Pretty much every operating system comes with a default media player. While these default players are generally pretty good with the basics, anyone looking for a range of more advanced features is best off choosing a third party app. There are loads of players out there, but it can be confusing working out the right one for you.
This article is going to look at some of the things you should bear in mind when you decide to invest in an effective video player, such as price, versatility, macOS compatibility, and more.
The first thing to consider is price, obviously. Many players are open source, meaning that they are available completely free. Open-source software benefits from the fact that the code that creates the app is available online, meaning that people around the world can alter and improve it. However, open-source software lacks the kind of dedicated support that other apps can provide.
Many apps are available free. However, to some extent, you get what you pay for. While there are many great free options out there, a lot of other options are unreliable and not worth your time. If you do decide to invest in a paid app, it’s worth checking out whether or not there is a free trial that you can do. By checking a free version, you can work out whether or not the app is right for you.
Another major consideration for media players is their ability to play a range of different file types and formats. These days anyone with a large library of content will probably have a lot of different file types stored, some common and some less common.
A good player should be able to play lots of different file types, even ones that you may not think you need, just in case. In addition, it’s worth checking whether your player can play these files directly, or if it needs to convert them. Decent players support direct play, which means that you can save time and storage by playing directly rather than converting to a different file type.
Quality playback is another major point. 8K is the highest quality of video available, so you’ll probably want to ensure that your player is capable of handling it. It’s also worth considering whether or not playback is reliable on the player you choose. You can find this out by reading reviews and trying free versions.
You should obviously avoid any players that freeze or drop quality. However, it’s also worthwhile checking for whether or not your player lets you play content in a number of different resolutions. Occasionally it’s useful to be able to drop the quality of a piece of audio or video.
These days another feature of many players is their ability to cast to an external device such as Apple TV. More and more of these devices have been put on the market in recent years, and player developers have been keeping up. A good player should be able to stream from Mac to TV using a number of these devices.
It’s also worth checking how your player is at accessing content on shared networks. For instance, Elmedia Player can connect to your shared network and play content from any folder accessible through the network, essentially giving you access to saved files on multiple different devices all at once.
Finally, usability is an obvious thing to take into consideration. This covers a range of different factors, many of which you can find out about by checking reviews and forums. For instance, do users report bugs in the app, or issues with playback? Are updates put out regularly to ensure the app is running smoothly? Is there a support team there when you need it?
It’s also worth checking whether your app is known for introducing malware or pop-ups to your system. All these things can be found with a bit of online research.
A good place to start if you’re looking for a new media player is the Elmedia Player. It scores high in pretty much all the categories that we’ve outlined above. The player can handle a huge range of different file types, and all without the need for conversion.
Plus, it offers users a range of different tools to configure the playback of audio and video depending on what you need. And it’s compatible with plenty of external devices. You can download Elmedia directly from the homepage to find out exactly what you can enjoy.
