Media Player Classic
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Media Player Classic | |
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| Developed by | Gabest |
| Initial release | May 29, 2003 |
| Latest release | 6.4.9.0 / March 20, 2006 |
| OS | Microsoft Windows |
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Genre | Media player |
| License | GNU General Public License |
| Website | Guliverkli project |
Media Player Classic (MPC) is a compact media player for Microsoft Windows. The application mimics the look and feel of the old, light-weight Windows Media Player 6.4 but integrates most options and features found in modern media players.
Media Player Classic was created and is currently maintained by a programmer named "Gabest". Gabest originally developed Media Player Classic as a closed-source application, but later decided to make it open source.
Licensed under the terms of the GNU General Public License, Media Player Classic is free software, and is hosted under the guliverkli project at SourceForge.net. The project itself is something of an umbrella organization for works by Gabest.
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[edit] Features
[edit] MPEG-1, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 playback
This player is capable of VCD, SVCD and DVD playback, without the need to install any additional software or codecs. Media Player Classic has built-in codecs for MPEG-2 video with support for subtitles and codecs for LPCM, MP2, AC3 and DTS audio. It also contains an improved MPEG splitter that supports subtitles on SVCDs and supports direct playback of VCDs and SVCDs using its VCD/SVCD/XCD Reader. On October 30, 2005 Gabest added *.mp4 and MPEG-4 Timed Text support [1]. An AAC decoding filter has been present in MPC for a while, which makes MPC suitable for AAC playback in mp4, and an alternative to Winamp and iTunes.
[edit] DirectShow, QuickTime and RealPlayer architectures
Media Player Classic is primarily based on the DirectShow architecture, and therefore automatically uses installed DirectShow decoding filters. For instance, after the open source DirectShow decoding filter ffdshow has been installed, fast and high quality decoding and postprocessing of the DivX, Xvid, H.264 and Flash Video formats is available in MPC.
In addition to DirectShow, MPC can also use the QuickTime and the RealPlayer architectures (if installed on the computer) to play their native files.
[edit] Matroska and Ogg containers
Media Player Classic supports native playback of OGM and Matroska container formats. However, OGM audio playback is limited by a lack of support for the CoreVorbis DirectShow filter, which mainly affects newer OGM files (c. 2006). The crux of this problem is that MPC is hard-coded to use an older Vorbis filter, so even if one installs newer filters, MPC is unable to use them. [2]
[edit] TV tuners
MPC supports playback and recording of television if a supported TV tuner is installed.
[edit] Forks
Due to a stall in development of Media Player Classic in May 2006 many bugs were left unfixed. The community at the Doom9 forum has since maintained their own builds; one build is meant for fixing bugs and updating outdated libraries with the release labeled as 6.4.9.1;[3] while the other one, Media Player Classic Home Cinema, is for adding new features while fixing bugs and updating libraries.[4] Gabest, the main developer, stated that development of Media Player Classic is not dead in March 2007, but has made no progress in updating the source code.[5]
[edit] GPL violations
In April 2005, Gabest announced that two media players violated the General Public License (GPL).[6] One of the players, vx30, was distributed by Maui X-Stream, who was previously accused of GPL violations with its CherryOS software. The other player was The KMPlayer, whose authors responded on their own forum.[7]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Doom9 - Media Player Classic supports Matroska v2, *.mp4, *.mov, and MPEG-4 Timed Text
- ^ Directshow Filters for Ogg Vorbis, Speex, Theora and FLAC. illiminable.com (2006-02-24). Retrieved on 2007-12-29.
- ^ Doom9's topic on Media Player Classic patched build. Retrieved on 2007-11-11.
- ^ Doom9's topic on Media Player Classic Home Cinema patched build. Retrieved on 2007-11-11.
- ^ SourceForge's discussion about project status. Retrieved on 2007-11-11.
- ^ SourceForge.net: GPL violation
- ^ Do not believe bad rumors spread in networks. - The KMPlayer's Forums
[edit] External links
- Guliverkli - The SourceForge.net project page of Media Player Classic.
- Guliverkli2 - The SourceForge.net project page of patched build.
- MPC-HC - The SourceForge.net project page of Media Player Classic Home Cinema.
