VLC is a highly portable multimedia player and a streaming server.
The VLC 0.8.4 release features many improvements including a new Mac OS X wizard and extend controls dialogs, tree playlist skins2 support, HTTP interface CGI handling, linux binary codecs loader, UPnP and Bonjour service discovery, shoutcast stream forwarding, new languages... Full list of changes is available here.
The source code and binary packages for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, PocketPC and other platforms are available on the VLC download page.
Full Version: VLC 0.8.5 released
QUOTE
Changes between 0.8.2 and 0.8.4:
--------------------------------
Core support:
* Internal strings handling is now UTF-8 based
* New OSD system
Video output:
* Fixed problems with OpenGL output
* New --monitor-par (pixel aspect ratio) option
* Fixed display problems with HDTV-1080 format
Input:
* Improved DVB support for satellite bands other than Ku-band
* IPv6 and Extended passive mode support for FTP
* IPv6 Source Specific Multicast support
* GnomeVFS input module
* Support for RTP packet reordering
* Fixed syntax for FTP URLs
Decoders:
* Support for libSDL_image to import different image types
* Musepack decoder using libmpdec
* QDM2 audio support (needs ffmpeg from 19th Oct 2005 or later)
Services discovery:
* UPnP service discovery (Linux only at the moment)
* Bonjour service discovery using avahi (Linux only)
Video filters:
* RSS feed overlay
Audio filters:
* Fixes, enhancements and new options related to the Headphone Channel
Mixer and Dolby Surround
Stream output:
* New shout output module to forward streams to icecast servers
* Fixed several SAP and SDP announcement bugs
* Fixed MTU handling to avoid IP fragments
Interfaces:
- new cone icon by Richard Їiestad (Eurodata, retron.info)
* Mac OS X
- New streaming and transcoding wizard
- New extended controls panel
- New bookmarks window
- Fixed playlist sorting
- Fixed drag-and-drop inside the playlist
* wxWidgets
- Rename wxWindows interface in wxWidgets.
- All the --wxwin-* options are now --wx-*
- Support for RTP streaming in Stream Ouput dialog
- Now require wx2.6 with Unicode support
* Skins2
- Tree playlist
* HTTP
- New RPN functions to control VLC features (see play-howto)
- Facilities to correctly handle non-ASCII characters and spaces in
the names of files
- Include macro to include other files
- CGI 1.0 support
ActiveX plugin:
* Should now work outside IE as well
Mac OS X port:
* New script to delete the preferences automatically
Windows port:
* Fixed bandwidth problems of HTTP streaming
* Fixed audio problems with DirectX audio output
Translations:
The following languages were added:
* Galician
* Korean
* Romanian
* Simplified Chinese
The following languages were re-added:
* Swedish
--------------------------------
Core support:
* Internal strings handling is now UTF-8 based
* New OSD system
Video output:
* Fixed problems with OpenGL output
* New --monitor-par (pixel aspect ratio) option
* Fixed display problems with HDTV-1080 format
Input:
* Improved DVB support for satellite bands other than Ku-band
* IPv6 and Extended passive mode support for FTP
* IPv6 Source Specific Multicast support
* GnomeVFS input module
* Support for RTP packet reordering
* Fixed syntax for FTP URLs
Decoders:
* Support for libSDL_image to import different image types
* Musepack decoder using libmpdec
* QDM2 audio support (needs ffmpeg from 19th Oct 2005 or later)
Services discovery:
* UPnP service discovery (Linux only at the moment)
* Bonjour service discovery using avahi (Linux only)
Video filters:
* RSS feed overlay
Audio filters:
* Fixes, enhancements and new options related to the Headphone Channel
Mixer and Dolby Surround
Stream output:
* New shout output module to forward streams to icecast servers
* Fixed several SAP and SDP announcement bugs
* Fixed MTU handling to avoid IP fragments
Interfaces:
- new cone icon by Richard Їiestad (Eurodata, retron.info)
* Mac OS X
- New streaming and transcoding wizard
- New extended controls panel
- New bookmarks window
- Fixed playlist sorting
- Fixed drag-and-drop inside the playlist
* wxWidgets
- Rename wxWindows interface in wxWidgets.
