Digital Trends
Microsoft has had a strange relationship with local video playback for the past several years . It ’s one of those feature that was caught in the purgatory that was created with the start of Windows 10 , as Microsoft hang onto legacy apps like Windows Media Player while trying to push into a novel , mod earned run average . We ’ve come a long way since that point , andWindows 11is the close to offering a full - featured video player that Microsoft has been in years .
Media Player , the app built into Windows 11 for television and audio playback , has come a tenacious way in the two years since it was introduced . It ’s amazingly feature article - racy for such a simple program . Even with updates and Modern additions to Media Player , though , it still fall short of innocent , overt - reservoir options because of two central issues .
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The history
There ’s some history here that ’s important to address . Do n’t confuse Media Player with Windows Media Player . They ’re dissimilar apps . The latter is now known as Windows Media Player Legacy , and it ’s the app you ’re familiar with if you ’ve ever interacted with Microsoft ’s media player prior to Windows 11 . It can make playlists , show videos , and rip your candle . It has n’t quite grown out of the Vista - era trim , but at this point , it really does n’t require to .
The app Media Player we have today was build up out of the leftovers of Groove Music . This was Microsoft ’s medicine app , which Microsoft discontinued andrebranded under Media Player . Instead of just audio , Media Player supports video , as well . Some features , such as ripping CDs , were n’t available when the app launched a duo of years ago . Since then , Microsoft has rolled out the features of the legacy Windows Media Player , pretend Media Player your one - stop shop for audio and picture .
I ’d forgive you for thinking Media Player is n’t any honorable , though . Groove Music was infamous in Windows 10 and the early days of Windows 11 , and I imagine most people trench the build - in player and get a telecasting / music app of their own . I certainly did with VLC Player . I was floor how far Media Player has come since it was introduced two years ago , though .
It has a great deal of feature , and for most mass , it has everything you need in a dim-witted - to - understand formatting . It also looks great , which is a lot more than I can say for other video players . There are two critical issues that still curb it back , though .
What’s right
The biggest thing Media Player has going for it is that it ’s easy to expend . That usually have in mind sacrifice features — we all know an app that looks like it wasdesigned for Windows XPhas more features , correct ? — but Media Player is surprisingly rich for playing video . Out of the logic gate , you have financial backing for just about every codec you could need , minus one critical skip that I ’ll get to in the next section .
Compared to something like VLC , you have the main control you ’d want for playing video within easy reach . you could correct the playback speeding , tweak the audio frequency with an equaliser , and harvest in to debar black bars . There are even some paradigm place setting , allow you to change the brightness , dividing line , and impregnation . VLC sure goes deeply with sharpening , an audio compressor , custom overlays , and so much more . But for the vast majority of videos you ’ll play , Media Player has what you need .
There are two things that go beyond the basics with Media Player , though : subtitles and audio rail , and casting . In the old Windows Media Player , you could tally caption to videos that did n’t have them included , but it was a manual outgrowth that happened in the File Explorer . With the new Media Player , you could just add a Indian file now by adjure theCaptionbutton within the app . It ’s a small change , but it attain Media Player a mess gentle to use .
Subtitles and audio lead are very important for my local video , too . I look on a lot of Zanzibar copal , and I ’ll have to often resort to archive copy of older show and flick due to some unfortunate stream of licensing disputes . It ’s decisive that I can easy adjust the caption and audio raceway that a file is using while play a video , and Media Player makes that dewy-eyed . That assumes you have the audio and subtitle track you need , and that they ’re high character , however . VLC still takes the patty if you want to synchronize thing up .
Casting is a self-aggrandising accession , too . Media Player hooks into the cast feature build into Windows 11 , and it can pullulate your screenland to any gadget that supports casting . The only downside here is that it pullulate your total screen , so you ’ll need to stop the casting after your video is done playing .
Two major problems
For most people , Media Player gets the job done for video . But there are two major yield with the app that invalidate its top .
First , HEVC . If you have a TV that encoded with HEVC , or H.265 , you have to bribe a $ 1 minimal brain damage - on in the Microsoft Store to watch that telecasting in Media Player . It ’s not the price of the add together - on — I think most of us could spare $ 1 — but it ’s a slap in the face to charge for such a widely - used codec in the first place . You ’ll normally receive HEVC in video editing and gaining control applications , so you could easily immortalize or edit a TV and not be able to watch it in Media Player .
What ’s more frustrating is that Microsoft offered HEVC sustenance for costless previously . In Windows 11 22H2 , you could receive a innocent download for HEVC codec from the Microsoft Store . That list is now gone , and if you somehow manage to discover it with a more recent version of Windows , the Microsoft Store will block you from installing it . There are room to still get the free version — I ’ll linkthis Reddit threadand rent you take it from there — but you should n’t have to go through the hassle .
The mission , apparently , is due to licensing fee . I ’m candidly not sure one way or the other , and I ’m sure enough no expert when it get along to letters patent licensing agreements . I do screw that HEVC is support in every major internet browser , include Edge , Chrome , and Safari , and that it ’s been support in hardware between CPUs and GPUs since 2015 , however . That ’s on top of that fact that Microsoft previously offered it for free .
The other major issue comes down to Media Player ’s chronicle . It was built out of an app created for music , and there are far more features focused there . For instance , you may grab metadata for your music online mechanically through the app — you ca n’t do the same for picture . You also have no manner to find subtitles for videos through Media Player , unlike VLC and its VLSub extension that swipe into Opensubtitles.org directly from the app .
In both cases , the reason behind these lack of features comes down to money . Microsoft is one of the largest company in the world , and there ’s no doubt that outside database like unresolved Subtitles and licensing means would drool at a cut of Microsoft ’s pie study the massive install cornerstone of Windows . That ’s the cost of doing patronage , though , and clearly Microsoft thinks that price is n’t justified .
irrespective of the reason , the fact stay on that the Media Player app in Windows 11 falls inadequate of a multitude of free options that have been useable for decades . I use VLC for my intention , but there are a gross ton of other options let in Media Player Classic ( MPC ) and its variance , FFmpeg , and Pot Player .
