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VLC Gets First Major Cross-Platform Release

Posted by Soulskill on from the now-available-on-palm-pilots-and-apple-newtons dept.

An anonymous reader writes VideoLAN today launched what is arguably the biggest release of VLC to date: an update for the desktop coordinated with new versions across all major mobile platforms. The world's most-used media player just got a massive cross-platform push. The organization says the releases are the result of more than a year of volunteer work on the VLC engine and the libVLC library. As a result, VLC has gained numerous new features, has seen more than 1,000 bugs fixed, and has significantly increased its scope of supported formats.

85 comments

  1. Hopefully they support older platforms by MetalliQaZ · · Score: 2

    I'm excited to try this new release. I will load some obscure videos from my collection to see how codec support is holding up. From the looks of the press release, they have a bunch of great features, some of which can take advantage of hardware acceleration. One big test of the new software is how well older platforms without the new hardware are able to keep up. Too many times I've seen codec libraries get slower and slower on old hardware as the features are 'improved' on more powerful hardware. If this newer version works as well as the old, I'll be impressed.

    --
    "Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
    1. Re: Hopefully they support older platforms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why?

    2. Re:Hopefully they support older platforms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      NSFW link of poop

    3. Re:Hopefully they support older platforms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you Lawful, Good, aligned AC :)

    4. Re:Hopefully they support older platforms by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Support for old hardware varies with the platform. PPC and 32-bit Intel cpu support for Macs was dropped as of version 2.1. That affected the first Intel machines Apple shipped, in late 2006 or so IIRC. 32-bit PCs are still supported. The difference is due to Apple being more aggressive about dropping old hardware when updating the developer tools.

      Old versions of VLC are available.
      http://download.videolan.org/p...

  2. Video over LAN by jfdavis668 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I hope they improved the original purpose, to play video over a LAN. Gave up on it after a while, too many bugs to track down.

    1. Re:Video over LAN by MetalliQaZ · · Score: 1

      I think they have long since abandoned the original intent of the project. Who cares about video over LAN anymore? Now it's Video over WAN, or more importantly, cloud to mobile device. And that works pretty darn well already.

      --
      "Here Lies Philip J. Fry, named for his uncle, to carry on his spirit"
    2. Re:Video over LAN by Eravnrekaree · · Score: 1

      A lot of people care about video over LAN, which has many uses. Why wouldnt they? There are those who want to be able to have their own video station or use video conferencing capabilities. This is an application layer thing so can work over LANs or WANs.

    3. Re:Video over LAN by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

      lately, I'm having a lot of trouble with vlc on win7. not sure why.

      when I use wired ethernet, things seem fine (source of data is my nas box). I can play hd files that were downloaded (...) and those play great, even at 1920/120hz native refresh.

      BUT - if I dare play a dvd with a video_ts style standard folder, even local playback shows lots of blockiness. I can copy the files to my local ssd and it still acts that way. playing dvd should be EASIER than high def mkv or mp4, right? so what's going on?

      system is i7 haswell with onboard intel video. the system is fine, it can handle any hd file I throw at it. well, ok, one problem that might be related; if I skip around on the file, it takes forever to resync and unblock the blockiness. its like the deltas (non i-frames) are staying out of sync and there's no resync ability. 10 seconds or more, later, the file fixes itself (the player, that is) and the hd video looks great again.

      that blockiness never seems to go away on pure dvd filesets.

      I wonder what's going on? I'm pretty sure I was able to play 'simple dvd's about a year ago, but lately its unusable. if I feed that video_ts folder to win media player (included on win7) it plays as perfectly as a hardware based dvd player would, flawless. and yet, vlc chokes badly on dvd style data.

      anyone see that on the last few builds? I don't know when things broke but I'm interested in finding a player that WILL work for all formats and is stable enough to use. win media player is great for the codecs it supports but there are too many it won't read and work with, hence my use of vlc.

      I don't bother with vlc on linux on my htpc since the video system is still not as good as win7 is. still too much tearing compared to the perfect video I get from 7 (I hate saying that, too, but its true).

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    4. Re:Video over LAN by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 1

      Try the Intel Driver Update Utility. Possibly a newer version of the driver for the on-board video would help.

      A next step would be to visit the web site of the manufacturer of the motherboard and install any newer versions of the BIOS or chipset drivers.