- All the --wxwin-* options are now --wx-*
- Support for RTP streaming in Stream Ouput dialog
- Now require wx2.6 with Unicode support
* Skins2
- Tree playlist
* HTTP
- New RPN functions to control VLC features (see play-howto)
- Facilities to correctly handle non-ASCII characters and spaces in
the names of files
- Include macro to include other files
- CGI 1.0 support
ActiveX plugin:
* Should now work outside IE as well
Mac OS X port:
* New script to delete the preferences automatically
Windows port:
* Fixed bandwidth problems of HTTP streaming
* Fixed audio problems with DirectX audio output
Translations:
The following languages were added:
* Galician
* Korean
* Romanian
* Simplified Chinese
The following languages were re-added:
* Swedish
Great program that i've always liked!! 
used it for a long while.
Let me take this chance to say, thanks for a lovely player!
used it for a long while.
Let me take this chance to say, thanks for a lovely player!
no change on h264 support 
I've had some big problems with the new VLC playing divx files - it crashes a lot. Maybe it's just a problem for me?
QUOTE(Fuchal @ Dec 5 2005, 04:40 PM)
I've had some big problems with the new VLC playing divx files - it crashes a lot. Maybe it's just a problem for me?
There's an 0.8.4B version that might solve your problems...
http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/VLC_V...ws/1034861925/1
Any news about the .srt files ?
And audio wise, would it be a good replacement of, let's say, Winamp ?
And audio wise, would it be a good replacement of, let's say, Winamp ?
VLC 0.8.5 released.
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
CODE
Changes between 0.8.4a and 0.8.5
---------------------------------
Core support:
* Statistics collection (bitrates, packets, connections, ...)
* Support for downloading updates
* Updated strings
Input:
* Initial support for RTSP-over-HTTP (to allow NAT traversal)
* Linux DV (Digital Video - Firewire) input
* Improvements to the Audio CD input
- Separate playlist entries for the tracks
- Support for CDDB
* Support for more DVB (satellite) encryption modules
* Improved subtitles encoding support
* Improved support for playing MP4 files from the Web
Decoders:
* Cook (Real audio) support
Playlist / Services discovery:
* XSPF playlist support
* Podcast support
* Updated Shoutcast to use new listing
Audio output:
* New JACK audio output
Video output:
* New video filters:
- magnify: allows you to zoom on part of the image
- gradient and edge detection: "cartoon-like" effect
- bluescreen: overlay parts of a video transparently on another one
* Logo video filter: can now loop through multiple images
* RSS video filter: display feed images. Support for Atom feeds.
* Improvements to the subtitles rendering
Stream output:
* Initial support for throttling users on VOD streams
Interfaces:
* System to inform the user and request information
- HTTP authentication
- Fatal errors
- ...
* wxWidgets
- VLM (VideoLAN Media Manager) control panel
- Improved media information panel (shows statistics, metadata, ...)
- Drag & Drop support in the playlist
* Skins2
- New default skin
- Support for Winamp 2 skins
- Improved playlist handling
- Support for popup menus, animated bitmaps, equalizer, ...
* OS X
- Embedded Video output
- new Go-To-Specific-Time feature
- Video cropping and aspect ratio changing while playing
- Improved media information panel (shows statistics, metadata, ...)
- support for processing multiple items with the wizard in a single run
- option to save selections in the wizard for a session (default enabled)
* HTTP
- New default interface pages for VLC and VLM (including a mosaic wizard)
- A bunch of new RPN functions
Windows Port:
* MSN messenger "Now playing" support
OS X Port:
* Mac-Intel compatibility
* Enhanced support of various audio output devices
* Growl "Now playing" support
*Nix port:
* Ability to log to syslog
* Root wrapper to avoid running VLC as root
Developers:
* New libvlc API (not finished yet)
* Java bindings
* A bit more automatic testing
---------------------------------
Core support:
* Statistics collection (bitrates, packets, connections, ...)
* Support for downloading updates
* Updated strings
Input:
* Initial support for RTSP-over-HTTP (to allow NAT traversal)
* Linux DV (Digital Video - Firewire) input
* Improvements to the Audio CD input
- Separate playlist entries for the tracks
- Support for CDDB
* Support for more DVB (satellite) encryption modules
* Improved subtitles encoding support
* Improved support for playing MP4 files from the Web
Decoders:
* Cook (Real audio) support
Playlist / Services discovery:
* XSPF playlist support
* Podcast support
* Updated Shoutcast to use new listing
Audio output:
* New JACK audio output
Video output:
* New video filters:
- magnify: allows you to zoom on part of the image
- gradient and edge detection: "cartoon-like" effect
- bluescreen: overlay parts of a video transparently on another one
* Logo video filter: can now loop through multiple images
* RSS video filter: display feed images. Support for Atom feeds.
* Improvements to the subtitles rendering
Stream output:
* Initial support for throttling users on VOD streams
Interfaces:
* System to inform the user and request information
- HTTP authentication
- Fatal errors
- ...
