Media player
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Media player is a term typically used to describe computer software for playing back multimedia files. Most software media players support an array of media formats, including both audio and video files.
Some media players focus only on audio or video and are known as audio players and video players respectively. The producers of these players usually focus on providing a better user experience as they are specifically tailored toward the media type.
Microsoft Windows comes with pre-loaded Windows Media Player. The latest is Windows Media Player 11, which is bundled with Windows Vista, and available as a download for Windows XP SP2. Mac OS X comes pre-loaded with Quicktime Player for playing Quicktime movies and iTunes for playing a variety of media formats. Linux distributions come pre-loaded with various media players including VLC, MPlayer, xine, and Totem.
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[edit] Terminology
Although the term usually refers to computer software, the term is also used for the media playback devices used in digital signage. The term may also be used to describe analog electrical or mechanical media playing equipment such as a phonograph or player piano.
[edit] Software
List of some Media Players.
| software media players | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Audio | Video | OperatingSystem | License |
| BSplayer | Yes | Yes | Windows | own |
| Foobar2000 | Yes | No | Windows | own |
| GOM player | Yes | Yes | Windows | own |
| Media Player Classic | Yes | Yes | Windows | GPL |
| MPlayer | Yes | Yes | POSIX-compatible, MacOS X, Windows | GPL |
| PowerDVD | No | Yes | Windows | own (CyberLink) |
| Quicktime | Yes | Yes | Mac OS X, Windows | own (Apple) |
| RealPlayer | Yes | Yes | Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Palm OS, Symbian OS | own |
| VLC Media Player | Yes | Yes | Linux/Unix, Windows, Mac OS X, BeOS, BSD | GPL |
| Winamp | Yes | Yes | Windows | own |
| Windows Media Player | Yes | Yes | Windows, Mac OS X | own |
| WinDVD | No | Yes | Windows | own (InterVideo) |
| itunes | Yes | Yes | Mac, Windows | own (GPL) |
| iMesh | Yes | No | Mac, Windows | own (GPL) |
| Napster | Yes | No | Windows | own |
| XBMC (XBox Media Center) | Yes | Yes | Xbox game-console, Windows (partial port to Win32) | GPL / LGPL |
| xine | Yes | Yes | Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, IRIX, Mac OS X | GPL |
| XMMS | Yes | No | POSIX-compatible | GPL |
| Zinf | Yes | No | Linux, Windows | GPL |
| Zoom Player | Yes | Yes | Windows | own |
Many media players use libraries. The library is designed to help you organize, or catalog, your music into categories such as genre, year, rating or other. Good examples of media players that include media libraries are Winamp, Windows Media Player, iTunes, RealPlayer, and Amarok.
[edit] See also
- List of media players
- List of other software video players
- Comparison of media players
- List of multimedia (audio/video) codecs
- Comparison of (audio/video) container formats
- FFmpeg, cross-platform, open source, audio and video codecs suit/library
[edit] External links
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