Video Players

Overview Although most modern PCs come with video player software, there are a lot of reasons to check out the alternate players available online. Maybe you have an older computer that didn't come with video player software or maybe you're looking for the newest and most advanced player software out there. Most modern video player software plays videos stored in a variety of different formats, so one new player may replace three or four older players. The links below lead to video player descriptions, downloads, and instructional guides.

Video Player Resources With increases in the size of data storage devices, as well as microprocessor and Internet bandwidth speed growth, digital video has become commonplace on the PC. Digital video, particularly online video, is stored in one of several file formats. Until recently, if you wanted to watch videos in different formats you had to download and install a player for each different format. Modern versions of video players, such as Microsoft’s Windows Media Player or Apple’s QuickTime, are able to play just about all video formats. More information about modern video players and the features they offer can be found by reading the Wikipedia Video Player Web page. Visit www.mpeg.org/MPEG/MPEG-video-player.html to find information about the video player that is best suited for your operating system.

Resources for specific video players can also be found. For example, see this CNET.com review of the Windows Media Player, or the Quicktime player review, at www.download.com. There is also an extensive set of resources for the features and tools found on the Windows Media Player at www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/default.asp.

Video Player Software Although Microsoft’s Windows Media Player, Apple’s QuickTime, and RealNetworks’ RealPlayer currently are the most popular video players, there are many other players available. You can visit either this Download.com  page www.download.com/Video/3150-2194_4-0.html?tag=dir or follow this link to see links to Web sites describing alternate video players. You can download, update, or get technical support for the following video players directly from the manufacturer:

Be sure to revisit these links for the most recent updates and versions.

Additional Links If you run the Linux operating system, then visit  www.linuxvideo.org for a complete list of Linux video resources. To try the most popular open source multimedia player available take a look at VLC media player at www.videolan.org/vlc. If you would like to play videos on your handheld computer, be sure to visit www.manifest-tech.com/media_pda/palm_video2.htm for PDA video player resources.