* wxWidgets
- VLM (VideoLAN Media Manager) control panel
- Improved media information panel (shows statistics, metadata, ...)
- Drag & Drop support in the playlist
* Skins2
- New default skin
- Support for Winamp 2 skins
- Improved playlist handling
- Support for popup menus, animated bitmaps, equalizer, ...
* OS X
- Embedded Video output
- new Go-To-Specific-Time feature
- Video cropping and aspect ratio changing while playing
- Improved media information panel (shows statistics, metadata, ...)
- support for processing multiple items with the wizard in a single run
- option to save selections in the wizard for a session (default enabled)
* HTTP
- New default interface pages for VLC and VLM (including a mosaic wizard)
- A bunch of new RPN functions
Windows Port:
* MSN messenger "Now playing" support
OS X Port:
* Mac-Intel compatibility
* Enhanced support of various audio output devices
* Growl "Now playing" support
*Nix port:
* Ability to log to syslog
* Root wrapper to avoid running VLC as root
Developers:
* New libvlc API (not finished yet)
* Java bindings
* A bit more automatic testing
QUOTE(Fuchal @ Dec 5 2005, 17:40)
I've had some big problems with the new VLC playing divx files - it crashes a lot. Maybe it's just a problem for me?
no, VLC is one of the most unstable ad crashy pieces of software I ever came across.
I use Media Player Classic, and have had no complaints, but a lot of people I know use VLC. Are there any reasons why VLC is the better choice?
QUOTE(carmik @ Jun 15 2006, 18:26)
I use Media Player Classic, and have had no complaints, but a lot of people I know use VLC. Are there any reasons why VLC is the better choice?
Just because it has all the codecs built-in instead of having to install them yourself.
QUOTE(Fuchal @ Jun 16 2006, 02:33)
Just because it has all the codecs built-in instead of having to install them yourself.
Thanks. I guess theres no point swapping if ive got them all already
QUOTE(carmik @ Jun 15 2006, 18:26)
I use Media Player Classic, and have had no complaints, but a lot of people I know use VLC. Are there any reasons why VLC is the better choice?
Mainly because VLC tends to "just work" in a lot of cases. I use it for nearly all video playback on my XP box.
If you want to take the time fiddling with codecs to get them to work right and not crash, then more power to you. I've done that before too, and I have yet to find an XVid codec that works 100% of the time. Even builds of the ffmpeg as a codec have trouble sometimes. VLC, however, just works. Only bug I know of is that it sometimes will crash on me when it's switching from one file to the next in the playlist, but it's rare enough that it doesn't bother me anymore.
VLC is kinda like foobar. It will do just about everything, but the interface sucks unless you take the time to customize it a bit.
IT'S ONE OF THE FIRST MAJOR VIDEO/AUDIO PLAYERS TO SUPPORT XSPF! Those are awesome news.
QUOTE(carmik @ Jun 15 2006, 15:26)
I use Media Player Classic, and have had no complaints, but a lot of people I know use VLC. Are there any reasons why VLC is the better choice?
Since it doesn't use directshow codecs, it is a true alternative, even if you have all codecs installed.
Anyway in my new laptop I have installed only VLC. I will install windows codec when (and if
) I will need them....and I like the skin of 0.8.5 a lot
First of all guys, you don't need any codecs to play a movie. You only need them when processing video in VirtualDub. For playback DirectShow filters are used. And the only things you need to install is FFDShow and Haali Medai Splitter. Haali's splitter works with MKV, MP4, OGM and AVI, FFDShow can decode MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4 (ASP and AVC), MJPEG, DV and many other video formats, the audio part decodes MPEG-1/2 (MP1, MP2, MP3), AC3, DTS, Vorbis, FLAC and others. And there somes VfW codec with FFDShow too, if you want to use it in VirtualDub.
VLC is great if you have your DirectShow system demaged (codecpacks often cause it). As somebody already said, it just works. But there is no reason for me to switch from FFDShow and MPC or ViPlay players.
VLC is great if you have your DirectShow system demaged (codecpacks often cause it). As somebody already said, it just works. But there is no reason for me to switch from FFDShow and MPC or ViPlay players.
Already updated to 0.8.5, never heard of this XSPF format, maybe i'll try it later...
VLC 0.8.6 released: added support for Matroska WavPack, WMA Speech and The True Audio Lossless codec.