      Sometimes motherboard manufacturers modify the Intel software, so it is necessary to deal with that. For example, the RAID drivers may have been modified.

    5. Re:Video over LAN by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

      thanks for the idea.

      but if win media player can play dvd data files perfectly, I'm thinking the video layer is fine as it is, and its vlc's buffering or queueing that seems broken.

      if you FF to skip across compressed video, it will take some settle time to deblock, but on vlc it takes an absurd amount of timeto do that on mkv and mp4. and on dvd files, it never seems to play well, no matter what.

      very odd that 'hard' files (such as hd) play with clocklike perfection and yet the lower res, lower bandwidth 'easy' files give such a hard time.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    6. Re:Video over LAN by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      BUT - if I dare play a dvd with a video_ts style standard folder, even local playback shows lots of blockiness. I can copy the files to my local ssd and it still acts that way. playing dvd should be EASIER than high def mkv or mp4, right? so what's going on?

      Are you playing a DVD rip or a DVD?

      If it's a DVD, what you're seeing is DVD copy protection - since you're using Windows, you need to get AnyDVD to remove the copy protection.

      Yes, besides the CSS protection, there are other copy protections on DVDs too.

      Without a DVD decryptor or AACS decryptor, playing DVD or Blu-Ray from disc on VLC is impossible because of the protections. AnyDVD is what I use because it's updated practically daily.

    7. Re:Video over LAN by Hadlock · · Score: 1

      I guess you're not familiar with XBMC (Now "Kodi")? Video over LAN is still a thing, people just want a file browser with a 20 ft GUI. VLC never really made it off the desktop which I guess is why XBMC was able to succeed in the HTPC market where VLC failed miserably and it's plugin system never really took off.

      --
      moox. for a new generation.
    8. Re:Video over LAN by jandrese · · Score: 1

      On a LAN I usually try to go for the most primitive video mode possible (raw UDP frames) and it usually works, even Multicast. It's not efficient, but my LAN is usually way faster than it technically needs to be anyway.

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
    9. Re:Video over LAN by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 1

      update: why didn't I try the simple thing, first? sigh. do a full uninstall, then install the new and this does not carry over previous 'settings'. it seems that even installing the new one over my older one was not so great. had to do a full remove and then add.

      but after that, all is well! amazing. none of the problems I had are now there. loading an mkv file can take a long time over ac-rated wifi (sometimes 10 secs of the screen just sitting there, no status or anything) but then the video plays and from then on, its fine.

      random positioning no longer shows the blockiness or buffering problem. playing dvd files is now fine and hd files continue to be fine.

      wow. so, the 'trick' I'm glad to say, is simple. full uninstall and then fresh install. I should have known, sigh.

      but really glad that it was not something other than 'bad settings'.

      --

      --
      "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
    10. Re:Video over LAN by mattack2 · · Score: 1

      Never really made it off the desktop?

      This thread is about such a "made it off" release, plus a previous version has been on iOS for quite a while. I've been using it for a year or two on iOS.. (I use it to watch documentaries and news shows faster than realtime, just like how I listen to podcasts.)

    11. Re:Video over LAN by bughunter · · Score: 1

      WTF are you talking about? We develop VOIP systems and use VLC to both host and client streaming video all the time, both over LAN and WAN, and it works just fine under both UDP and RTP.

      So GOML and HAND.

      --
      I can see the fnords!
    12. Re:Video over LAN by hairyfeet · · Score: 1

      That is not it, as I have been having the same issue and I'm on an all AMD rig. I don't know what it is, maybe they changed the buffer, but I've noticed that VLC is a LOT more choppy and stutters whereas MPC HC plays the files smooth as butter. The OS is on an SSD while the media files are on a 2TB HDD attached to the same system, maybe VLC doesn't like the speed difference?

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    13. Re:Video over LAN by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't even get the HTTP interface working. Throws back some httpd file not found even after a complete wipe and fresh install of this new version. Found several forum postings about this same problem, all left unanswered. Media Player Classic Home Cinema, on the other hand, just works.

    14. Re: Video over LAN by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      you only have a business because its abugger ro set up.

  3. Not a company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Well, VideoLAN is not a company: it's a not profit organization, driven by volonteers to work on free software.

