Finding a media player program that can be used to view all types of videos on your computer is possible, but requires some research. Windows Media Player (WMP), Microsoft's default program, has become more and more graphically heavy over time and not compatible with all available file formats. WinAmp, the famous mp3 player that could be used to play videos, is no longer developed. The Windows 10 Video Player is not a real movie viewing program. iTunes, which has spread to many PCs because it is the management software for the iPod and iPhone, certainly cannot be defined as a program for viewing videos. So leaving these most famous names, we finally see which are the best Video Media Player programs to watch movies on the computer . You will be impressed by how much power and how many possibilities are offered by some of these programs on the list, which surpass Windows Media Player both in compatibility and in the number of features.
All these software can play different types of multimedia files, digital audio and video formats, CDs and DVDs .
They are also easy to install and use, very light on system resources.
1) The best media player for Windows is probably the unknown PotPlayer program, developed by the Korean author of KMPlayer and made even better.
PotPlayer is an intuitive and powerful multimedia player, full of functions, easy to use with very high quality both video and audio.
With PotPlayer, especially on 64-bit computers, you can enjoy watching high definition MKV movies and listen to the sound with a Dolby Surround system.
Those who use KMPlayer should certainly switch to PotPlayer since it has now replaced it with frequent updates.
It is available in 2 x86 and x64 versions.
It includes a long list of included audio and video codecs that allow you to play practically any existing multimedia format.
The reader is light on system resources and has a very fast startup.
PotPlayer supports GPU acceleration and post-processing, it comes with assisted hardware decoder and when it comes to watching HD video, it uses the video card installed in the system to decode the flow, reducing CPU usage and making playback more fluid and unaffected by the quality and size of the file. A key feature of PotPlayer is that it allows you to play multimedia content seamlessly, up to 1000 files one behind the other. Advanced users can configure the many options and edit advanced video processing filters and settings. PotPlayer can also be used to watch TV if you use a DVB USB Digital Terrestrial receiver.
Other features include support for all videos, watching streaming video, capturing a screen shot, recording from streaming streams, automatic playback of similar files in a folder, support for madVR / HR / EVR (latest video renderer), auto-resume of the last 200 files played, automatic computer shutdown and much more. This PotPlayer is today the first choice of programs to view videos and movies on the computer. The only flaw it has is that it is only in English and does not exist in Italian.
2) VLC MEDIA Player . it needs no introduction and is the most famous and used open source media player in the world. VLC media player is available for Windows, Macintosh, Linux and is compatible with all popular video formats. The interface is excellent, in Italian, with simple menus and fully customizable toolbars. VLC is powerful, light, fast and has hotkeys that make it very easy to use. VLC is also capable of repairing corrupt or damaged videos and playing partially downloaded videos.
Advanced controls allow you to record streaming streams. VLC is a favorite of many connoisseurs of video playback on the computer and is completely self-sufficient in the sense that no additional codecs are needed for playback. VLC media player is one of the best in DVD playback, which has made it popular with XP users in the past. VLC also supports playback on Chromecast.
3) Media Player Classic Home Cinema is surely the easiest to use and install program, powerful, light and full of options. It is an incredibly small program in size with a wide range of features. Available only for Windows, MPC Home Cinema is similar, graphically, to the old Windows Media Player v6.4, but all the similarities end here.
Under the hood this program packs a lot of features, including codecs for viewing DVD, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG 4 and X.264, MP3 and Ogg video discs. It also includes QuickTime and RealPlayer (if installed on the computer) to play native files for these programs. To further extend its functionality, avoiding the installation of RealPlayer, WinAmp and Quicktime, you can download some codec packages. There will be hardly anything that MPC will not be able to play. MPC Home Cinema is the only product reviewed here that does not require installation on the PC, therefore it is portable and can be run from a USB stick as well as from the hard disk.
4) MPV is a simple, wonderfully minimalist video player that only has basic playback controls, a search bar, a subtitle tool and a button to go full screen on the home screen. This particular project is a fork of both MPlayer and mplayer2, a pure video player with minimal controls superimposed at the bottom, without interface and buttons external to the video. Between MPV and VLC, MPV is much more difficult to use if you want to do more than watch movies, but it is more efficient and less resource-demanding.
5) SMPlayer is one of those open source media players that has almost all the integrated features that a complete and performing media player should have.