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
QUOTE
Changes between 0.8.5 and 0.8.6:
--------------------------------
Playlist:
* Shoutcast TV listings support
Input:
* Support for RTSP authentication
* Support for adding subtitles on the fly
* Fixed MPEG-PS duration calculation
* ATSC support for DVB input
* Partial reading support for DVR-ms recordings
* Partial reading support for MXF and GXF fileformat
* Improved support for Flash Video files
Decoders:
* Native WMV9/VC-1 support
* WMA Speech support (through binary codecs)
* VP5/VP6 - Flash Video support (not VP61)
* The True Audio Lossless codec support
* Matroska WavPack support
* Improved H.264 support (interlaced, speed improvements etc but no PAFF)
* Fixed a problem with MPEG2 field pictures
* Fixed swapped colors on DVB subtitles
Video output:
* Additional OpenGL effects (cylinder, torus, sphere, ...)
* Experimental Direct3D 9 video output (win32). Best served on Vista
* Improved libcaca support
Interfaces:
All
* New hotkeys for crop and zoom
* Support for snapshots from the HTTP interface
Windows
* Systray support in skins
OS X
* Support for Apple Remote control
* Fullscreen controller panel (artwork by Simon DamkjГŚr Andersen)
* New playmode buttons (artwork by Simon DamkjГŚr Andersen)
* right/ctrl-click menu in video outputs
* Main Menu uses autohide when playing videos in fullscreen mode
Linux
* Notifications using notification-daemon
Windows port:
* Support for Unicode filenames (Windows NT and above)
Windows 9x/ME users:
- Please note that these versions of Windows are not officially supported
- Unicode support for Windows 9x/ME applications is available through the
Microsoft Layer for Unicode available from the following location:
http://www.microsoft.com.nsatc.net/globald...u_announce.mspx
Download the MSLU package (unicows) and extract the content into the folder
C:\Windows\System
* Fixed IPv6 support on the client side
* Fixed disable screensaver (Direct3D and DirectX video output)
Localization:
* Add Czech
* Add Slovak
* Add Malay
* Add Slovenian
Developers:
* Updates to the libvlc API
* Fixes for the mozilla and activeX plugins
--------------------------------
Playlist:
* Shoutcast TV listings support
Input:
* Support for RTSP authentication
* Support for adding subtitles on the fly
* Fixed MPEG-PS duration calculation
* ATSC support for DVB input
* Partial reading support for DVR-ms recordings
* Partial reading support for MXF and GXF fileformat
* Improved support for Flash Video files
Decoders:
* Native WMV9/VC-1 support
* WMA Speech support (through binary codecs)
* VP5/VP6 - Flash Video support (not VP61)
* The True Audio Lossless codec support
* Matroska WavPack support
* Improved H.264 support (interlaced, speed improvements etc but no PAFF)
* Fixed a problem with MPEG2 field pictures
* Fixed swapped colors on DVB subtitles
Video output:
* Additional OpenGL effects (cylinder, torus, sphere, ...)
* Experimental Direct3D 9 video output (win32). Best served on Vista
* Improved libcaca support
Interfaces:
All
* New hotkeys for crop and zoom
* Support for snapshots from the HTTP interface
Windows
* Systray support in skins
OS X
* Support for Apple Remote control
* Fullscreen controller panel (artwork by Simon DamkjГŚr Andersen)
* New playmode buttons (artwork by Simon DamkjГŚr Andersen)
* right/ctrl-click menu in video outputs
* Main Menu uses autohide when playing videos in fullscreen mode
Linux
* Notifications using notification-daemon
Windows port:
* Support for Unicode filenames (Windows NT and above)
Windows 9x/ME users:
- Please note that these versions of Windows are not officially supported
- Unicode support for Windows 9x/ME applications is available through the
Microsoft Layer for Unicode available from the following location:
http://www.microsoft.com.nsatc.net/globald...u_announce.mspx
Download the MSLU package (unicows) and extract the content into the folder
C:\Windows\System
* Fixed IPv6 support on the client side
* Fixed disable screensaver (Direct3D and DirectX video output)
Localization:
* Add Czech
* Add Slovak
* Add Malay
* Add Slovenian
Developers:
* Updates to the libvlc API
* Fixes for the mozilla and activeX plugins
Who wants to bet that is still sucks with subtitles?
QUOTE(JadeElephant @ Dec 13 2006, 10:48)
Who wants to bet that is still sucks with subtitles?
Care to elaborate?
I've seen one problem with subtitles and Nero generated MP4s. If I switch to subtitles at the beginning of a film and no subs are being displayed, VLC will crash. If I forward into the film, switch to subs the subtitles will display and I can then go back to the beginning of the film and watch as normal. Bit of a pain in the arse, but it works and isn't something I come across often.
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