Only the best software... =

Software doesn't have to be boring. I have set up this blog to list = what I=20 think is some of the best software available at the = moment.

Sunday, October 02, 2005

Zoom Player

Getting bored with just my audio music collection, I've been = branching out=20 with collecting music videos on my computer. There are many available on = the=20 internet from artists websites, and many CD singles now include the = video. The=20 trouble is they all come in different file formats, normally Windows = Media=20 (.wmv), Quicktime (.mov) or Real Media (.rm). While I do have the = official=20 players for all these formats installed, I have to launch each file = manually.=20 What I need is a media player which will play all these formats. Well, I = think=20 i've found one... Zoom=20 Player.

You may say that the Real One player will play all the above formats, = but I=20 don't like the interface and am a bit unnerved by its instance to = contact the=20 web everytime you play something to see if additional content is = available (and=20 who knows what else). Zoom Player, on the other hand, is small and = doesn't take=20 a lot of resources while also playing almost every file type and having = a modern=20 (and skinnable) interface. While it does come in a shareware = professional=20 version, the basic player is free for non-commercial use. As far as I = can tell,=20 all that is missing is DVD support, but they rightly urge you to upgrade = if you=20 use the player a lot (which I very well might do).

Zoom player does not actually have its own decoders for each of the = file=20 formats, but instead cleverly uses all the official decoders. This does = mean you=20 need the official players installed, but that shouldn't be an issue for = most=20 people. Zoom player supports all the Windows Media formats using the = DirectShow=20 interface which comes as part of DirectX (this is all that Windows Media = Player=20 does as well). Real Media files are supported by using a special = DirectShow=20 bridge which fools the Real Media decoder to output through a Real Media = bridge=20 (which incidentally also allows Windows Media Player to play Real Media = files).=20 You need to install this Real Media bridge (called a splitter) yourself, = just=20 follow the instructions on the free-= codecs=20 site (and looking at the How=20 to install/uninstall DLL and AX codec/filter files link at the = bottom of the=20 page). QuickTime files are supported by cleverly loading the Quicktime = browser=20 plugin in the Zoom Player window. I had to upgrade to the latest version = of=20 Quicktime to make this work, but now its flawless and seamless.

The only thing I find a little disapointing is the lack of a media = library=20 like the excellent one in Windows Media Player. There is a media library = of=20 sorts, but it's a bit crytic and I'm still trying to figure it out (I = think you=20 need the pro version to use it properly as well). Still, all my music = videos are=20 stored in one folder and the player has a very useful Open Directory = feature=20 which will load all the content in the selected folder (and its = sub-folders) in=20 the playlist window. It also remembers the folder the next time you = start the=20 player. As long as all the files have both the artist name and track = name in the=20 title, this works surprisingly well.

I've been looking for a combined media player for a while, and this = is the=20 first one I've found which really meets the grade. With a better media = library I=20 might switch to this for everything, but in the mean time I'm sticking = to=20 Windows Media Player for all my audio and will be using Zoom Player for = all my=20 video. Having these seperate actually works out quite well so I'm now = very=20 happy!

I've added Zoom = Player to=20 the sidebar!

posted by Stephen @ 10:43 = PM=20

1 Comments:

At 4:43=20 PM, swissred=20 said=E2=80=A6

Really interesting adware post. I'm the webmaster of an adware serial=20 website, feel free to grab info from there for your next = posts.

Post=20 a Comment

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Sunday, October 02, 2005

Zoom Player

1 Comments:

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