TSC: The Software Corner: Zoom Player

Zoom Player

Introduction:=20

The Internet age has sparked the explosion of online = filesharing, and=20 along with that, the availability of movies has grown. Crystal = clear file=20 formats such as divx and svcd are traded avidly. The situation = with xvid=20 and vcd is similar. But what kind of software can play these = files? You're=20 going to have to hunt down the proper codecs to play these video = files.=20 But we'll cover that in another review.

Top names such as PowerDVD and Intervideo WinDVD are quite = popular in=20 the scene. However, I can't say I want to pay for a player = designed for=20 DVD when I'm interested in using it for divx. Windows media player = is so=20 unbearably slow, even on my AMD Athlon XP and P4 systems. So after = hunting=20 around for a suitable media player, I came across one that I = really like.=20 Zoom Player. It's more versatile than the official player shipped = with=20 divx and it's faster than any other player I have seen lately.=20

Functionality:=20

Zoom player has many feature rich options. Some include = advanced aspect=20 ratio customization, advanced optional dvd mode, full interaction = with=20 installed codecs including the ability to set options in real = time, on=20 screen display, skinnable interface and so much more.

One of the beautiful things that I found about Zoom Player is = it has so=20 many features and yet it doesn't seem to be bloated down. I've = been using=20 Zoom Player for almost a year and I've watched it grow up to be a = very=20 stable and viable free solution for anybody.

You can customize anything and everything with Zoom player. = Remarkably,=20 it doesn't bloat down anything within the performance of this = software.=20 The configuration menu is very comprehensive with ability to = change the=20 player buttons, customize overlay colours, on screen display, = aspect=20 ratio, take advantage of third party audio filters for 3d audio = and so=20 much more.

Complete with chapters, play lists, tracks, built-in mp3 = player, audio=20 system and easily customizable options. Zoom player is a full = media player=20 with everything you need to enjoy any type of movie format with = the right=20 codecs.

Additionally, Zoom player can handle movies with various audio = tracks=20 and recognizes many subtitle formats. This built in feature can = make many=20 tasks easier while watching a foreign film.

Zoom player also has the option to set one touch commands with = your=20 mouse. I use this feature to set the volume up or down with my=20 intellimouse wheel.

Conclusion:=20

After researching many free, commercial, shareware and open = source=20 players, I found Zoom player to be the more versatile and = customizable=20 solution for video in windows. Zoom player really does take = advantage of=20 your system's hardware and utilizes it smarter than many of it's=20 competitors. I also found Zoom player to be a worthy rival to it's = commercial counterparts.

With more features and better options than commercial players, = PowerDVD=20 and WinDVD, why pay for an all in one solution when you can = download it=20 for free from inmatrix? Zoom player has the power to handle every = aspect=20 of the media spectrum. In my opinion, Zoom player is a better = choice=20 compared to it's commercial counterparts. I won't even compare it = to=20 windows media player.

Zoom player gets my thumbs up, and I anticipate new versions = will=20 improve this already great peice of software.