Playback Guide

From AzureusWiki

A video player or media player is a type of computer software used for playing back video and audio content. Content is “encoded” into different formats (called codecs) and file types (called containers) and requires a player capable of playing back the particular format of the video. All content uploaded to the Vuze Platform is encoded into a common video format. When you download the Vuze Platform software you also get a media player capable of playing all video content found on Vuze.

If you download content outside of Vuze you might not be able to play it using the Vuze Video Player. Therefore, you may need to install a separate video player that is capable of playing your content. You must use a video player is that is compatible with your operating system (Windows/Linux/OS X).

These players often come with support for some set of formats and file types, while support for others must be added through addons/external installations.

Contents 1 Finding the right player 2 All Platforms 3 Windows 3.1 DirectShow players 3.1.1 Filters 3.2 Standalone Players 4 OS X 5 Linux

Finding the right player

Which player is required depends on the file type, the format and for some formats also if it contains DRM.

• .mpg .mpeg .wav .mp3 .avi are supported by most players out of the box
• .wmv .wma are supported by most cross-platform and DirectShow players (see below) if they are not DRMed. If they contain DRM they should be played with a recent version of Windows Media Player
• .flac .aac .ac3 .mkv .mp4 are supported by most cross-platform players. DirectShow players may require additional filters
• .mov .qt require apple's quicktime. Some of them might play on other players when renamed to .mp4
• .rm .rmvb require realnetworks' realplayer

.wav .avi .mp4 .mkv can contain many different codec types. Being able to play one file those types does not mean that you can play all files with the same extension. Tools like GSpot can help you identify which codec(s) are required to play a file. Since over 90% of all video files can be played with only a handful of codecs you might want to try one of the players/codecs listed below before you try to dig deeper.

All Platforms

These players come with their own, large library of codecs and usually are able to play almost anything available and thus are often the player of choice if one does not want to bother with installing various codecs.

• VLC Media Player
• MPlayer is the basis for Vuze's embedded media player. It comes with various user interfaces and modules to add support for more exotic formats (beyond those that it already supports natively).

  The default installer installs a commandline version, you probably want to choose the GUI package instead.

Windows

DirectShow players

DirectShow is a microsoft windows architecture used by many media players to play various file types and video formats. Thus adding support for more formats to windows by installing DirectShow filters will add it to all of these players. Note: RealNetworks' RealMedia and some of Apple's Quicktime formats are not supported by pure DirectShow players and must be played with separate players.

• Windows Media Player (WMP) comes preinstalled with windows. It uses DirectShow but only comes with a limited set of default DirectShow filters.
  • If you want to add support for further video formats and file types see below
  • If you want to play .wma or .wmv files you should update to the newest WMP version available for your system.
• Media Player Classic (MPC)

Filters

Some newer or more exotic formats are not installed with windows and thus have to be added separately.

• Combined Community Codec Pack is a collection of several filters and media players

  This covers all of the options listed below but may also install things which you do not need.

• Haali Media Splitter is a filter that adds support for .mkv .mp4 .ogg .ogm .ts file types, but not any audio or video codecs.

  After installing this WMP might still complain it does not recognize the file extension, you have to tell it to try anyway and remember your decision

• ffdshow adds support for many audio and video codecs (but not file types) and has many advanced configuration options.
• VSFilter can decode various subtitle formats

Standalone Players

see All Platforms

OS X

Linux