VLC Media Player is a worldwide media player on multiplatform. You can get comprehensive format support and video streaming/converting/editing functions. There are many positive comments about VLC Media Player. However, some people think VLC Media Player is overpraised. VLC Media Player is not as good as other people describe. Is VLC Media Player the best? You can check the following VLC Media Player review to find your answer. Moreover, you can get some nice VLC Media Player alternatives to play multimedia files smoothly as well.

Part 1: VLC Media Player Review

VLC has held the media player crown for years, even before graduating from its beta phase in 2009. The free, open-source software is capable of playing just about any media format you can imagine. VLC Media Player is hugely popular, and for good reason – it's completely free, supports almost all file formats without the need to download additional codecs, can optimize video and audio.

Here are some unbiased reviews of VLC Media Player software. You can know what VLC Media Player is, what you can/cannot get from VLC Media Player and other questions in details.

VLC Media Player Overview

• Multiplatform

VLC Media Player is a free and open source media player that runs on almost all platforms. You can download VLC Media Player for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and Linux from its website or official stores safely.

• Multimedia

Thanks to the powerful input media and formats support, you can use VLC Media Player to play most popular media files. In spite of the common video and audio formats, you can use VLC Media Player to play Blu-rays, DVDs, audio CDs, VCDs and other streaming protocols.

• Safe & free to use

VLC Media Player is completely free to use. There is no spyware, bundleware, ads or user tracking before/during/after playing with VLC Media Player.

VLC Media Player Pros

  1. VLC Player is capable to play media files, discs, webcams, devices and streams for free on multiplatform.
  2. Play all formats including MPEG-1/2, DivX 1/2/3/4/5/6, MPEG-4, ASP, MPEG Layer 1/2/3, Vorbis, DTS, etc.
  3. Convert video/audio, sync subtitles, filter video/audio and apply other effects.
  4. Hardware decoding. The media loading speed is fast.
  5. Support screen recording with VLC Media Player.

VLC Media Player Cons

  1. The VLC video player interface is not straightforward.
  2. VLC cannot play damaged or unfinished videos.
  3. Still need to download codecs for some video and audio formats.
  4. VLC Player crashes during playing or subtitle inserting occasionally.
  5. Playing videos with loud volume using VLC will damage the speakers.

Part 2: Top 5 VLC Media Player Alternatives for Windows and Mac

The user-friendlessness UI and unstable media playing problems makes VLC Media Player not so good. If you want to get smooth audiovisual experience, you can try the following media players as well. These are highly-recommended VLC Media Player for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android alternatives.

Top 1: Vidmore Player – Play Videos and Discs What VLC Cannot Play

VLC cannot play DRM-protected Blu-ray and DVD discs. If you want to get seamless Blu-ray and DVD playback, Vidmore Player can be your best VLC alternative. All kinds of discs, folders and ISO files are supported. You can enjoy DVD and Blu-ray movies with HD image quality and lossless sound effect. The intuitive interface and easy-to-use options are friendly to all users.

  1. Play the latest Blu-ray or DVD disc, folders and ISO files losslessly.
  2. Open all types of videos, including 4K UHD and 1080p/720p HD videos.
  3. Offer navigational menu support and customizable controls to personalize video playback experience.
  4. Get the surround sound effect with the advanced audio encoding technologies.
  5. Adjust image effects, take snapshots, change subtitles, switch audio tracks and enjoy smooth playback.

Top 2: Windows Media Player – Burn CD and DVD with VLC Alternative

Windows Media Player is pre-installed on Windows computers and Windows mobile-based devices. You can use Windows Media Player 12 to play video and audio on Windows 7 for free. Moreover, you can burn CDs and DVDs by using Windows Media Player on your Windows computer. This is a new feature that you cannot get from VLC player for Mac or Windows. In addition, you can use Windows Movie Maker as your free VLC video editor alternative for Windows.

Pros:

  1. Create playlists and mix up songs from different albums.
  2. Rip a CD for free without installing anything else.
  3. Play Blu-rays with Windows Media Player.

Cons:

  1. MP3 and Windows Media Audio are all your choices for output audio formats.
  2. There are limited sound quality options in Windows Media Player.

