Media player is a term typically used to describe computer software for playing back multimedia files. Most software media players support an array of media formats, including both audio and video files.
Some media players focus only on audio or video and are known as audio players and video players respectively. The producers of these players usually focus on providing a better user experience as they are specifically tailored toward the media type.
Microsoft Windows comes with pre-loaded Windows Media Player. The latest is Windows Media Player 12, which is bundled with Windows 7. Mac OS X comes pre-loaded with Quicktime Player for playing Quicktime movies and iTunes for playing a variety of media formats. Winamp supports Apple iPods and other portables like Creative's Zen while also supporting audio and video playback. Linux distributions come pre-loaded with various media players including Amarok, VLC, MPlayer, xine, and Totem.
List of media players
| Name | Audio | Video | Operating System | License | Developer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALLPlayer | Yes | Yes | Windows | own | ||
| Amarok | Yes | No | Linux/UNIX (KDE), Mac OS X and Windows (testing, QT/KDE dependent) | GPL | ||
| aTunes | Yes | No | Windows, Linux, Solaris | GPL | ||
| Bearshare | Yes | No | Windows | own | ||
| Boxee | Yes | Yes | Mac, Apple TV, Windows, Linux, Ubuntu (for x86 processors) | GPL and closed | ||
| broadPlayer | Yes | Yes | Web based - works in modern browsers | own | ||
| Chroma | No | Yes | Mac | own | ||
| cmus | Yes | No | POSIX-compatible | GPL | ||
| Exaile | Yes | No | Linux | GPL | ||
| Extended Module Player | Yes | No | Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD | GPL | ||
| Festastic! | Yes | No | Linux, Mac, Windows | own | ||
| Flash MP3 Player | Yes | No | Web based - works in modern browsers | own | ||
| FLV-Media Player | Yes | Yes | Windows | Proprietary (Freeware) | ||
| foobar2000 | Yes | No | Windows | own | ||
| GOM player | Yes | Yes | Windows | own | ||
| Kantaris | Yes | Yes | Windows | GPL / LGPL | ||
| KMPlayer | Yes | Yes | Linux, Mac, Windows | GPL | ||
| KSP Sound Player | Yes | No | Windows, Linux | BSD | ||
| LoomTV 1.0 | Yes | Yes | Mac, Windows | proprietary (freeware) | ||
| iMesh | Yes | Yes | Mac, Windows | own | ||
| iTunes | Yes | Yes | Mac, Windows | own | ||
| jetAudio | Yes | Yes | Windows | Freeware (basic edition) | Cowon America | |
| J. River Media Center | Yes | Yes | Windows | own | ||
| MediaMonkey | Yes | No | Windows | own | ||
| Media Player Classic | Yes | Yes | Windows | GPL | ||
| Media Go | Yes | Yes | Windows | Proprietary (Freeware) | Sony Creative Software | |
| Media Player Classic Home Cinema | Yes | Yes | Windows | GPL | ||
| MPlayer | Yes | Yes | POSIX-compatible, Mac OS X, Windows, AmigaOS, MorphOS | GPL | ||
| Mplayerxp | Yes | Yes | POSIX-compatible, Windows | GPL | ||
| mufin player | Yes | No | Windows | own | mufin.com | |
| MusicMatch Jukebox | Yes | No | Windows | own | ||
| MusicBee | Yes | No | Windows | own | Steven Mayall | |
| Napster | Yes | No | Windows | own | ||
| Narrowstep Player | Yes | Yes | All | own | ||
| Ogle | Yes | Yes | *BSD, Linux, POSIX OSes | GPL | Chalmers University of Tech. | |
| Open Cubic Player | Yes | No | DOS/Windows 9x/me, POSIX OSes | GPL | ||
| Oregan Media Browser | Yes | Yes | All | own | ||
| OS FLV Player | Yes | Yes | All | GPL | ||
| PowerDVD | No | Yes | Windows | own (CyberLink) | ||
| QuickTime | Yes | Yes | Mac OS X, Windows | own (Apple) | ||
| QuuxPlayer | Yes | No | Windows | own | ||
| RealPlayer | Yes | Yes | Linux, Windows, Mac OS X, Windows Mobile, Palm OS, Symbian OS | own | ||
| Ruckus Player | Yes | Yes | Windows | own | ||
| Snow Player | Yes | Yes | Windows | own | ||
| Songbird | Yes | No | Windows, Mac, Linux | GPL | ||
| Spider Player | Yes | No | Windows | own | ||
| Splash player | Yes | Yes | Windows | own | ||
| Spotify | Yes | No | Windows, Mac | own | ||
| The KMPlayer | Yes | Yes | Windows | own | ||
| Tronme | Yes | Yes | Windows | own | ||
| ViewOn.tv Media Player | Yes | Yes | Windows | own | ||
| VLC Media Player | Yes | Yes | Linux/Unix, Windows, Mac OS X, BeOS, BSD, AmigaOS, MorphOS | GPL | ||
| Winamp | Yes | Yes | Windows[1], Linux (only version 3) | own | ||
| Windows Media Player | Yes | Yes | Windows, Mac OS X, Windows Mobile | own | ||
| WinDVD | No | Yes | Windows | own (InterVideo) | ||
| XBMC (XBox Media Center) | Yes | Yes | Xbox game-console, Windows (partial port to Win32), Linux, Mac | GPL / LGPL | ||
| xine | Yes | Yes | Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, IRIX, Mac OS X | GPL | ||
| XMMS | Yes | No | POSIX-compatible | GPL | ||
| XMPlay | Yes | No | Windows | own | un4seen Developments | |
| Yahoo! Music Jukebox | Yes | No | Windows | own | ||
| yasssu.com | Yes | Yes | Windows & Mac | yasssu GmbH | ||
| Zinf | Yes | No | Linux, Windows | GPL | ||
| Zoom Player | Yes | Yes | Windows | own | ||
| Zero MusicPlayer | Yes | No | Windows | own | Zero MusicPlayer | |
| Zune Media Player | Yes | Yes | Windows | own |
Many media players use libraries. The library is designed to help you organize, or catalog, your music into categories such as genre, year, rating or other. Good examples of media players that include media libraries are Winamp, Windows Media Player, iTunes, RealPlayer, Amarok and ALLPlayer.
Notes:
See also
- List of other software video players
- Comparison of media players
- List of multimedia (audio/video) codecs
- Comparison of (audio/video) container formats
- FFmpeg, cross-platform, open source, audio and video codecs suit/library
- Adobe Media Player
- HD media player
External links
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