Is VLC best substitute for Win MediaPlayer?

earthrisers wrote on 6/3/2015, 12:31 AM
after win8 made its own most recent updates on my laptop, I was playing a video and a message came up saying that I had to download a new version of the app in order to keep playing my video, and that I should get it at the Windows store.
This was fairly enraging, because it happened WHILE we were playing a video. It stopped playing the video,and said we had to update in order to continue playing it.
I suspect it's a part of MSoft's strategy of going to subscription basis for Windows 10 and probably all their other apps too. So I'm jumping ship. No more MS media player for me. As far as I can tell, VLC Media Player is the best replacement... But I thought I'd post the question here in case anyone has knowledge of a superior replacement.
-Ernie

Comments

john_dennis wrote on 6/3/2015, 12:52 AM
Have you considered the possibility that your system might have been hi-jacked by adware?

My main system:
Motherboard: ASUS ProArt Z790-CREATOR WIFI
CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K - Core i9 13th Gen Raptor Lake 24-Core (8P+16E) P-core Base Frequency: 3.0 GHz E-core Base Frequency: 2.2 GHz LGA 1700 125W Intel UHD Graphics 770 Desktop Processor - BX8071513900K
GPU: Currently intel on-die video adapter
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 64GB (2 x 32GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR5 5600 (PC5 44800) Desktop Memory Model CMK64GX5M2B5600C40
Disk O/S & Programs: WD Black SN850 NVMe SSD WDS100T1X0E - SSD - 1 TB - PCIe 4.0 x4 (NVMe)
Disk Active Projects: 1TB & 2TB WD BLACK SN750 NVMe Internal PCI Express 3.0 x4 Solid State Drives
Disk Other: WD Ultrastar/Hitachi Hard Drives: WDBBUR0080BNC-WRSN, HGST HUH728080ALE600, 724040ALE640, HDS3020BLA642
Case: LIAN LI PC-90 Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Case
CPU cooling: CORSAIR - iCUE H115i RGB PRO XT 280mm Radiator CPU Liquid Cooling System
Power supply: SeaSonic SS-750KM3 750W 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Drive Bay: Kingwin KF-256-BK 2.5" and 3.5" Trayless Hot Swap Rack with USB 3
Sound card: Realtek S1220A on motherboard. Recording done on another system.
Primary Monitor: ASUS ProArt 31.5" 1440p HDR10 Monitor PA328QV
O/S: Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19045 Build 19045
Camera: Sony RX10 Model IV

https://www.youtube.com/user/thedennischannel

PeterDuke wrote on 6/3/2015, 1:27 AM
Another free media player to consider is Media Player Classic - Home Cinema (MPC-HC).

Cyberlink PowerDVD is a good paid for alternative, with extra features.
John_Cline wrote on 6/3/2015, 3:17 AM
About a month ago I installed PotPlayer and it has been the best player I've used in a long time. It has hardware GPU acceleration and it has played everything I have thrown at it VERY smoothly, including some 4k-60p MP4 files.

http://www.videohelp.com/software/PotPlayer
Kit wrote on 6/3/2015, 8:35 AM
I prefer MPC -BE - it plays more kinds of files than MPC-HC. Not keen on VLC - I find customisation cumbersome. MPC-BE works well from the commandline as well.
OldSmoke wrote on 6/3/2015, 9:14 AM
I have MPC-BE too and really like it.

Proud owner of Sony Vegas Pro 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 & 13 and now Magix VP15&16.

System Spec.:
Motherboard: ASUS X299 Prime-A

Ram: G.Skill 4x8GB DDR4 2666 XMP

CPU: i7-9800x @ 4.6GHz (custom water cooling system)
GPU: 1x AMD Vega Pro Frontier Edition (water cooled)
Hard drives: System Samsung 970Pro NVME, AV-Projects 1TB (4x Intel P7600 512GB VROC), 4x 2.5" Hotswap bays, 1x 3.5" Hotswap Bay, 1x LG BluRay Burner

PSU: Corsair 1200W
Monitor: 2x Dell Ultrasharp U2713HM (2560x1440)

videoITguy wrote on 6/3/2015, 9:27 AM
VLC is clearly outranked by other choices...and for all its faults Win Media Player is still the most universal comfort zone for most file distribution.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 6/3/2015, 9:45 AM
I have win 8.1 and use Media Player sometimes. Never had it say I needed to pay to keep playing.

