Comments on: VideoLAN releases VLC 1.0.0: Your media will never be the same

VLC was already the world's best media player, but in version 1.0.0 it gets even better.

[vikinzer]

I just really hope they fixed the subtitle problems their last couple releases had. They had wonderful support for discreet subtitle streams in older versions, and then a bunch of files I had just stopped working. It was frustrating to say the least. I could open the files, and the subtitle tracks were listed, but when I selected them nothing would show up in the video pane. This was a major regression, and if they can fix it VLC will once again be the best video player on the planet for me. Until then I'm just waiting.

[nizfox]

I have tried it and it was awesome.

[jbuberel]

And please, please support the ongoing development of this wonderful project by pressing the big "DONATE" button on the project home page.

-jason

[Matt Asay]

Just did. Thanks for the reminder, Jason.

[Random_Walk]

...what jbuberel said.

I'll happily put in my vote that, hell yes, VLC works beautifully!

[hfarooq]

vlc da best.no doubt

[umbrae]

I love VLC. Its definitely one kick butt video player. I still use Media Player for MP3s because of the nice library, but all videos go to VLC.

[colz10]

kudos for the ECUADOR reference.

I didnt know about this media player. thanks.

[Vurk]

Sounds like Media Player Classic has some competition. I, too, hope VLC has fixed their subtitle issue.

[livingaudio]

cant wait to Dl the new version! i have had a a great exp with VLC so far :-)

[redmarine]

I've used VLC since I began to download videos from YouTube. It's one of the internet's finest applications.

[bobmarleypeople]

I used VLC for a while, but then realised how awful it was. Subtitle rendering is awful, the general interface is awful and it's the opposite of "user friendly" (whatever that is). Sure the codec support is pretty high, but then I use Perian so the majority of them work just as good (if not better) with Quicktime. The only thing missing from Perian is Ogg Vobis video support (which almost no one with sense uses these days).

[vikinzer]

I was the first to post, and it was with criticism, but seriously your complaints here don't have any backup or focus. I gave a specific bug, and the exact way it manifested.

"Subtitle Rendering is awful". Really? Because prior to the feature that broke their subtitle stream functionality it was quite readable, and supported external subtitle files far more reliably than other video players I've used. Did the text run off the screen? Was there specific coloration problems that made it difficult to read, are you perhaps referring to anti-aliasing issues. Any of of these bugs/lacking features could easily have been implemented since you used it last.

"General Interface is the opposite of 'user friendly'" As you so aptly say, "whatever that is". I happened to love the old VLC interface. I liked being able to right click and have everything at my disposal from fullscreen mode. It allowed for much more rapid shifting of deinterlacing modes/subtitle tracks/audio tracks than on any other video player I have ever used. Many of those changes would have required me delving into properties panes in other programs.

Remember that this is the 1.0 release. So everything before this was an in development program. Which means playing with layout and design. So complaining about features they hadn't included, or perfected rings fairly hollow when the developers weren't even pretending they were done with the program. If there are major bugs in the program now that the developers have graced it with a 1.0 moniker you can complain, it does carry a higher standard. Complaints about whatever version you used in the past ring fairly petty and hollow.

[LionMage1]

The video codec for Ogg is called Theora. Ogg Vorbis is for audio files (it's comprarble to MP3 and AAC).

The bit about Ogg video support being something "no one with sense uses" is a bit of FUD, and sounds like a troll from an H.264 partisan, since the big debate within the HTML5 community is whether to standardize on Theora (which is entirely free, both as in beer and as in speech) or on H.264 (which is severely patent encumbered) for video on the web. Not that this would eliminate the use or support of other formats, but it would provide a baseline.

There's a good comparison of various video codecs for their bandwidth consumption, which is usually what people claim is a problem with Ogg Theora; it isn't, but that's the claim that some partisans make. Check the comparison out here and see for yourself: http://people.xiph.org/~greg/video/ytcompare/comparison.html

[renGek]

good lord its about time it made it to version 1.0. Seems like I've been on .7 to .9 for years and years....wait I have. But even at version .7 it was far superior to almost every other player out there. KM player I would say is a close #2. I have needed both in the past.

Seriously, why are there bulky nonsense out there like real player, windows media player and quicktime when there are better alternatives like vlc?

[Shankland]

My favorite distinguishing feature of VLC is that I can use the keyboard controls to fast-forward and rewind when transcribing interviews. But I use it for a lot of other things, too--definitely a very useful program.