Top 3: Photos – VLC Player Free Alternative for Windows 10

The Photos app is a free VLC Media Player for Windows 10 alternative you can consider. You can open not only images, but also videos on Windows 10 within Photos. There is a built-in Video Editor app within Windows 10 Photos app. You can create a videos using your photos in a short time easily. Compared with VLC player, Photos has a better interface.

Pros:

  1. Play, edit and share videos on Windows 10 for free.
  2. Trim videos to delete unwanted clips on Windows.

Cons:

  1. No face tagging feature.
  2. Lack the panorama stitching or selective focus support.

Top 4: QuickTime Player – A Good Competitor of VLC Media Player for Mac

QuickTime Player can be your free VLC alternative for Mac as well. You can play most videos and music files on Mac directly. Furthermore, the built-in QuickTime screen recording features work better than VLC screen recorder. You can record Mac, iPhone and iPad screen video and audio for free within QuickTime Player.

Pros:

  1. Play media files with high quality and 1/2/3x faster playback speed.
  2. Watch the local and online streaming videos on Mac.

Cons:

  1. Need to upgrade to QuickTime Pro to unlock its video editing and recording features.
  2. Cannot work with common subtitle files.

Top 5: MPlayerX – Free and Open Source VLC Alternative

Being a free and open source media player, MPlayerX is often compared with VLC. You can watch videos without extra plugins or codecs on multiplatform. The auto subtitle detecting and converting feature can sync your subtitle seamlessly.

Pros:

  1. A lightweight and free media player alternative to VLC on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android.
  2. Be compatible with Apple Remote. You can control the video playback remotely.

Cons:

  1. The MPlayerX in Mac App Store is outdated. You need to update MPlayerX to the latest version manually.
  2. MPlayerX download package contains bundled software. You need to be careful and deselect unwanted programs manually.

Part 3: FAQs of VLC Media Player

What VLC Media Player portable alternatives to choose?

If you are looking for VLC for mobile alternatives, you can take a look at GOM Player, MX Player, BS Player, GPlayer, Dice Player, Winamp, KMPlayer and more. These video and audio players are alternative to the VLC Media Player app.

How to fix VLC blinking or flickering?

Media

The VLC video flickering problem is quite common on NVIDIA graphic adapters with HDMI connected projectors. To stop VLC screen flashing issues, you can go to Preferences. Choose Video and then change from direct3d11 to direct3d9. Or you can choose Preferences followed by Input/Codecs to disable hw decoding.

Why is VLC not opening and how to fix?

The VLC registering and setup process may not be completed. Delete the VLC installer folder first. Later, you can uninstall and reinstall VLC Media Player. Restart your computer to see if the VLC won’t open problem still exist or not.

Vlc Video Player For Mac

VLC is a free media player and editor that is worth to try. Moreover, there are also many other powerful media players in the market. If you are not satisfied with the VLC disadvantages, you can get a better choice from the above VLC Media Player alternatives.

Looking forward to get VLC Media Player for mac? Well, today your search will come to an end. We have prepared a comprehensive post for you that includes a detailed review of the VLC media player for Mac. Along with that, we have also included a step by step guide to install VLC on Mac and mentioned some fantastic features about VLC media player. So, do give this post a full read so that you know everything about VLC Media Player.

VLC Media Player – Brief Information

By the name, you might have already gotten that VLC is a media player that is used to view videos that are locally downloaded to your PC. As MacBooks are removing the disc drives from their models, it comes in with a very handy to use software to help you view the videos and pictures.

The full form of VLC is Video LAN Client, and it is a free and open-source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files with ease. You may not worry about the video/ audio or picture whether it may open or not. You can download the VLC software on any device for free as it supports cross-platform. VLC player also supports 4k and 8k playback, so in the future, if you wish to upgrade the screen of your mac, then you already have that backed up by VLC.

How to Install VLC Media Player On MAC

This section will see the steps to download the VLC player for MAC; feel free to follow along.

