Introduction

Zoom Player represents my life-long quest as an indie developer to craft the most versatile media player and Home Theater experience for Windows.

What makes Zoom Player the best overall media player? It's the user interface, viewing experience and tweaking options. Lots and lots of tweaking options, tailoring the playback experience to your personal preferences without bloating up or slowing down.

Under the hood, Zoom Player uses the best audio/video decoding and rendering technologies available to get the job done. Whether it's Microsoft DirectShow framework, the FFMPEG project, LAV Filters, libVLC or the Chromium browser, Zoom Player uses the best playback engine for the task. The flexibility of picking the right media engine for the task means that pretty much every media format can play at the highest quality your hardware can muster. And if it doesn't, I will do my best to resolve any issues on Zoom Player's Reddit Community.

What about Control? If you're scared by long lists, skip to the next paragraph, otherwise know that Zoom Player can be controlled with a Remote Control app; a physical Remote Control; an XBOX controller; a mouse; the keyboard; using a PowerShell Script; Home Automation apps; over TCP/IP; WinAPI; through the Command line; and even with a web browser. Sorry for the long list, but the level of control and attention to detail I designed into Zoom Player is unmatched! Every key, click, swipe, roll and button can be customized to your preferences.

How does Zoom Player look? Amazing. The screenshots only tell half the story. With Zoom Player's powerful control overlay customization features, you can easily pick and choose which user interface elements appear on screen (buttons, volume bar, timeline bar, title text, etc), their size, color, transparency and much more.

Zoom Player's user interface is designed to look good on any display, regardless of the screen size or resolution and is ideal for the visually impaired. You no longer need to be an artist or coder to craft a beautiful user interface tailored to your exact requirements, you can do it yourself with a few simple clicks.

What about Streaming? Zoom Player has the best IPTV implementation on Windows, providing access to live TV from across the world (caveat below). YouTube channels, trends, searches and playlists can be added into the Media Library with ease. Other streaming sites either work automatically or can be supported through 3rd party plug-ins.

Home Theater? Zoom Player includes an extensive list of Home Theater features backed up by a powerful media library that can help organize your collection and content sources (see screenshots), including a TV and Movie JukeBox modes that displays Backdrop and Poster images along with meta-data such as description, actors, genre, content-rating, etc.

Support? The quick usage guides are the first line of support, clear and concise. Next I wrote the most in-depth documentation for a media player, ever. Every checkbox or setting is explained in great detail. I personally provide support and take requests on Zoom Player's Reddit Community. Every question is answered respectfully and thoughtfully. Did you come up with a cool new feature you would like me to add? Let me know and I'll see if I can get it done.