  4. An interesting talk on the new VLC by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Informative

    Hopefully this link holds up:

    Jean-Baptiste Kempf on VLC at FOSDEM

    He's one of the developers that has been on VLC the longest, it was pretty interesting I thought.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  5. Wrong by YuppieScum · · Score: 1

    The VideoLan website still says VLC for Android is a beta at version 0.9.10.

    Someone is talking bollocks and, this time, it's not me...

    --
    This sig left unintentionally blank.
    1. Re:Wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      https://get.videolan.org/vlc-android/1.1.0/

    2. Re:Wrong by YuppieScum · · Score: 1

      http://www.videolan.org/vlc/do... So... maybe it's just management of the site content is bollocks...

      --
      This sig left unintentionally blank.
    3. Re:Wrong by c0d3g33k · · Score: 1

      The VideoLan website still says VLC for Android is a beta at version 0.9.10.

      Someone is talking bollocks and, this time, it's not me...

      It's listed at 1.1.0 at the Google Play Store, which might be considered more authoritative that what it says on a web page someone forgot to update.

      F-Droid was a 1.0.1 a month ago, so same argument. F-Droid lags a bit behind with their releases, so I suspect they will be updating to 1.1.0 soon.

      https://f-droid.org/repository...

    4. Re:Wrong by YuppieScum · · Score: 2

      Call me old-fashioned, but I'd expect the creator of the software to be able to update their website to reflect a new version before, or at the same time as, pushing out a press-release... not after.

      Oh, and the Play store says it's not even supported on my Nexus 7 running 5.02, so I've now lost any confidence I had in them.

      --
      This sig left unintentionally blank.
  6. Unusual codecs are nice and all, but... by Yarhj · · Score: 1

    Has it finally implemented some of the standard functionality everyone expects from a video player? Can I finally just click the screen to pause/unpause? Does ALT-ENTER finally work to fullscreen? These don't sound all that important, but they're both constant minor irritants every time I end up using VLC for something.

    And yes, I know you can install some third-party plugin to enable click-to-pause, but it's rather strange that it isn't just supported out of the box.

    1. Re:Unusual codecs are nice and all, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought that's a matter of rebinding keys in the preferences? At least that's how it works under OSX, YMMV.

    2. Re:Unusual codecs are nice and all, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would Alt-Enter go fullscreen? It's a desktop-style app, not a game. F11 has been standard for the toggle fullscreen option on pretty much everything but games for 2 decades now. And it even works for some games (Minecraft, for example). If you don't believe me, press F11 while your browser window is active. That's why VLC does it that way: because it's expected behavior.

    3. Re:Unusual codecs are nice and all, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The ALT-ENTER convention goes back to Windows 3.1 (or maybe even before) to transition MS-DOS applications between a windows and full screen mode. Not sure when the F11 convention showed up, but I definitely remember using ALT-ENTER in the 90s.

    4. Re:Unusual codecs are nice and all, but... by Yarhj · · Score: 1

      At least as of 2014 in order to get click-to-pause on windows you had to install a special plugin. Unfortunately, the plugin doesn't even work for anything after VLC 2.0, so users are advised to simply not upgrade, which is just sad, honestly.

      As for the full-screen hotkey, maybe it's in the options, but why is VLC's default not in line with just about every other mainstream video player? It's as if Google Drive decided to change the shortcut for pasting from CTRL-V to CTRL-P -- it's irritating and unnecessary.

    5. Re:Unusual codecs are nice and all, but... by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 1

      Has it finally implemented some of the standard functionality everyone expects from a video player? Can I finally just click the screen to pause/unpause? Does ALT-ENTER finally work to fullscreen? These don't sound all that important, but they're both constant minor irritants every time I end up using VLC for something.

      by Anonymous Coward: "Well, VideoLAN is not a company: it's a not profit organization, driven by volonteers to work on free software."

      As such it's documentation (help file) or menus aren't updated accordingly. VLC will do just about anything, but you might have to search for many of these features.

      I use PMS to stream from my PC to PS3 using VLC, this was all done using outside documentation. Ripping DVD/CD's? best done searching for a VLC how to.

