Everybody needs a good and reliable media player on their computer and while there are many options out there to choose from, some are certainly better than others. Today, in this article, we will introduce you to a media player called VLC – it is a free software tool that you can download right now from its official site if you think that it would suit your needs and meet your requirements.
Introduction
VLC is one of the more popular media player options out there and for a good reason – it is a versatile program capable of opening a remarkable variety of data formats for both audio and video files. The user wouldn’t need to download any extra codecs as VLC already has them by default which is the reason why you will hardly ever stumble upon a file format that this player will not be able to open. This is really convenient and can save you a lot of time and nerves. There are quite a lot of good and popular media player programs out there which seem to lack the versatility of VLC, oftentimes being incapable of playing certain file types or requiring manual downloading of extra codecs to open less common data formats. With VLC, the user would hardly ever face such an issue which is the reason why it is the preferred choice of many customers. The program can be used on Windows, Mac OS and Linux so there is no problem with the compatibility.
Interface
The default Interface of VLC might seem a bit old-fashioned and not overly stylish but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. On the flip side, the plain interface of the program makes it easier to navigate through its menus and settings. The player is easy to use and most of the options are self-explanatory. Also, if you feel like you want to have the program’s interface reinvigorated, you can always do that by choosing from a big list of skins for your player to replace the default interface with something that you would fancy more. In addition, we should also mention that there are a lot of customization options like choosing which buttons to appear and which to be left hidden allowing you to modify the program’s look the way that would best serve your needs.
Plug-ins and Extensions
One great thing about VLC is the wide variety of plug-ins and extensions to choose from. They are all available on the official site of the program and allow for even greater customization freedom. There is a description and a comment section below each add-on so that users could share their opinions and find out more about a certain extension.
200%!
Have you ever had the unpleasant situation of downloading a song or a movie where the sound is way too low and even when you have maxed-out the volume settings on your PC, speakers and player, the sound is still not loud enough. VLC has a potential solution for such an issue as it allows the user to boost the volume beyond the 100% mark all the way up to 200%. The difference is indeed noticeable when you compare the sound levels to other players so if you really do want louder, this might be the program that you are looking for.
Watching during downloading
One neat thing that VLC can do is play video that haven’t been fully downloaded yet. This can basically allow you to watch a movie while it is still being downloaded on your computer. This could, for example, be helpful if you decide that you don’t really want to watch this movie and there’s no need to fully download it on the computer. Also, the program can play files that have been zipped directly from the archive so there would be no the need to unzip them.
Other features
As you might expect it from a good media player, VLC comes with many more settings that we cannot list here. There are different modes for playing audio and video, good subtitle customization and sync options, different playlist settings, etc. In addition to that, it is all rather easy and simple to use and no one should have hard time navigating through this player and making use of its many features.
Negatives
There isn’t really much to say here. One thing that some might find a bit irritating is the fact that the player takes several seconds to start instead of starting instantly but this also depends on how powerful the computer it is used on is. Also, another somewhat annoying trait of VLC is that it doesn’t allow you to go back or forth when watching a movie by using the left and right keyboard arrow buttons the same way other players do. However, you can still navigate through a movie using the arrow keys, but you will first have to hold the Shift button and also, the transition isn’t as smooth as one might want it to be. Apart from those two minor inconveniences, there is not much else that we can point out as a downside to VLC.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a solid media player program for your computer that can open nearly all video and audio file formats and allows for a lot of customization, then VLC might be something that you will like. It serves both as a good movie and music player that will hardly ever have any issues playing a certain type of file. Add to that the fact that there s a satisfying amount of additional settings and a couple of unique features and you got yourself a very good program with only a few small negative traits.
Summary
Pros
- Superb support of different file formats
- Lots of customization options
- A big library of add-ons
Cons
- Doesn’t run as smooth as one would like it to
