VLC Media Player vs. SUPER!

Why bother with VLC? CCCP.

 

Not to be different, but I absolutely LOVE KMPlayer.

 

Tried both, but decided to go back with K-Lite Codec Pack.

 

OK So what is it ? K-Lite or CCCP ?

 

K-Lite Codec Pack. Has better codecs IMO.

 

I don't think you can go wrong with either.....

 

Because VLC does not need any codec pack sofar. And it does not need to be installed.

If I find a file that VLC does not play I will install MPC with some Codecpacks.

But I'd rather install as few applications as possible.

I know MPC is a bit better as a player but I prefer keeping my system as lean and mean as possible. So VLC for me.

 

We're telling you the VLC isn't lean. lol,

MPC as a standalone is leaner.
After you install some codecs, its becomes the same thing as VLC; yet you chose the codecs it will work with; which means better and more updated stuff.


If you use the standalone MPC with the VLC codecs only. You will have no better results than using VLC itself.
Also, if you decide to try it out, don't install K-lite or CCP with VLC already on your computer; it will conflict. Uninstall VLC first.

 

K-lite Standard = MPC with Codecs > VLC

 

This poll seems pretty decisive.

 

Yup, VLC wins that poll. But if you take into account all of us that refuse to contribute and throw things offtopic towards MPC w/K-lite (or CCP). hehe....

 

Haha well then I'll just throw in my OT media player thoughts and say that I use WMP!

 

Well, the main thing is the inclusion of a "boss key" that pauses and minimizes the window all at once, for those "sensitive" moments.

 

lol Good to know. I'll keep that in mind!

 

I've used both. K-Lite pack in the past and CCCP currently. Back then K-Lite made you install the different codecs separately. It was a bit tedious. CCCP is much simpler. Install, get 2 or 3 pages of settings, and you are done.

I never use WMP unless I have to as it just feels far too bloated.

 

Classic is just its name; its not really an old version. Its just made to look like the old version of Windows Media Player.

 

I disagree because MPC needs codecs and installation. When installing the registry will be modified.

VLC plays without installation.

I've tried MPC many times before, I know what it does. It's a good player. But I prefer VLC.

 

You must be using a different VLC than everyone else?

http://www.videolan.org/doc/play-howto/en/ch02.html
http://live.polito.it/documentation/misc/vlc_guide_windows

VLC does require installation.

And it seems like you're not sure about what codec is. There is no installation for MPC, only the codec does.

I hope you know MPC is not by Microsoft, it's not the same Windows Media Player, which does require installation.

 

I don't believe it does:
"Windows 7zip (identical to the above but without the installer)"
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html
Download it to a folder and it will run without any installation.

I know what a codec is and I've used them many times. I don't like them as they usually require installation and usually leave a lot of traces on the system. Codec packs even worse.

As far as I know MPC needs additional codecs and these codecs need installation as opposed to VLC that does not need any installation nor additional codecs.

Yes I've used MPC many times. It's a fine player. It has some functions that are better than VLC. I just happen to prefer VLC for it's ability to play a lot of files without any installation (of codecs).

 

VLC uses codecs. Here is the list of codecs it can and cannot read: http://wiki.videolan.org/VLC_Features_Formats

VLC uses the libavcodec library from FFmpeg for codec support.

From the FAQ:
*VLC opens all the system layers of the input stream, regenerate them all and then stream the result on the network or write it to a file. So VLC is good at streaming untrusted video and/or audio sources, like the video files found on the Internet and/or produced by non-professionnal software. VLC implements many muxers/demuxers (ps, ts, avi, ogg, mp4, ...) and many codecs, which allows to convert encapsulation formats and/or transcode an input stream on-the-fly ! VLC also has nice graphical interfaces.

http://www.videolan.org/doc/faq/en/videolan-faq-en.html

The only thing with VLC is that it contains most of the codecs people need.

 

Sure it uses codecs. But you don't need to install VLC nor codecs.

Instead of and throwing links at me, why not just test it for yourself?

Go here: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-windows.html download the version without installer and throw some files at it.