      It apparently started as a music player this from a set of key-combs not commonly known of. I found searching for just that; key-combos to use with Power Pro (AutoIt - AutoHotKeys type program) to control VLC from a Menu of commands I find useful.

      I've already installed the new VLC but haven't had a need to use it yet, but noticed F11 as being full screen mode (toggle), and works fine with nothing playing.

  7. History of the cone icon? by GlobalEcho · · Score: 1

    Kudos to the dev team! This is one of open source's great success examples. Now, since I am posting anyway...

    Why does VLC use an orange traffic cone for its icon? It has always seemed misplaced to me.

    1. Re:History of the cone icon? by OhSoLaMeow · · Score: 2

      Why does VLC use an orange traffic cone for its icon? It has always seemed misplaced to me.

      On the wiki page for VLC:

      The cone icon used in VLC is a reference to the traffic cones collected by École Centrale's Networking Students' Association.[12] The cone icon design was changed from a hand drawn low resolution icon[13] to a higher resolution CGI-rendered version in 2006, illustrated by Richard Øiestad.[14]

      --
      They can take my LifeAlert pendant when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.
  8. And blu ray menus! by Kethinov · · Score: 4, Informative

    This release also comes with massively improved support for blu ray menus! (It existed before, but didn't work very well.)

    This is exciting to me because it makes full support for (unencrypted) blu ray disk playback including blu ray menus finally possible on Linux and OS X. No more transcoding required!

    It will also free Windows users from having to use all those terrible proprietary blu ray players.

    This is a terrific release!

    --
    You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
    1. Re:And blu ray menus! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      xbmc has had passable menu support for at least a few months now (I've only been using it that long).

    2. Re:And blu ray menus! by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      Ah, I hope Redbox helped fund this feature since they're going to be a primary beneficiary!

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    3. Re:And blu ray menus! by antdude · · Score: 1

      What about playing encrypted BRDs? :(

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    4. Re:And blu ray menus! by Kethinov · · Score: 1

      Rip them with decrypter like AnyDVD into BD50 1:1 disk images to strip the DRM, then you can play them with VLC.

      --
      You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
    5. Re:And blu ray menus! by antdude · · Score: 1

      Ah, that's annoying. We can't play directly from BRDs? Bah.

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    6. Re:And blu ray menus! by Kethinov · · Score: 1

      You can if the BRD lacks DRM.

      --
      You're right, I wouldn't steal a car. But if it were possible, I sure as hell would download one!
    7. Re:And blu ray menus! by antdude · · Score: 1

      I meant with DRMs like (film/movie)s from retail stores. :)

      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  9. Down and dirty install by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 1

    None of this click that you have read the Privacy Policy, showing the top of ToS it says now your aware of it click to continue :)

  10. Have they fixed the subtitle font crap? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That has been an ongoing bug for many years.

  11. Re:Why would anyone want to watch videos in 16 col by OhSoLaMeow · · Score: 1

    The Windows RT port is stupid. Why would anyone want to watch videos in 16 colors on a crapp?

    People used to watch video in two colors.

    --
    They can take my LifeAlert pendant when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.
  12. FWIW don't download K-lite_Codec_Pack-10.9.5 by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 1, Informative

    It's causing nothing but problems, it's due to IcarosDebug, heck I wasn't even using a media file when I was blocked from a partition.
    You've been warned.

    One of many post on it
    http://www.sevenforums.com/gen...

    1. Re:FWIW don't download K-lite_Codec_Pack-10.9.5 by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 1

      It's causing nothing but problems,

      Or K-Lite_Codec_Pack_10.45 sry just read the link myself.

    2. Re:FWIW don't download K-lite_Codec_Pack-10.9.5 by denis-The-menace · · Score: 4, Informative

      FYI:
      K-Lite is a codec pack for players that use "system" codecs.
      System Codec packs do not upgrade/play with others well.
      One version => Video A works, Video B is broken.
      New Codec pack => Video A broken, Video B is works.
      FSCK that!

      VLC only uses its own built-in codecs and almost always works.
      Chances are if VLC won't play it, the video is corrupt.

      --
      Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
    3. Re:FWIW don't download K-lite_Codec_Pack-10.9.5 by Magnus+Pym · · Score: 1

      -> Chances are if VLC won't play it, the video is corrupt.

