17+ Best Video Players for Windows Reviews

Videos are one of the multimedia files that provides knowledge, entertainment, and stories. You can find them on the streaming sites, social media platforms, or attached to e-mails. Likewise, it can also be found offline in DVDs or soft copies from a camera. But, did you know not all those are compatible with all players?

Some video players are designed for specific formats or platforms only. Some users would resort to converting the file to another. Why convert when you can look for players that will read formats from varied codecs. There are also those players that are specific to one type such as the WebM Player that is for WebM files. Know your formats and where to play them to stay self-aware.

VLC Media Player

Pot Player

MPC-HC

bomi

GOM Player

KMPlayer

DivX Player

RealPlayer

What Are the Common Video File Formats?

You have probably encountered problems such as file incompatibility with your players. This is because not all players read all types of videos. Acquaint yourself with different types and know when are they best used. Here are five common formats to learn.

• Audio Visual Interleave
  Commonly known as AVI, this format has been a popular format for downloaded videos from the Internet. Since it has a simple structure, this format is readable making it compatible with all players. However, this type is usually big in size because of its compression style. This is not to be mistaken with Audio Interchange File Format of Mac that only plays with an AIFF Player.
• Windows Media Video
  Following the famous AVI format is another popular file type from Windows, WMV. It is mostly preferred for Web sharing because of its small size, especially after compression. However, this also results in a lower quality during playback. Nevertheless, this still stands out because this format is easy to upload and send to others, even through e-mail.
• MP4 Video File
  Another format for online video sharing is MP4 Video File or simply just MP4. Compared to FLV, this type of file, when uploaded, retains the resolution of the video. Moreover, files of this type take not as many bytes as AVI but can still compete with the kind of quality it has.

Plex

SMPlayer

FLV-Media-Player

Final Media Player

AVS Media Player

BS.Player

ROX Player

MPCSTAR

MediaPlayerLite

5KPlayer – Most Popular Software

• Flash Video
  Popular streaming sites such as YouTube usually have their files in this format mostly because of its small size. However, the resolution of this file format is still kept in high quality even after compression. Furthermore, big-time users such as Facebook, Vimeo, and Vevo usually have their videos in this file type.
• QuickTime Movie File
  Although developed by Apple, MOV files are still compatible and playable for windows. They have their own Quick Time Player that is specialized for this type. Furthermore, just like AVI, MOV files are big in size as well. They are highly compressed to keep the resolution of any video to the best state.
• Matroska Multimedia Container
  Another rising player is the MKV. It has a similar structure as MP4 and AVI and is also commonly used for short film uploads and video sharing. However, this is not always compatible with all players. You would need MKV Video Players or other players with a codec that will read this file.