The Zoom Player Experience

• The most customizable and versatile media player interface ever created, suitable for any screen size and perfect for the visually impaired in both classic and modern styles.
• Dual Interfaces: Fast and utilitarian Windowed mode and a beautiful fullscreen Home Theater mode.
• Translated into multiple languages by Zoom Player's community.
• Selectable Media Engines: DirectShow, libVLC and Chromium.
• Smart Play DirectShow technology for faster loading media, no decoder conflicts and smoother playback on less powerful computers.
• Hardware accelerated 4K HDR video decoding with supported GPU/CPU.
• Beautiful hand-crafted skins suitable for every screen size.
• Windowed Skin-Modes: F4 (default), F5 (small), F6 (minimalist) and F7 (video-only).
• Dynamic skinning engine with multiple skins and support for color-tinting.
• Media Library with Movie/TV/Music meta-data scraping of posters, backdrops, still images, title, description, genre, cast, content-rating and more!
• Media Library media format display : Video Codec, Resolution, Audio Codec and number of channels.
• Media Library filtering and sorting based on Star Rating, Content Rating, Duration, Play History and more.
• Media Library view modes: List, JukeBox and Thumbnails with smooth, kinetic scrolling.
• Media Library password protected categories. Prevent kids from accessing inappropriate content.
• Output audio to an audio device of your choice with full S/PDIF and Bitstreaming support for external receivers.
• 10-Band Equalizer with Digital PreAmp and Presets.
• Install Center application, capable of detecting and securely installing up-to-date decoders, missing system components, and language packs to improve stability and introduce new features.
• Support for cutting-edge (and legacy) DirectShow Video Rendering technologies (MadVR, MPC-VR, EVR, Haali, VMR9, VMR7, Overlay).
• Automatically restore the previously active subtitle and audio tracks on replay.
• Powerful Aspect Ratio controls, including support for non-square pixels (Pixel Aspect Ratio), Anamorphic Aspect Ratio, and even, custom, user-specified ratios.
• Zoom Mode to position, pan and zoom the video in/out while in fullscreen, allowing you to position the video anywhere and at any size.
• The user interface snaps to screen borders and check out the Magnetic Docking features.
• Thumbnail preview when hovering with the mouse cursor over the timeline.
• Timeline chapters/bookmarks display with mouse-hover title popup.
• Fully customizable Action Sound-FX system.
• Local Configuration file, easily run different configurations/instances on the same PC.
• Video Post-Processing (DeInterlacing, Sharpening, etc.).
• Video Wall (Span Videos across multiple monitors using the EVR Renderer).
• Extensive Playlist support ZPL/B4S/M3U/WPL (including support for Unicode and UTF8 encoding).
• Image slideshow support.
• Network Keep-Alive: Prevent network drives from disconnecting on inactivity.
• Wakeup On Lan support: Turn on remotely sleeping PCs or Network-Attached storage devices.
• GuardDog, Automatically restart if the player becomes unresponsive.
• Video Orbiting to prevent screen-burns.
• Auto-Aspect ratio compensation for badly encoded 16:9 (widescreen) and 4:3 (fullscreen) content.
• Remotely create and manage playlists without affecting current playback.
• Automatically display embedded or external background images and meta-data when playing audio media.
• Shortcut File Parsing for easy redirection of DVD and media content from a centralized location.
• Use DirectShow filters directly from DLLs (without registering with OS).

Content

• Browse and Stream media from Plex, Emby or Jellyfin media servers.
• Media Library YouTube Channels/Searches/Trends/Playlist browsing and streaming.
• Media Library RSS/ATOM feed reader.
• IPTV player with username/password logins, Electronic Program Guide List or Grid views with Time Shifting, Group Manager, Archive playback, Favorites, Filtering and much more.
• DVD Playback from Disc, Hard Drive, or network connection with a choice of decoders/renderers and adjustable play speed.
• Smart DVD Bookmarking, including auto-loading bookmarks to bypass menus on repeated playback.
• Blu-Ray Decrypted Main-Movie Playback (with subtitles), including ISO auto-mounting and Menu support (when using the libVLC engine).
• Download subtitle tracks for the playing media using 'OpenSubtitles.org'.
• Multiple playlist manager, instantly switch between multiple playlists.
• Playlist Power Manager (enhanced search/playlist manipulation).
• Preferred automatic language selection (Audio, Subtitles).
• Play History. Remember Date, Audio/Subtitle Track, Volume level, Restore previous playback position and more.
• Play History Privacy. Control how previously played content is stored & displayed.
• Media Chapters/Bookmarks editing for any media, including streaming.
• Integrated image viewer (JPG/PNG/BMP/WEBP) with Zoom, Panning, and image-rotation functionality.
• Automate broadcasting with a powerful Media Scheduler, either locally or remotely using the API.
• Pattern Calibration System with White Wash Anti Burn-in mode.
• Create RingTones from playing media.
• Dynamic Virtual Editing. Create scripts to dynamically edit playback without altering the source files/streams.
• Audio Visualizations (Sonique, Windows Media Player plugin support).
• Automatic Aspect Ratio, Video Size and Blanking depending on the DVD type (Fullscreen, Letterbox or Anamorphic).
• Enhanced Screen Saver controls (Computer generated backgrounds, image slideshows and power saving modes).
• Create Contact Sheet for Video files (Thumbnail index).
• Automatically play multi-part media files, including GoPro sequences.
• SHOUTcast Radio streaming with integrated station browser and favorites.
• 4-Level Zoom-In Toggle (16.6%, 33.3%, 50%, 100%).
• Auto-Play Media CD/USB/External drives.
• Screenshot support in JPG, PNG, and BMP formats.
• Automatically extract and play archived (zip/rar/7z/etc.) content.
• Use Direct3D PixelShader scripts to enhance videos and use keyboard shortcuts to easily switch between PixelShader script presets.
• Non-Linear 16:9/4:3 video scaling using Microsoft's EVR (Enhanced Video Renderer) technology.
• Windows Media (WMV/WMA) DRM playback support.
• DVD Trailers feature, play trailers prior to starting the movie.