      I'm sorry, but this is not the case; there are numerous formats that VLC does not support well, which other open source media players handle just fine. For example, mplayer supports real formats reasonably well. VLC has only partial support. VLC does not work well with files that have been spliced/joined with ffmpeg (stuttering, pausing, time-jumping). Mplayer works fine.

      I'm a big fan of VLC, but saying that it is perfect helps nobody.

    4. Re:FWIW don't download K-lite_Codec_Pack-10.9.5 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Codec based players and codec packs have always been really janky. Entirely too much fucking around for what today should be a basic task. Much of the windows codec APIs, interfaces, and configuration facilities are downright broken.

      Even the concept of system codecs for video playback is a bit dated. If you write a piece of software today that needs to play video most of the time you'll implement your own video playing code. The interfaces for accelerating video playback are stable and work well. Chucking a video file at windows and praying that the right codec is installed, working, and functional for your application is just asking for trouble. (Adding installer routines to add proper codecs at install time is similarly troublesome)

    5. Re:FWIW don't download K-lite_Codec_Pack-10.9.5 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you are using codec packs and are on Windows, you might as well use one that is actually good: CCCP. I even perfer the Media Player Classic that is included with it over every other media player I have tried, including VLC.

  13. VLC, the BEST by ikhider · · Score: 2

    I am always blown away by how great VLC is. Whether on a Libre or proprietary OS platform, I know VLC is always has by back for audio/video playback. I recall when I first started watching movies on a computer, VLC played the file, ANY file! Also DVD's in whatever region(!!!) played. Sure, the proprietary OS's grumble, but the Libre OS version played the DVD, region one or two just fine. Now that I am in school working with audio/video and VLC constantly reminds me of its value. Our of all the proprietary media players out there, VLC blows them out of the water. Thanks VLC!

    --
    "SO we bide our time, waiting for a purer kick to bloom and the future is still bleak, uncertain and beautiful" -GSYBE
  14. Increased Scope? by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 3, Funny

    Heck, can't VLC play damn near everything already? I half expect you could open a spreadsheet in VLC and have it carry a tune.

    1. Re:Increased Scope? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i couldn't get vlc to play a piano roll.

  15. Not on Apple Store by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Unfortunately VLC for iOS isn't available from the Apple Store and the VLC website download section simply redirects you to the Apple Store.

  16. And we still can't play Dolby Digital audio on iOS by SeaFox · · Score: 2

    ... unless we pretend we aren't in the U.S.
    Hooray for patents!

    https://trac.videolan.org/vlc/...

  17. Not a big release actually by sixshot · · Score: 1

    While it's commendable that VLC would make that push for a big cross-platform release, the Android side is still dismal compared to their desktop counterpart. The Android app is still limited in what devices is able to install it (can be installed on my now-dead Nexus 7 2013). A quick glance at the Google Play Store page revealed that it cannot be installed on my Nexus 6, 2012 Nexus 7, or my Samsung Galaxy S3, the latter two can play 720p videos to some extent.

    This isn't a big release. So whoever thought that this is a big major release must be smoking some good stuff. VLC on Android is still miles away from being a good media player.

  18. Chromecast Yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Its supposedly been in the pipeline, Being able to broadcast local video files/DVD's from a PC to a TV attached device would be nice. Sure you can run cables (VGA/HDMI) but I've done that for years and its a pain.

  19. It's open source, stupid by Lead+Butthead · · Score: 2

    If you want those "features" bad enough, break out your favor editor and download the source.

    --
    ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
    1. Re:It's open source, stupid by Bengie · · Score: 1

      Don't like your government? Replace it. Don't like your opensource software, add a feature.

  20. Have they finally fixed jerky playback? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

    All I care about is whether or not they've fixed jerky playback with the default settings. There's some loop filter you have to disable if you want smooth playback of x264 video - I don't know whether it's because the loop filter takes place after read-ahead caching, or what, but it's a pain.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  21. Why didn't they unify the version numbers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    VLC media player 2.2.0
    VLC 2.4.1 for iOS
    VLC 1.1.0 for Android
    VLC 1.1.0 beta for Android TV
    VLC 1.1.0 beta for Windows Phone
    VLC 1.1.0 beta for Windows RT
    And none of these look like a major release.

