Official VLC for Android

Sicklyboy

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Midna

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VLC is a mediocre player. Inferior video quality and bad 10-bit support. It got popular for it's massive list of supported formats. Well, we can do that with any other media player, and better too with modular codec packs. Seriously, fuck VLC.
 
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IBNobody

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I wonder if this will be gimped like I've heard that the iOS version is.

There's your first problem.

Yes, quite. Android deserves much better VLC treatment.

.........


Why is there so much hate for VLC, though?

It works. It's plays everything I throw at it. It doesn't require codec packs (which are a pain to keep updated and behaving nicely with other things). It has a decent interface. It supports adjusting video/audio syncing. It can play partially downloaded AVI and MKV files. I run it off my low-maintenance home theater PC, and it doesn't cause me grief.

Do these other, better players solve problems that I don't seem to have?
 

wolffangalchemist

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Why is there so much hate for VLC, though?

It works. It's plays everything I throw at it. It doesn't require codec packs (which are a pain to keep updated and behaving nicely with other things). It has a decent interface. It supports adjusting video/audio syncing. It can play partially downloaded AVI and MKV files. I run it off my low-maintenance home theater PC, and it doesn't cause me grief.

Do these other, better players solve problems that I don't seem to have?

VLC is ok for most nornal video files, but when you try and play a 1080P 10bit MKV video file and get nothing but a green screen and some audio, or try watching a file and get tearing in the video because VLC simply can't hadle that spot in the video file it means there is time for change, especially with more media being either 720p or 1080p as it's becoming a standard.
where as a program like MPC-HC can be installed and only needs a codec pack like CCCP (Last updated on 11/11/11 and it's such a pain it keep up to date eh?) and a miniscule amount of configuration to handle anything you could throw at it.
 
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ProtoKun7

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IBNobody

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VLC is ok for most nornal video files, but when you try and play a 1080P 10bit MKV video file and get nothing but a green screen and some audio, or try watching a file and get tearing in the video because VLC simply can't hadle that spot in the video file it means there is time for change, especially with more media being either 720p or 1080p as it's becoming a standard.
where as a program like MPC-HC can be installed and only needs a codec pack like CCCP (Last updated on 11/11/11 and it's such a pain it keep up to date eh?) and a miniscule amount of configuration to handle anything you could throw at it.

Ahh, that explains it. Since I don't have a need to watch 1080P material often, I don't run into this roadblock. The stuff I watch is 720P at most. I don't want to download something for longer than it takes me to watch it. Also, at some point you realize that you aren't paying attention to the clarity of the movie.

I have had bad luck with Codec packs and can't recommend them. They break Windows, or they break some other program, or you have to juggle the settings to get a particular file to play. It's just not pretty. With an all-in-one player like VLC, I can install it and just use it without having to worry about the details. And usually, I'd be worrying about the details at the worst possible time - when I'm watching the movie.
 

Rydian

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VLC is ok for most nornal video files, but when you try and play a 1080P 10bit MKV video file and get nothing but a green screen and some audio, or try watching a file and get tearing in the video because VLC simply can't hadle that spot in the video file it means [strike]there is time for change, especially with more media being either 720p or 1080p as it's becoming a standard.[/strike]
It means that your specs aren't good enough, and/or hardware acceleration is not functional for some reason. VLC has higher system requirements than other players because it does a lot of decoding and filters internally, and some people have low specs to the point where the machine can't handle it and so it doesn't play properly.

Notice that some people have no such issues (I play 720/1080 files regularly for example), but it is a concern on HTPCs and such (again, low specs). This is partially why hardware acceleration is becoming important (thus the rise of on-die GPUs that do proper acceleration and low-profile cards). With many machines out there being sold with low-power processors (Atom/Geode and such primarily but also the extremely cut-back mainstream ones) it's not uncommon to see brand-new machines that are too weak to run heavier programs.

VLC is a mediocre player. Inferior video quality and bad 10-bit support. It got popular for it's massive list of supported formats. Well, we can do that with any other media player, and better too with modular codec packs. Seriously, fuck VLC.
Um, hi, "Android" is the key word here. Can't just install codec packs.
 
