Media Player Classic - Black Edition Portable

Based on the original Media Player Classic project and Media Player Clasic Home Cinema, Media Player Classic - Black Edition is a free and open-source tool that offers the same familiar interface, adds a modern twist, and enriches the user experience with additional features and bug fixes.

The portable edition of Media Player Classic - Black Edition can be stored on a USB flash drive and directly launched on any PC without setup. There are no software dependencies involved since all the necessary libraries and codecs are bundled with the no-installer package. On the other hand, the settings are saved in a different part of the hard drive, so any customization options are lost when running the portable utility on another computer from an external drive.

The media player takes a minimalistic approach and doesn't try to impress users with an over-the-top appearance. Instead, it has numerous options and configuration settings under its hood, which can be explored in the menu bar and right-click menu.

An extensive list of file types is supported by Media Player Classic - Black Edition when it comes to audio and video, including DVD, Blu-ray, 3D movies and ISO images. You can also load media from URLs and external devices, along with subtitles (even stereoscopic subtitles for 3D movies).

It's possible to create and save playlists, toggle minimal, normal and compact viewing mode, switch to a different language for the interface, and set the stereo 3D mode. After playback, the app can be instructed to exit, play the next video in the folder, lock the workstation, shut down or hibernate, among other options.

Advanced users can configure rendering settings or inspect the filters and shaders. The preferences panel holds many other useful settings, such as remembering the last DVD, file or window position, window size, or playlist on exit. Media Player Classic - Black Edition can be minimized to the systray and its process priority can be set above normal to avoid performance issues on weaker hardware configurations.

File associations can be made for any supported format. You can also integrate the utility into the Windows Explorer context menu for quick access, set it to autoplay music, videos, DVDs and audio CDs, remap keyboard shortcuts for any command, make color adjustments, customize the UI in appearance, and facilitate access via a web interface. These are just part of the settings that can be tinkered with.

We haven't encountered compatibility issues with Windows 10 in our tests. The utility barely affected the system's performance and responded to commands swiftly.

Thanks to its rich set of options and advanced settings, along with its intuitive interface, Media Player Classic - Black Edition should be able to please Media Player Classic nostalgics as well as other users looking for an all-round media player.