But I also use Media Player Classic & VLC for majority of video playback. Both have their pluses and minuses, some play a file the other won't (IE one hangs on some file types).
wwaag wrote on 6/3/2015, 10:45 AM
I mostly use MPC-HC that has one advantage over MPC-BE--the use of shaders. You can apply conversions such as 0-255 to 16-235 or vice-versa which can be useful for previewing how your media will appear on either a TV or computer screen, regardless of how it was encoded.

wwaag

AKA the HappyOtter at https://tools4vegas.com/. System 1: Intel i7-8700k with HD 630 graphics plus an Nvidia 1050ti graphics card. System 2: Intel i7-3770k with HD 4000 graphics plus an AMD RX550 graphics card. System 3: Laptop. Dell Inspiron Plus 16. Intel i7-11800H, Intel Graphics. Current cameras include Panasonic FZ2500, GoPro Hero11 and Hero8 Black plus a myriad of smartPhone, pocket cameras, video cameras and film cameras going back to the original Nikon S.

malowz wrote on 6/3/2015, 11:56 AM
MPC-HC + ffdshow
wwjd wrote on 6/3/2015, 12:23 PM
VLC
WIN MEDIA PLAYER
MPC
QUICK TIME

in that order.
I tried PotPlayer over the last year also, and really liked it.

Kinda confused how VLC does NOT play 4K stuff back smooth on two laptops, but other players play it back with zero jitters? But VLC plays it fine on my desktop.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 6/3/2015, 12:47 PM
I don't even have QT player installed. Never liked it. Forgot it even had a player!
wwjd wrote on 6/3/2015, 1:03 PM
I hate it as well, but like to test file output with various players to ensure compatibility. That is the ONLY reason I have it installed.
PeterDuke wrote on 6/3/2015, 7:01 PM
You must have QT installed if you want to process MOV (and MP4?) video in Vegas.
john_dennis wrote on 6/3/2015, 8:19 PM
"[I]You must have QT installed if you want to process MOV (and MP4?) video in Vegas.[/I]"

That's probably true for most .MOV files but Vegas Pro 12 and later handles some .MOV files with a Sony .dll. My camera happens to be one of them, though others like the 5D Mark III require Quicktime, I'm told.

My main system:
Motherboard: ASUS ProArt Z790-CREATOR WIFI
CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K - Core i9 13th Gen Raptor Lake 24-Core (8P+16E) P-core Base Frequency: 3.0 GHz E-core Base Frequency: 2.2 GHz LGA 1700 125W Intel UHD Graphics 770 Desktop Processor - BX8071513900K
GPU: Currently intel on-die video adapter
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 64GB (2 x 32GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR5 5600 (PC5 44800) Desktop Memory Model CMK64GX5M2B5600C40
Disk O/S & Programs: WD Black SN850 NVMe SSD WDS100T1X0E - SSD - 1 TB - PCIe 4.0 x4 (NVMe)
Disk Active Projects: 1TB & 2TB WD BLACK SN750 NVMe Internal PCI Express 3.0 x4 Solid State Drives
Disk Other: WD Ultrastar/Hitachi Hard Drives: WDBBUR0080BNC-WRSN, HGST HUH728080ALE600, 724040ALE640, HDS3020BLA642
Case: LIAN LI PC-90 Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Case
CPU cooling: CORSAIR - iCUE H115i RGB PRO XT 280mm Radiator CPU Liquid Cooling System
Power supply: SeaSonic SS-750KM3 750W 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Drive Bay: Kingwin KF-256-BK 2.5" and 3.5" Trayless Hot Swap Rack with USB 3
Sound card: Realtek S1220A on motherboard. Recording done on another system.
Primary Monitor: ASUS ProArt 31.5" 1440p HDR10 Monitor PA328QV
O/S: Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19045 Build 19045
Camera: Sony RX10 Model IV

https://www.youtube.com/user/thedennischannel

NormanPCN wrote on 6/3/2015, 8:36 PM
Vegas directly handles MOV files with AVC video and PCM audio. This is typical of most DSLR output including Nikon, Canon and Panasonic.
Stringer wrote on 6/5/2015, 9:55 AM
@ John Cline

Based on your recommendation I installed PotPlayer and could not get any audio with DVDs..

The audio settings were just too overwhelming for me to try to guess what might work..

Also, during install I was asked if I wanted to include some ' codecs '... I declined not knowing what havoc might be wreaked..

Do you know what my audio problem might have been? - Acer laptop with Realtek audio, working fine with all other applications...
Hulk wrote on 6/5/2015, 12:12 PM
Another vote for Potplayer.
earthrisers wrote on 6/23/2015, 6:33 PM
My apologies to Win Media Player...
A wee bit of more research revealed that it wasn't Media Player that interrupted my video and demanded an app update, but a piece of the bloatware that came preinstalled on my ASUS Win8.1 laptop. ASUS installs its own video app, and makes it the default player.
And through incompetent or inconsiderate (or both) design of the user-experience part of the software, their app DOES interrupt right in the middle of some video you're watching, telling you you can't watch anymore unless you update their app from the app store.
No way.
The "innocent" Media Player is now my default video player on the laptop.