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raulpica

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VLC is ok for most nornal video files, but when you try and play a 1080P 10bit MKV video file and get nothing but a green screen and some audio, or try watching a file and get tearing in the video because VLC simply can't hadle that spot in the video file it means [strike]there is time for change, especially with more media being either 720p or 1080p as it's becoming a standard.[/strike]
It means that your specs aren't good enough, and/or hardware acceleration is not functional for some reason. VLC has higher system requirements than other players because it does a lot of decoding and filters internally, and some people have low specs to the point where the machine can't handle it and so it doesn't play properly.
Core2Duo E8400, 4GB of RAM, GTX260... and it happens here too.

My specs aren't good enough? :P What does it need to do a little bit of video decoding, a freaking Core i7 3770K? C'mon, VLC is just plain buggy and a work of overall sloppy coding.
 

ProtoKun7

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I watch 720p .mkv files (I think they're MP4 videos, at least) and they play just fine. I don't have trouble with VLC on the whole; I'm surprised some people hate it so much.
 

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VLC is ok for most nornal video files, but when you try and play a 1080P 10bit MKV video file and get nothing but a green screen and some audio, or try watching a file and get tearing in the video because VLC simply can't hadle that spot in the video file it means [strike]there is time for change, especially with more media being either 720p or 1080p as it's becoming a standard.[/strike]
It means that your specs aren't good enough, and/or hardware acceleration is not functional for some reason. VLC has higher system requirements than other players because it does a lot of decoding and filters internally, and some people have low specs to the point where the machine can't handle it and so it doesn't play properly.
Core2Duo E8400, 4GB of RAM, GTX260... and it happens here too.

My specs aren't good enough? :P What does it need to do a little bit of video decoding, a freaking Core i7 3770K? C'mon, VLC is just plain buggy and a work of overall sloppy coding.
Go to a video file it happens in and go to Tools - Codec information and toss a screenshot at me so I can see what you're actually playing. If a file is fucking up in VLC on those specs, it's possible the file itself has the problems and other players are autocorrecting for it.

That, or hardware acceleration isn't functional in VLC for some reason. Make sure your renderer in the settings is on DX (or directdraw) or GL or whatever.
 

raulpica

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VLC is ok for most nornal video files, but when you try and play a 1080P 10bit MKV video file and get nothing but a green screen and some audio, or try watching a file and get tearing in the video because VLC simply can't hadle that spot in the video file it means [strike]there is time for change, especially with more media being either 720p or 1080p as it's becoming a standard.[/strike]
It means that your specs aren't good enough, and/or hardware acceleration is not functional for some reason. VLC has higher system requirements than other players because it does a lot of decoding and filters internally, and some people have low specs to the point where the machine can't handle it and so it doesn't play properly.
Core2Duo E8400, 4GB of RAM, GTX260... and it happens here too.

My specs aren't good enough? :P What does it need to do a little bit of video decoding, a freaking Core i7 3770K? C'mon, VLC is just plain buggy and a work of overall sloppy coding.
Go to a video file it happens in and go to Tools - Codec information and toss a screenshot at me so I can see what you're actually playing. If a file is fucking up in VLC on those specs, it's possible the file itself has the problems and other players are autocorrecting for it.

That, or hardware acceleration isn't functional in VLC for some reason. Make sure your renderer in the settings is on DX (or directdraw) or GL or whatever.
Heh, aren't you really asking me to remember which video files was I playing 8 to 12 months ago? :P I remember it was some anime - the question was... WHICH anime? I should try asking my friend which was having the same problems I had some months ago (which has now switched to MPC-HC on my advice), maybe he remembers what he was trying to watch with it.
 

iFish

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I'd like to add that despite the fact that it says it's incompatible with your devices it'll likely still work.
I installed the APK and in ran smoothly.
I use a Galaxy Nexus if anybody was wondering.
 

ProtoKun7

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I'd like to add that despite the fact that it says it's incompatible with your devices it'll likely still work.
I installed the APK and in ran smoothly.
I use a Galaxy Nexus if anybody was wondering.
The problem seems mostly to be location-related. I think it was something to do with differences in what governed the availability of the codecs, or something.
 

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