  • First of all, you need to visit the official site of the VLC Media Player.
  • Scroll down till you can find “download VLC for MAC.”
  • Click on the orange button, which says, “Download VLC,” make sure to download the latest version for the best experience; currently, the version is 3.0.11.1 as of 30/10/2020.
  • Install the package, and then you are ready to go. You can also support the company by donating to them, but that is entirely up to you.

VLC Media Player Features:

It is one of the most used media players out there. It even goes viral through memes and is the best when it comes to UI and working. To check the application, open up any video on your device. At the bottom, you will see the player by which you can control the video playback; the top band contains many options, which we will go through in this section. VLC comes with a whole lot of features that make it the best of other video players. Here are some of the features of VLC Media Player.

1. Volume-adjustments

The cool thing about the VLC media player is that the volume goes above 100%, which means if the output volume of the video is not quite loud, you will be able to increase the volume using the slider, and VLC will take care of it and boost the work for you. If that too isn’t enough, you can click on the adjustments and effect settings in the bottom corner; then, you will be able to adjust the equalizer, compressor, and stabilizer in the settings. You will see sliders, and you can change the settings by pushing the button up or down.

2. Brightness-settings

If you think that your video is too dark or the brightness does not support the video, you can go to the video effects option and go to the essentials options and adjust the hue effects brightness contrast, and saturation according to your suitable requirements.

3. Video-editor

It also acts as a video editor; say you want to cut out some parts from the video, go to view> Advanced controls> Play the section of the video that you want to include, click on the red circle-shaped button to start recording and when you part is over click on the same button to stop recording. It’s like a screen recorder but for MAC. After that, you just need to find the videos gallery, and you will be able to view the edited part from the main video. You will just cut out the video part from the existing video.

4. Authorized way

Another cool feature of VLC media player is that you will be able to steam any videos, copy the link of the video that you want to stream on VLC, then go to media, that select the option Open network stream, then you can paste the link directly to the blank space provided it will take some time to load, but it will play, make sure that you have fast internet.

Using the tool, you can also download the file by recording, and then the video file will be available on your system locally. For example, if you love videos on YouTube, you can copy the links and paste them. You will be streaming them directly from YouTube, no need to use malicious third-party software to download the videos.

5. Streaming

If you have a video camera (web camera), you can also capture yourself giving reactions to the videos. To access the option, go to media, then select open capture device, then under the capture device under the device name, select the name of your device.

6. Video-converter

It can also be used as a video converter. Just go to media, then convert and save, you will see the open media pop up, then select the media file you want to convert, then click on convert and save after that you can choose from many options under the settings banner, you can also convert to mp4, OGG, and a ton of other video formats.

7. Subtitle-support

You can also add subtitles to any clip, go to the add subtitles option, download the SRT file for subtitles and then select the option when the pop up comes; after the subtitles are added, a message will be shown on the top right corner. You can also right-click on the video.

7. Multiple videos on the same application

You can also play multiple videos in different tabs by launching the application once again, then drag and drop the file you want to view on VLC. This saves a lot of time and effort because you do not need to find your video in the entire directory.

8. Screenshot-support

Vlc Media Player For Mac Review Cnet

If you want to take some awesome and cool screenshots from VLC, you can do that by clicking on the video option and then clicking take a screenshot.

9. Quick-access

There is a quick access option too from which you will be able to access by right-clicking on your mouse. It would be much easier for you to locate your desired options and use them instantaneously. Things like changing the aspect ratio of the video can be done by accessing the quick menu.

What We Like
  • · The software will give you options that no other video player will provide on-time video editing, Online video streaming, advanced tools to adjust your viewing experience.
  • · It is one of the best available and highly demanded video software in the market.
  • · It lets you download content straight to your device without you worrying about anything.
  • · Has the cleanest user-interface and is relatively easy to use and accessible.
  • · Has an excellent option for an audiophile.
  • · Gets regular updates and security patches.
  • · When the volume is cranked up to 200%, it hinders the quality of the sound.

Conclusion:

After reading this article, we hope that you might have got an idea about what VLC is. It has many advantages over other traditional video players; moreover, it’s the most famous video player with support up till 8K quite futuristic, right? So, what are you waiting for? Follow the steps and download the application for Mac?

If you have any thoughts or questions regarding VLC on Mac, do let us know in the comment box below.

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