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| Developer(s) | Gretech Corporation |
|---|---|
| Initial release | January 7, 2003 |
| Stable release | 2.1.18.4762 (2009-06-09) [+/−] |
| Preview release | none (none) [+/−] |
| Operating system | Win 98se/ME/2K/XP/Vista |
| Available in | English, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified) |
| Type | Media player |
| License | Proprietary freeware |
| Website | GOM Player |
GOM Player (Gretech Online Movie Player) is a freeware media player for Microsoft Windows. It is the primary client player for South Korean GOM-TV and is more popular in South Korea than any other media player. Key strengths are the ability to play the majority of media files without the need to obtain a codec, and the ability to play some broken media files, both advantages over traditional players, like Windows Media Player. GOM player can also play .flv files. It was created by the Gretech Corporation of South Korea.
The word gom (곰) means "bear" in Korean, and GOM Player uses a bear's paw as its symbol.
Contents |
Supported files or devices
- Incomplete/damaged AVI file (skip damaged frames)
- Locked media files (with realtime index rebuilding for AVI files being shared or downloaded in a consecutive order)
- HTTP Streaming (ASF/OGG/MP3/AVI)
- DirectShow playback (AVI, WMV, Matroska, QuickTime, MP4, 3GP, Google Video, Flash Video, VOB, Ogg, OGM, RMVB, MPEG-1, MPEG-2)
- RealMedia formats (needs Real Alternative)
- QuickTime formats (needs QuickTime Alternative)
- DVD Playback (needs MPEG-2 codec)
- Audio CD (2000, XP only)
- Video CD/SVCD/XCD
Covered video/audio formats
- Video formats
- MPEG-1, MPEG-4 Part 2, H.263(+), H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC), MSVIDC, MS MPEG4 V1/2/3, FLV1, MJPEG
Subtitles
- Unicode Text Subtitles
- SAMI (smi)
- SubRipText (srt), MicroDVD (sub), SMIL/RealText
- SubStation Alpha (ssa), Advanced SubStation Alpha (ass)
- VOBsub (sub/idx)
- Embedded subtitles of ASF, MKV, OGM
Codec finder
For audio/video files that GOM Player can not play due to a missing codec, GOM Player will try to find one using GUID. Once it finds a match, it will direct you to a webpage where you can download and install additional codecs.
GOM TV
GOM TV is a popular streaming service in South Korea, and as the most attractive feature in GOM Player, it is chiefly responsible for GOM Player's overwhelming popularity in South Korea. The GOM TV service offers users various video contents ranging from National Geographic documentaries and television dramas, to major motion pictures and adult videos.
The service mixes both ad-supported and pay-per-view content. Prices range from 500 won and up, with most movies available for 2,000 won. (1,000 won is approximately US$1.)[1]
While functionality is very similar in the English and Korean versions of GOM Player, GOM TV is absent in the English version.
The GOM Player (up to V 2.1.9) allowed American users to connect to the GOMTV StarLeague (a channel of GOMTV) to watch the latest matches of StarCraft leagues played in South Korea. This new addition to the American release was tested during the GOMTV Star Invitational which was aired in the month of February. Despite this new addition, the GOMTV service still remains absent from the American release (and those who watch StarCraft matches must use the website to connect to the streaming servers). GOM TV now shows e-sports games of Starcraft, Warcraft, and A.V.A. Users can watch the videos for free or choose to pay certain fee to download VODs.
Popularity in South Korea
GOM Player is South Korea's most popular media player; as of July 2007, it had 8.4 million users, compared to 5.4 million of Microsoft's Windows Media Player. A survey of usage over a single week by Metrix, an internet survey company, found that 69.8% of users watched pornography, as compared to 43.2% who watched cinematic movies, 29.6% who watched television dramas, 21.8% who watched variety shows, 11% who watched cartoons, and 7% who watched music videos.[2] Gretech disputes the credibility of this report. Metrix obtained the survey data from 12,000 internet users who agreed to install a monitoring tool and only file names were used to categorize media files. Gretech also noted that the media files played by GOM Player are not monitored.[3]
Controversy
GOM Player is listed on FFmpeg's Hall of Shame indicating that it is violating FFmpeg's software license terms.[4]
References
- ^ finance.yahoo.com
- ^ "Two in Three GOM Player Users Watch Porn". The Chosun Ilbo. 2007-07-20. http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200707/200707200020.html. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
- ^ "GOM Player doesn't monitor played files!". inews24. 2007-07-22. http://www.inews24.com/php/news_view.php?g_serial=273191&g_menu=020900. Retrieved 2007-10-31.
- ^ FFmpeg Hall of Shame
External links
- Official GOM Player site
- Official GomTV Site (Korean)
- Official Gom Software site
- Official GomTV Site (American)
- Software Review by Softpedia
- Software Review by Techtree
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