What's a good video player for Windows 8 ?

[Digital Doctor]

I Win 8 when I click this:

I get this useless monstrosity.


Should I get VLC player (which I have used for years) ?
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

What are other people using ?

 

[Chris D]

Why shouldn't you get VLC player?

Why would you need anything different just because it's Windows 8?

 

[Digital Doctor]

Why would you need anything different just because it's Windows 8?

Thought there might be something new.
Haven't looked at Video players for a few years.

My Camcorder files - Sanyo (.mp4 files).

VLC


Windows Media


That's pretty bad performance.

I wonder if I can get a better H264 codec for VLC.

 

[Digital Doctor]

Does anyone know if Apple denies the existence of .mkv files like Windows does ?

 

[EQnoble]

Does anyone know if Apple denies the existence of .mkv files like Windows does ?

View attachment 59668

That's a more than likely a codec issue.

get k-lite and when you install it set all the video and audio codecs to wmp if that is what you use.

There is a lot of options...if you don't know what you are doing...do a simple install.

 

[Digital Doctor]

So far I am going to use VLC for everything, but right click > WMP for my old camcorder files.

 

[DRE]

There are different VLC skins for Windows http://www.videolan.org/vlc/skins.php

They didn't release any on OSX

 

[smartpixels]

You can use the default player just install a codec like http://codecguide.com/download_kl.htm
But when VLC is there why go for any other option? I am yet to encounter a format that VLC didn't recognise.

 

[AdamD]

Yea I use VLC on all my computers, it just....works, with everything I've thrown at it.
I used to use Media player classic, but sometimes it wouldn't play seemingly random files.

 

[mistypants]

VLC works really nice, but I also use PotPlayer and KMPlayer from time to time, if you're looking for something that's a bit aesthetically pleasing (even if you can find great VLC skins out there). If you just want to watch video regardless of the format, VLC is still the best.

 

[Amaury]

VLC works really nice, but I also use PotPlayer and KMPlayer from time to time, if you're looking for something that's a bit aesthetically pleasing (even if you can find great VLC skins out there). If you just want to watch video regardless of the format, VLC is still the best.

This. It can play pretty much any file.

 

[Jaxel]

I personally have never been a fan of VLC. While yes, almost every video "just works" if you use VLC, there is a trade-off. Rather than using the proprietary muxers of other codes, it pretty decides to just ignore all that and process the raw stream. The issue I have is that those proprietary muxers are designed for specific reasons to make your playback look better. Sure, it will play in VLC, but it wont look as good as it should.

Personally, I use the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack; though you should probably just use the standard K-Lite Codec Pack. I use the Mega version because I am a content producer and make use of many of the extra tools. Both packs include Media Player Classic Home Cinema; which is probably one of the best media player out there because of it's light-weight comparison to the old Windows Media Player 6.