  22. Re:Why would anyone want to watch videos in 16 col by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They really didn't, you know. No-one has EVER watched video in two colours. You appear to be labouring under the misconception that "black and white" television means that the picture was composed of merely "black" and "white". This is the attitude of one who has neither looked at a black and white telly, nor looked at greyscale in any graphics editor. You have shades of grey. Many of them. On old telly, a very large range of them indeed.

    But then, you'd neither know nor care, because you're a moron.

  23. Not a major release by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Depending on the platform, it's a minor or point release or a beta. A major release would have a version number like x.0.0 .

  24. klcp_update_1101_20150227.exe ... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See subject & the file in it - just released today & carries NEW Icaros files...

    * To save you some time Trax001bbs? Use this link:

    http://www.majorgeeks.com/mg/g...

    APK

    P.S.=> Enjoy... apk

    1. Re:klcp_update_1101_20150227.exe ... apk by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 1

      See subject & the file in it - just released today & carries NEW Icaros files...

      * To save you some time Trax001bbs? Use this link:

      http://www.majorgeeks.com/mg/g...

      APK

      P.S.=> Enjoy... apk

      Thanks APK but I'll give it a version or two, I didn't think it would take long for a newer version as everybody was having problems with it, or more to the point IcarosPropertyHandler.dll

      VLC does most if not all I need. The only exception is a .SWF file (requires Flash).

  25. Re:Why would anyone want to watch videos in 16 col by _merlin · · Score: 2

    People watched videos on one-bit monochrome computer displays that really were black and white.

  26. VLC 2.1.5 had no problems. by Futurepower(R) · · Score: 1

    Other people are not having that problem. That's what makes me think the problem is due to some weird interaction with the video driver. Maybe, instead of storing the video in memory, it is writing it to the paging file.

    I just tried an 82 megabyte MP4 file with VLC 2.1.5 and had no problems selecting a time in the video well past the middle.

    Then I tried a 3-hour VIDEO_TS on a dual layer DVD. I was able to select any time in the video instantly.

    Ivy Bridge, i7-3770, 16 GB of memory, Win 7 Ultimate.

    Uninstalling and re-installing VLC may help.

  27. Re:And we still can't play Dolby Digital audio on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    US patents are only valid for 20 years. Dolby Digital came out in 1992, which was 23 years ago.

  28. Re:Why would anyone want to watch videos in 16 col by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You have shades of grey. Many of them.

    Would you say, about 50 of them?

  29. UPnP by rrp · · Score: 1

    Still haven't fixed UPnP in Mac OS X. I wonder if they'll ever fix it.

  30. PotPlayer VS. VLC - which is better and why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    TIA

    1. Re:PotPlayer VS. VLC - which is better and why? by Trax3001BBS · · Score: 1

      VLC as I've never run across PotPlayer, but seeing as it only plays on Windows XP and above, only of interest to a few here, VLC has always been a cross-platform utility.

      I've used VLC on my Androind S5 cell phone from day one to play videos in bed (to put me to sleep). Very nice, finger slide the right side of the screen for volume, only option I really use.

    2. Re:PotPlayer VS. VLC - which is better and why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      PotPlayer. It supports more formats out of the box, supports external codecs, external splitters and TV. PotPlayer has much better support for subtitles, playlists, resume playback, 3D formats, SVP and colourspaces. It's also faster and uses fewer system resources.

      VLC is a joke in comparison.

  31. Re:And we still can't play Dolby Digital audio on by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    One of the developers gave a talk (in a link I posted earlier) that said they would have Dolby support in iOS in just a few months, I think that's when the patents expire.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  32. Re:Why would anyone want to watch videos in 16 col by im_thatoneguy · · Score: 1

    It's not a Windows RT port it's a WinRT port. Windows RT is an operating system. WinRT is the runtime which replaces Win32. WinRT runs on Windows 8.x, 10 and Windows Phone 8.x and 10.

  33. Re:Why would anyone want to watch videos in 16 col by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

    What system came with a monochrome display and was powerful enough to play video?

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  34. No Chromecast support in VLC 2.2 release by Sits · · Score: 1

    Supposedly Chromecast support will be in VLC 3.0.

  35. Re:And we still can't play Dolby Digital audio on by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    iOS

    Found your problem.

  36. Most-used media player? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought that was Flash?