Media player (software)

MPlayer, an example of a cross-platform media player

A media player is a computer program for playing multimedia files. Media players display standard media control icons known from physical devices such as tape recorders and CD players. Examples of these icons are (play), (pause), and (stop).

Mainstream operating systems have at least one built-in media player. For example, Microsoft Windows comes with Windows Media Player while Mac OS X comes with QuickTime Player. Linux distributions may also come with a media players, such as SMPlayer, Amarok, Audacious, Banshee, MPlayer, Rhythmbox, Totem, VLC, and xine.

General-purpose media players can play both audio and video; special-purpose players, however, focus on providing extended playback features for one media type. Such players are known as either audio players or video players and often have a user interface tailored for the specific media type. For example:

• HTPC (Home Theater PC) software, features including media library and normally has a GUI (graphical user interface) with 10-foot user interface design and primary designed for display on a large television (or similar sized screen) with interaction using a regular television-style remote control.
• Windows DVD Player is dedicated to playing DVD-Video discs.
• MediaMonkey can play both audio and video but many of its features including media library, lyric discovery and music visualization are geared toward consumption of audio material such as songs and audiobooks.
• Media Player Classic can play both audio and video but many of its features such as color correction, picture sharpening and subtitle support are only useful for video material such as films and cartoons.

See also

• Comparison of audio player software
• Comparison of video player software
• Comparison of PVR software packages
• HTPC (Home Theater PC)
• List of smart TV platforms and middleware software