MPlayer

Popular programs in Players

What is MPlayer

Mplayer is a free, open-source media player for Windows and most other common operating systems. Mplayer has long been a mainstay of Linux and related platforms, where it was in many ways a pioneer. During times when those operating systems did not generally enjoy the kind of media access that was taken for granted under Windows, Mplayer finally provided a way to watch DVDs and DRM-protected files. Over time, the situation on those platforms improved to a large degree, so Mplayer usage declined somewhat. At the same time, new ports of the program to Windows made it available to whole new classes of users.

Fittingly given its Linux-based roots, Mplayer is targeted somewhat at power users. Most modern media players make use of video and audio decoding libraries written by others with the players themselves serving as user-friendly wrappers around these cores of functionality. Mplayer, however, relies on its own internal decoding capabilities, an approach which means that it comes with its own set of quirks and strengths. Some users will find, for example, that Mplayer will display artifacts during the playing of videos that other players render flawlessly, and this situation can just as often be reversed.

As is typical of many programs with roots in the free and open-source software movements, Mplayer can seem a little clunky when compared to the offerings of big commercial developers. At the same time, the program exposes a wide range of settings and options to users, so power users will be able to tweak it to their liking. That typically involves delving into some fairly extensive documentation, however, since most of Mplayer's settings are accessed through the manipulation of text files.

In terms of performance, Mplayer is a real contender. The program uses less in the way of system resources than many popular alternatives, often beating the widespread VLC and Media Player Classic in startup times, for example. Part of the price paid for this, as alluded to previously, is that the interface can feel fairly raw and thrown together, especially compared to something like Microsoft's own Media Player program. Mplayer can be skinned, however, so users who are willing to put in the time will likely find something that appeals to them. That is the case in general with the program, as it is most likely to appeal to those who are willing to invest some effort into tweaking and mastering it.

Pros:

• Flexible, powerful and can be heavily customized.
• Light on resources and system requirements.

Cons:

• Will seem arcane and off-putting to some users.
• Lacks polish in many respects.