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Best HD Media Player, Part II!

post #1 of 15
2/8/10 at 9:52am
Thread Starter 
After the great results from my original thread I've decided to narrow this down further and get more involvement/information from the community.

Specifically for watching movies, TV shows, and similar productions (basically any HD entertainment) what program do you prefer to use?

If you have more time, please post why you prefer that program, and any tips or tricks you use to get the most out of your HD HTPC.

I'll start:

Player: MPC-HC
File Formats: 1080p, h.264, DTS-ES MKV files.
Tips: Check the Rendering Options section on the right-click menu for an easy way to check for 0-255 or 16-235 issues, and tearing (T). Also, use EVR Custom Presenter in Win7 for the best control over the renderer. You can also choose "on top while playing" from the right-click menu.

Player: KMPlayer
File Formats: Any other MKV
Tips: It's easy to try different codecs and compare them if you uncheck the "use internal filter" on AVC and 264 content, then install CoreAVC / FFDshow/ whatever. Pick it from the external filters list and play the file. Hit tab for your overlay and you can check CPU usage, frame accuracy, etc in real time.
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post #2 of 15
2/8/10 at 10:57am
7MC, MM3, TMT3, AnyDVD HD
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post #3 of 15
2/8/10 at 11:17am
I wouldn't go so far as to say it is the best (or even close to the top) as it still has significant features that are lacking, but a good general purpose player to have on a PC that isn't a dedicated HTPC. I have started using Mirillis Splash (no seriously, that's the name.)

I have a copy on my desktop computer as the only media type program installed and it has been able to play back all the Blu Ray rips I've tried (I only use 5.1 analog out of the mobo soundcard on that computer.)

It's not full featured (yet) but it is lightweight, freeware, and is a very good player to have in your pocket that is refreshingly simplistic in its interface.

http://mirillis.com/splash.html

Consider it an up-and-comer to keep an eye on.

-Suntan
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post #4 of 15
2/8/10 at 12:55pm
Thread Starter 
Great find, Suntan - I do like the look and feel of it. Competition is good for us.
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post #5 of 15
2/8/10 at 1:18pm
MediaPortal - good looking, many features, live TV support, opensource
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post #6 of 15
2/8/10 at 2:01pm
Been using Zoomplayer for a few years now and continue to do so (except for blu-ray playback straight from the disc of course). I like it because it is so customizable and it makes it easy to pick what codecs you want to use for what types of files, etc. Although I must say that I do like MPC-HC a lot. If I didn't already have a zoomplayer license, I'd probably save the money and just use MPC-HC.
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post #7 of 15
2/8/10 at 5:53pm
AMD Phenom™ II X3 720, Asus M4A78T-E, Rosewill case and 600 W Power Supply, 4GB DDR3 1333, LITE-ON Blu Ray Drive, SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4890, ASUS Xonar HDAV1.3 Slim

I run XBMC running Rapier skin I have a very large collection easy to set up and work with, good scrappers, plays anything and everything.
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post #8 of 15
2/12/10 at 7:15pm
Thread Starter 
Has there been any word on the Slysoft player that was rumored? I bet they'd do a great job...
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post #9 of 15
2/12/10 at 9:26pm
GB-PVR (is anyone surprised I said that?)

@Suntan: Nice find!
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post #10 of 15
2/13/10 at 5:47am
I switched from 7MC with mymovies2 incorporated to XBMC's latest release about 6 weeks ago. Following some tutorials I found online, I changed the default player for .mkv files to using MPC-HC and everything else runs through the XBMC. All my dvd's are now moved into .iso files and XBMC can play them directly without having to use additional software to mount the image as a virtual disc like 7MC required. The interface is just easy to use and very graphical without having to setup media browser or deal with additional steps or customizing. My wife likes the simplicity a lot better now too.

I'm now planning to replace my HTPC with a smaller footprint, lower power consumption system like an ACER REVO 3610 since all it does is run the front end of XBMC and everything else is streamed by my data server stored in a different part of the house. The Acer can play 1080p without any issue.
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post #11 of 15
2/13/10 at 5:47am
7 media center with shark007 codec pack...

with just that one add-in, my old dell precision with an hd2400pro has no problem playing back mkv's or any hd content at 1080p through media center...

and that makes it a one stop solution that my wife can use with the remote when she wants to watch something, she doesn't have to go through "my computer" and open it up through mpc-hc (great player, just not very streamlined or pretty)
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post #12 of 15
2/13/10 at 7:42pm
Just came across this Splayer yesterday and really like its Aero effect. A small and straight forward player for all the usual formats. Has a BD folder playback function but does not work for me. Can't seems to let me add ffdshow either. Other then that it is a very nice looking player with great subtitle support.
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post #13 of 15
2/14/10 at 6:18am
I choose Zoom Player because it is the only one that gives me 100% control of how the graphs will be constructed for playback. I've tried MPC-HC and KMPlayer but neither of those gives you as much control as Zoom Player does. That said I actually use KMPlayer on my desktop and laptop, where 100% control is not an issue and ease of use is.

ERIC
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post #14 of 15
2/16/10 at 9:00am
Thread Starter 
Wow, MPC-HC is blowing away the competition! I am curious if people are using it standalone, or if they've integrated into 7MC or XBMC, and how.
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post #15 of 15
2/16/10 at 10:39am
XBMC with two MPC-HC folders as external players--one for Blu-ray & one for SD DVD. Finally, I have something that is easy to set-up, lightning quick, looks good, and has no need of 7MC!
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