 

Ah, my mistake I thought you were saying VLC doesn't use codecs when they're simply built into the program itself. This has it's pluses and minuses. I have also used the 7zip version of VLC. True, no installer program makes clean up easy, but that doesn't really matter to me. When a program works for you and you want to keep it, not having it installed isn't a big deal. To me, not having an installer is only a benefit when you want to get rid of a program because there's no traces and you can just delete the folder.

I used VLC in the past until I found that it didn't work well for subs or mkv files. In other words, subs would appear on top of each other and/or with an incorrect font, color, and/or size. Pretty much, subs were a mess. Then with mkv files, some simply wouldn't play and I'd get a blank screen. VLC also seems sluggish and with slightly worse picture quality compared to MPC, but that could just be perception.

Whereas with MPC, installation of it and the necessary codecs was a breeze through CCCP and it plays everything perfectly. MPC is also light weight and has menu features not present in VLC (pop menu comes to mind first and foremost). Lastly, I don't see why installing codecs is seen as a bad thing. It's not like I'm going to uninstall them anytime soon. If I do need to uninstall both MPC and the codecs it came with through CCCP, it's easy.

Here's some tests I did:

Tested a small mkv file (~170 MB). There wasn't any major choppiness in the video. However, the subs were incorrect with overlapping and wrong style & size.

VLC:

MPC:

Just tested another mkv file (~700MB) in both players. Using VLC, the motion was choppy and the subs were incorrect in size, style, and format. On other files, I've had subs covering about 3/4's of the video.

VLC:

MPC:


VLC was unable to skip ahead in an flv file. When I tried to move ahead, the file stopped playing and VLC went back to its mini mode. No problems in MPC.

Both played an avi file okay. The only difference, and this occurred with the other files, VLC's picture is slightly lighter than MPC. It's not always noticeable, but it's there. This is a non issue for me because it is usually very hard to tell.

 

It's not such a bad thing if you really need them. As you say, if you need them you won't uninstall them.

But I hardly need them, maybe like once a year, so I prefer to keep my system clean. Also I have a really small and fast install on XP SP3 with only 20 processes running. I'd like to keep it as fast as possible.

I never had a problem with subtitles on VLC. I did have some choppiness with playing HD files but I'm not sure it wasn't caused by my low spec laptop.

Jin I noticed you are using CCCP. I read some people in the other thread saying that K-Lite is better than CCCP. What do you think?

 

Yeah, the problem with subtitles is mainly an issue for anime fans or people that watch soft subbed shows. If you don't watch much anime, you'd probably be fine with VLC. However, I still like some of the other features found in MPC over VLC, so I would probably stick with it regardless. Another good thing about MPC is that it can play realplayer and quicktime formats which is nice. Then again, I try not to get those types of files, I prefer mkv files.

About K Lite and CCCP, I don't have first hand experience with K Lite. The main reason why I went with CCCP is that it's favored by pretty much every anime sub group and forum that mentions what to get to play anime (they all say to avoid VLC for anime and some say to avoid K Lite). This is due to CCCP being made specifically for anime (it's considered the standard). It is also made to be streamlined and only offer what you'll most likely need. In other words, it won't install of ton of overlapping codecs I don't need. On the other hand, with K Lite, you can install myriad of filters and codecs, some of which overlap.

Another reason why I chose CCCP over K Lite revolves around the file I play the most, mkv. The group that designed the mkv format recommends CCCP. They mention that CCCP comes with "a very smart installer that is checking for the existence of several filters on your machine which are known to cause problems, like the old DVobSub filter coming with vobsub, and will deinstall them automatically. The CCCP pack is slim and neat, and can help you even in cases when no other tool can help anymore." Also, they talk about how CCCP can fix DirectShow setup problems. Conversely, there is zero mention of K Lite.

Lastly, I've never heard of anyone having problems using CCCP, where that's not the case with K Lite. Now that I said that, of course I'm going to find people with problems related to CCCP.

In the end, get what works best for you. If VLC works great, stick with it. If K Lite does the job, keep it. If CCCP is what you prefer, cool.

 

I couldn't agree more Jin, although right now in Linux I use SMPlayer which is like the Linux version of CCCP.

 

Oh jeez! Let this thread DIE already!! It's a faulty poll, after all!

 

Yes you are right. New poll here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=281335

 

Thanks!

 

now can we close this thread?

 

Oh, please do!