VLC media player (VideoLAN), which reached version 2.2.1 in February, is an open source program that is often mentioned in the articles of this blog and which, together with Windows Media player and Real Player, is the reference program for multimedia computer technology. Put simply it is the best program for playing videos and it is an indispensable software to be installed on any computer and for any operating system, including Linux and Mac.
The reasons for this success undoubtedly stem from the fact that it already has all the codecs necessary to view almost all video formats (in the article on video codecs it is explained how to be sure you can see any movie on your computer).
Another specialty factor of this program is that it is the only or almost the only one that manages to preview the incomplete videos (the .part files).
VLC mediaplayer has a higher buffering speed and opens all common network sources.
The update to the new version 2.2.1 which was released this week therefore could not be underlined as an important event in the software landscape.
Among the new excellent features we have the possibility to play YouTube and DailyMotion videos directly by inserting the url or link of the video from the menu open new -> network source ; with the ability to save them on your computer
The functionality that most surprised me is that of recording: VLC mediaplayer is able to record streaming video streams and Rai TV channels and is also among the best programs to record from the desktop and record from a TV card (see article on best programs to manage a DVB-T digital TV card).
Important and much improved the conversion function between one video format and another also useful for saving a DVD on the computer in compressed format.
For these conversion operations, I refer to the articles on the best programs to convert videos and specifically on the video conversion from Divx to DVD and from DVD to Divx or MP4.
Minor changes include the presence of an equalizer, the presence of an editor to make a playlist, the on-screen controls during full screen viewing.
VLC is capable of opening RAR files and viewing videos that are archived with WinRAR.
Here the link for the download of the real program VLC Player 2.2.1 .
You can download the real VLC for free as a Windows 10 and 8 app
VLC was also released in 2015 as an app for ChromeOS .
On Smartphone and tablet there is VLC for Android
VLC on iPhone and iPad
READ ALSO: Guide to the main functions of VLC
On another page, the best free VLC-based media players are reported while in a more general and complete article the 10 best media players for PC are described.