It has a minimal interface with controls that only become visible when you hover your mouse over the screen near the bottom or top. It downloads together with an included codec package then plays all the media files and has an intelligent function to find subtitles. There are two modes for viewing and playback: quality or performance, so you can watch videos without slowing down due to system effort (on older and less powerful computers).
6) KMPlayer offers many advanced features, supports a wide range of codecs and formats, and is extremely customizable, available in multiple languages. With a minimalist, intuitive and functional user interface, all options are available on the right mouse button in the main window. The player is simple enough to use for ordinary people who don't ask for much more than the ability to watch movies on the computer, but even the more experienced will find a lot of configuration options power. For multimedia playback, it includes almost all essential decoders and also supports third-party codecs. KMPlayer was perhaps the first choice until PotPlayer was released, but since it is also available in Italian, perhaps the most recommended remains for some.
7) JetAudio Basic was mentioned in the article on the best alternatives to iTunes to manage iPod and iPhone on the computer. JetAudio, however, not only provides an excellent music manager, but is also a powerful multimedia player, complete and with many options. The media center can only be used for playing videos (in the initial selection after installation). Video quality is excellent, sound quality good, support for basic subtitles but with options for customization. JetAudio Basic is great if you are looking for a single program that supports music management and watching movies, playing audio CDs, ripping, recording, converting audio and video to different formats, listening to web radio .
The new JetVideo instead is only for playing videos. Be careful not to understand the Ask Toolbar and other sponsors during the installation.
8) UMPlayer is a cross-platform media player (Windows, Mac and Linux) based on MPlayer.
It is a universal open source program, in the sense that it includes over 270 inbuilt codecs and therefore becomes the number one if we talk about compatibility even with the lesser known digital formats, without worrying about installing additional codecs. The graphical interface, aesthetically pleasing, is simple and intuitive. The killer feature of UMPlayer is its integration with Youtube, to watch Youtube videos from the computer desktop. Another great feature is that there is no need to worry about searching for subtitles because the program automatically fetches them from the OpenSubtitles.org site in the Italian language. It also reads damaged media files and also scratched CDs and DVDs.
Among the best VLC-based media players to play audio and video on the PC that I had already reported, it is worth mentioning:
9) MPCStar, light and very powerful, with a super more modern interface among the best on this list. This Media Player plays most file formats without additional codecs including RAR archives without extracting them, DVDs and audio CDs and online video streaming. This media player is recommended for average users who are not going to touch advanced options and who just want a nice program to listen to music and watch movies on the computer.
10) GOM Player is another excellent alternative to VLC, available only for Windows, to play most multimedia files, including flv files with its internal codecs. A very noteworthy feature of GOM Player is its ability to play broken media files and partial ones of half-downloaded movies.
11) AllPlayer supports all the features of an advanced Media Player, with all the built-in audio and video codecs and various playback functions. These include: support for automatically identified and found subtitles, playback of Rar files without having to extract them and incomplete or partial files, playback of CDs and DVDs, Video Converter, Dolby Surround, SPDIF and 3D audio support, repair tool for Corrupted AVI files, Playlists, Automatic shutdown of the PC after a movie ends.
11) Zoom Player is one of the best programs to watch video on PC, free of charge, with many advanced functions and options to customize the interface. Supports all video formats by having codecs integrated.
12) Divx Player, the original player for watching Divx movies on your computer.
13) ACG Player is the perfect lightweight Media Player, designed for Windows 10 tablets, with a simplified interface and touch-based controls. In short, ACG Player is one of the few apps from the Microsoft Store that are worth using, which supports most multimedia codecs, playback from files, discs, external devices.
14) Macgo Free Media Player is a modern program that supports video playback in 4K resolution with DTS 5.1 for sound. The player works with BDMV, MKV, MOV, MP4, AVI, MP3 and many other formats, it also supports subtitles in SRT format.
15) 5KPlayer can play AVI, FLV, MKV, MTS / M2TS, H.265 / 264, VP8 / 9 and WebM video files, among others. 5KPlayer also works well for viewing content from websites like YouTube, Vimeo and DailyMotion and converting / saving videos. 5KPlayer also has an AirPlay function which allows you to stream multimedia content from Apple devices such as iPhone and iPad to PC.
16) Soda Player to watch streaming videos also on Chromecast (including Sopcast, Acestream and Torrent videos).
