VLC Media Player
The player that opens the file every other player refuses, with the decoders built in rather than pulled from a codec pack installed alongside it.
About VLC Media Player
VLC carries its own decoders, which is the entire reason it has outlived every player that relied on system codecs. A file with an unusual container, a broken index, a partial download or an obscure audio track opens here when it fails everywhere else, and it opens without installing a codec pack that quietly rewires playback for every other application on the machine.
It plays far more than local files. Network streams, capture devices, optical discs, RTSP and HTTP sources and raw device inputs all mount from the same open dialog, and the playlist handles a folder of mixed formats without complaining. Subtitles load automatically from a matching file name and can be resynchronised on the fly with a keyboard shortcut when they drift.
There is a surprising amount of tooling underneath the player surface. The conversion dialog transcodes between formats with configurable video and audio encoders, the streaming output can push a file or a capture device out over a network, and the effects panel carries an equaliser, compressor, spatialiser and a full set of video adjustments including crop, deinterlace and rotation.
It stays light. The application launches in a second on modest hardware, uses hardware decoding when a suitable GPU is present, and the interface stays out of the way with a skin system for anyone who wants it to look different. Portable use from a USB stick works with no installation at all.
What is included in this build
- Built in decoders covering nearly every container and codec in common use
- Plays incomplete, damaged and still downloading files without an index rebuild
- Network stream, capture device, optical disc and raw device input support
- Automatic subtitle loading with on the fly resynchronisation shortcuts
- Conversion and transcoding dialog with configurable video and audio encoders
- Streaming output for pushing a file or capture source over a network
- Audio equaliser, compressor and spatialiser plus video crop, deinterlace and rotation
- Hardware accelerated decoding with a skinnable interface and portable operation
Changed in version 3.0.23
- Additional hardware decode paths on current generation GPUs
- Improved handling of fragmented streaming containers
- Subtitle rendering fixes for right to left scripts
- Reduced startup time on machines with very large playlists
- Several interface language corrections
Installation walkthrough
These steps assume a clean machine. If a previous release of the same application is present, deal with that first, since an overlapping install is the most common cause of a setup that stops halfway.
- Extract the archive to any folder.
- Run the installer as administrator, or use the portable build with no installation at all.
- Choose the interface language on the first setup screen.
- Decide during setup which file associations to take over rather than accepting all of them.
- Enable hardware decoding from the input and codecs preferences page after first launch.
System requirements and file details
| Developer | VideoLAN |
|---|---|
| Release type | Open source |
| Licence | Free |
| Languages | Multilingual (over 50 interface languages) |
| Platforms | Windows 7, 8.1, 10 and 11, 32-bit and 64-bit |
| Processor | Any x86 or x64 processor, 1 GHz or faster |
| Memory | 512 MB minimum, 2 GB for high resolution playback |
| Graphics | Optional GPU hardware decode support |
| Disk space | 150 MB free |
| Installer type | Offline installer, portable build included |
| Architecture | 32-bit and 64-bit |
| Inputs | Local files, network streams, capture devices and optical discs |
| Output | Transcoding and network streaming |
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