I use daplayer because the pause and rewind works better than vlc which glitches out if I pause etc.

I use Media Player Classic Home Cinema (MPC-HC) almost exclusively. It has a large number of "shaders" that can be applied, including Studio/Computer RGB conversions. For 1080 60P projects, I've been using XAVC/S as an intermediate at full scale (0-255). Using MPC-HC, I can preview on my TV after applying the Computer RGB to Studio RGB shader prior to final render. Plays well, even at relatively high bit rates. Keyboard shortcuts enable quick and very responsive playback control. I've only used VLC on those rare occasions, where a file would not render in MPC-HC. And finally Windows Media Player--almost never.

wwaag

Zoom player here, because it has a very simple appearance but a sophisticated menu. For more feedback, do a search; topic was discussed in some detail last year.

I prefer VLC, it plays back just about any format including <.iso> disc image files. All with good quality and w/o A/V sync issues. It also has lots of customizing options.

I test on many: order of used most to least:

1. VLC
1.5 PotPlayer seems almost as good as VLC, but it is too new to me to trust it
2. Windows Media Player
3. Windows Home Media Player Classic - or whatever it is called
4. Quicktime - almost NEVER look at this unless something doesn't open with the above

erm... I've noticed that the default of VLC plays with brightness elevated, and or Windows, plays back darker... not sure what that is all about yet, but it is confusing.

I've considered VLC Player as it seems to have the best reviews for a third party Player. I'm wanting it specifically for reviewing rendered videos on my desktop.

My reason for posting this question has to do with using the Handbrake script with Vegas Pro 13 v428. Using Handbrake 9.9 rendered out a video clip that was initially looking corrupted in the video signal yesterday and I had no idea why. The image quality was far superior to what I have been getting out of PPro CS6 and the render times were blazingly fast as well. Opened the same video file today in WMP and the video corruption appears to have disappeared.

Not sure why just yet. Any ideas?

WMP deinterlaces everything to Blend.
VLC has a variety of deinterlacers, including Bob and Yadif 2x (for 60p), except you have to set them every time. Default is no deinterlace.

As I haven't shot interlaced footage in over 5 yrs, my only concern is a reliable media player to review my renders before submitting them to the production houses I work with.

I shoot Canon DSLR footage presently and have my sights on getting a couple of SONY A7s bodies to replace them later this year to use with my Nikon MF prime lens kit.

I like WMP (1) because it's already on the machine and (2) because it's what your non-expert (ie everybody else) user is using. There is a certain logic to making things look right on what your users are using. This does break down when WMP doesn't automatically work with certain codecs.

+1000 votes for the A7s -- it is an extraordinary tool provided you can live with the rolling shutter

Like Andy_L, I use Windows Media Player because it's there.

This is the version I use on Windows 7 Professional:


I usually push the video to a Sony TV or a Blu-ray player attached to other TVs:





When I'm just watching for entertainment, I navigate from the TV to the system where the shared content resides and play from there.

A note of caution.
Always check with your wife before you push something you think she really should see. She may really be absorbed in that episode of Gunsmoke.

VLC - it plays everything.

1 wmp - as andy wrote - it's installed by default and used by any non-tech pc user, which most of my viewers are ;-)

2 vlc - plays anything i throw at it

For DVDs and straight video files (no menu) I prefer Media Player Classic - Home Cinema because it plays HD a bit more smoothly than some others on lower powered machines, and is reasonably quick and simple to use.

For BDs with menus and possibly with copy protection, I normally use Cyberlink PowerDVD. No free player will play a BD menu as far as I know.

I prefer Media Player Classic - Home Cinema because it plays HD a bit more smoothly than some others on lower powered machines

+1 on that. My Nettop PC (Atom CPU, Ion GPU) I use to play my HD videos on my TV, only works with MPC-HC and this is with hardware DXVA playback in use.

>erm... I've noticed that the default of VLC plays with brightness elevated, and or Windows, plays back darker... not sure what that is all about yet, but it is confusing.

Yes, you are not going mad, but dig a little deeper and you will notice that VLC doesn't change the levels of every video, just some. In fact, you will find that VLC changes the levels on exactly the same video formats that Vegas does!

If you look at some of my older posts, you will notice that I have been complaining for quite some time now that on certain (mostly but not exclusively MOV) formats, Vegas will stretch the video levels from 16-235 to 0-255. That in these cases, it is not that the video is in the cRGB range, it's just that Vegas unnaturally stretches the levels to make it behave that way.

What you are noticing is that VLC does this same stretch. It's only on certain formats. It's mostly but not exclusively on MOV formats. For instance, VLC will stretch the levels on my Nikon D5100 mov footage and on the MOV formats from my Panasonic GH3, but it will not stretch the levels from AVCHD formats from the GH3.

Whatever codecs are built into VLC are making the same range adjustments (errors) that Vegas is making.

OK, I gotta know. What's VLC? I use Nero Showtime.
JJK

VLC = http://www.videolan.org/

I use Windows Media Player 'because it's there', for almost everything.
About the only exception is when i watch .MP4 files i've created on my old XP desktop as WMP won't play them, so i use VLC for that. The only reason i don't use VLC more often is because it's dog slow starting up.

I don't like VLC - I find the interface cumbersome and annoying. I much prefer MPC-BE a version of Media Player Classic. I use it on both Windows 7 and 8. It runs without the need to install anything. I've never liked Windows Media Player and it's always one of the first things I look to remove.

@Kit

Oh, I like that one! I just installed it and plays back my 4K XAVC-S files too; WMP cant. I also don't like VLC for the same reasons despite all its options.

I don't like VLC, sure it play everything you throw at it but it will freeze if you try to rewind the video. I like wmp and I just tried MPC-BE and it is nice and I like it. Thkaks to KIT.

VLC - It plays everything !

Default player is Windows Media Player. I use WMP to review videos I make because it's the player on every Windows PC. But WMP doesn't play some video formats so for everything else VLC.