certainly not for everyone. If you want a more regular, easier to use program that doesn’t have any ads and a less steep learning curve, then KMP might not be the program for you. However, if you truly want to experience what is likely the media player with the most customization options and extra features (that is available for free), the you must definitely give this one a try. One article is absolutely not enough to cover all the things that this program can do and the only way to truly get to know this media player is to download it and see for yourself.