[plbyrd]

Who exactly pays the licensing fees for all of the patented technologies involved here? How exactly is this VLC player a good thing? Want to know why the media companies don't distribute this free software on every DVD? BECAUSE IT'S BREAKING THE LAW AND TRYING TO DESTROY THE COPYRIGHT SYSTEM THAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE FOR MEDIA CREATORS (ie. artists) TO EARN A PROFIT!!!!!

[ddesy]

Obviously you have no clue what VLC is really for...

[pentest]

yeah, go take some meds.

What is VLC stealing exactly?

[vikinzer]

Um . . . Media Creators? Your accusation about VLC, which is accurate in some markets and inaccurate in other markets has no bearing on the effect you claim it has. Codec licensing, or bypassing codec licensing has absolutely no effect on media creators (i.e. artists) at all. It in fact helps artists by giving people access to a program that will display their art. Other technologies are necessary to crack a file that is copy protected and allow you to pirate it, so VLC is completely neutral on that front.

Where the violation becomes an issue is for the technology companies that own the codec technologies. I guarantee movie makers don't care about that technology. They perhaps care about DRM, but that brings us back to the arguments in paragraph 1.

Also, violating copyright law does not destroy the system. It doesn't even come close to attempting to destroy the system. If the owners of the patented technology that is packaged with VLC chose to litigate they could. For some reason they haven't. I have always found that perplexing, but the powers that be have their reasons. The fact that they have not litigated does mean that the existence of VLC doesn't pose the level of threat you claim here. I guarantee if VLC were making a stab at DESTROYING THE COPYRIGHT SYSTEM that they base their business models on, they'd have been in court a long LO. . . oh sorry I forgot that whole all caps netiquette thing. Please forgive my transgressions a couple lines up. Anyway, VLC would have already been sued. Thinking before you post inflammatory comments like this might just be a good thing.

[Thranx]

This is a valid complaint. I think what plbyrd is getting at is that the codecs themselves are copywrited code, and you generally have to pay someone a license to decode and a much more expensive license to encode.

VLC is most certainly not paying for each of these licenses as that would be cuh-razy prices for each of the copies of thier software folks have downloaded.

My understanding has always been that players like VLC and codec packs like K-Lite are not on the up-and-up.

[RobD60]

The money isn't made in distributing players, otherwise no player would be free. After all, how much did you pay for RealPlayer, or the QuickTime player, or the Flash player, or Windows Media Player? The money is made in distributing the encoders for the different formats; that's what you'll pay Apple or Adobe for. VLC doesn't distribute a program that encodes content into a proprietary format. Ergo, Apple, RealMedia, Adobe and Windows aren't losing money.

[rogerpack2005]

Their DVDCSS is not patent friendly, is it?
http://www.videolan.org/doc/faq/en/index.html#id447979

[ddesy]

Let me know when VLC gains pulldown removal to allow proper viewing of film-originated interlaced content. Until then, it isn't good for 100% of video types.

[pentest]

I like VLC, it is coming along. I still prefer XINE for various formats on disk and gxine for various file formats I happen to download.

[pentest]

And nothing beats Amarok for playing audio files.

[queticomn]

VLC is top player in my book.

[rapier1]

Its a great and a very versatile player but I'm not a fan of some of the UI choices they made.

[slumbergod]

I have been a user of VLC for several years now. I remember when I first tried it on Windows - I hated it! It was ugly and had none of the refinement that commercial media players had. But those criticisms were really just because I was unfamiliar with it. It uses less resources than bloated proprietary alternatives and plays almost *anything*! No, it is not perfect but it sure beats everything else.

For me, version 1.0 (on Xubuntu) is the best version yet. It is as essential as Firefox and OpenOffice. I even use it to play mp3s and oggs.

[Ted Miller]

As far as I know, there isn't a media player out there that can beat it! No cumbersome and confusing codec packs to worry about. No hoping that video will work, it just will! Now thats a way a program should work! Now if only everyone else could follow their example. Microsoft with all their billions could not even get near the success that these people got to. I am sure they will steal it and rape it to oblivion like they do with everything else.; It really interesting that Homeland Security doesn't take Microsft down for all their terriost activities that they have been porforming against us all these years. Now we are going to get the Windows 7 Bomb. Um lets also not forget the their greatest terriost threat in the form of a Browser Operating System where Um... They have full control over.... YOU!