Control

• Home Theater (HTPC) fullscreen interface designed to be used with a Keyboard, Mouse, Remote Control or API access.
• Single action preferred audio device switching (e.g. speakers to headphones).
• Advanced DirectShow Smart Play controls, create your own Smart Play profiles, select & configure custom decoders and renderers for each media format.
• Fully Multi-Monitor compliant with powerful multi-monitor features.
• Dynamic Control Bar, providing easy navigation while in full screen mode, complete with user-selected on-bar functions.
• Use XBOX and compatible controllers as a remote control with custom, user-assigned functionality on every button, trigger or stick.
• Fully customizable keyboard editor, including support for chaining multiple functions to one key and Global Hot-Keys (keys that work even when the player is not focused).
• Remote Control for Android with Virtual Mouse-pad.
• 'Hot' screen corners triggering Custom Actions (functions/extended functions/execute an app).
• Go-To Interface to quickly and accurately seek into any position within a media file.
• Safe Mode, hide dangerous functions from inexperienced users.
• Custom Action button on default skin, assign any Zoom Player function.
• Assign custom functions to Mouse Gestures.
• Multiple, custom mouse click, scroll & tilt functions.
• Extensive command line support.
• Real-Time manual audio re-synchronization with optional initial synchronization value.
• Virtual meta-data editor for both audio and video media files.
• AB-Repeat (Repeat-Play a selected time range from the current media).
• Automatic Audio and Subtitle stream selection by language.
• Fast Play support for most media formats (as long as your CPU can handle the extra load).
• Fast Forward and Rewind support with all media formats.
• 4 speed variable distance seeking controls (short/medium/long/very long) with customizable speeds for quickly seeking forward/backward within the playing media.
• Add custom functions to the Windows Task-Bar's right-click menu.
• Enhanced 'On Playlist Complete' setting, allowing control over what actions are taken when playback ends.
• Communication & Control API (TCP/IP, WinAPI's SendMessage or COM), supported by many 3rd party applications.
• A Web Remote Interface to control Zoom Player.
• Detachable Control Bar, allowing you to easily control player functionality from a secondary monitor.
• Map network paths into the Home Theater's file browsing interface.
• Custom Video Position, Aspect Ratios, Color Control, and Image Blanking presets.
• Change screen resolution when going fullscreen and restore when leaving fullscreen.
• LIRC Remote Control support.
• Event Ghost support for maximum control through a remote device and system automation.
• Share play history on a network path to resume playback from different machines.
• Translucent user interface option.
• Automated action when connecting/disconnecting an additional monitor, detaching/attaching a "2 in 1" laptop's display or switching between tablet and mouse modes.
• Password protected options dialog, preventing other people using the computer from modifying your configuration.
• DVD Password Protected Parental Control.
• Auto-Execute external programs when a PAL/NTSC DVD disc is detected (prior to playing) and when the DVD playback is stopped.
• Auto-Execute external programs Running/Closing the player.
• Blank Secondary Monitors (when switching to fullscreen or by calling a function).

Caveats:

• HDR playback requires that the Video Renderer is set to either MadVR or MPC-VR. You may need to configure the selected video renderer with your choice of HDR settings.
• BluRay playback only works on decrypted content, encrypted discs will not play.
• To play BluRay discs with menus, you need to install libVLC and the JAVA runtime engine (Zoom Player v19 required).
• DVD playback works but it's dependent on Microsoft's Framework which can have issues on some systems. Most issues are easily resolved by switching the audio/video decoders used for DVD, but if you are having issues, create a post on the discussions area and I will help you resolve it.
• Zoom Player implements the IPTV playback standard but I did not include any commercial content. To access commercial IPTV, you must purchase a subscription from an IPTV service provider of your choice. I don't have a recommendation.