Portable VLC Media Player

VLC is one of the most popular and widely used multimedia players out there, mostly due to extended support for virtually all video and audio formats. Released under an open-source license, VLC can play almost any media format out there, with additional support for DVDs, audio CDs and online streaming.

There are two flavors of VLC available. The portable edition comes with the same functionality as the installer edition, but it allows you to launch it from a removable drive and use it on the go, without affecting the registry of the host computer. It does not require installation, which is quite convenient.

The idea behind VLC is to provide a powerful media player that is extremely easy to use. While the GUI might not be so impressive as far as the design is concerned, but all the basic playback controls are in place and within reach.

Those who feel the need to customize the interface’s looks should know that VLC Media Player comes with skin support and a variety of them available for download. There is the VLC skin editor, which makes it possible to design your own, customized version of the VLC player.

Additional options and tools are available via the player’s menus, providing enhanced playback control, playlist management, audio, video and subtitles configuration tools. You can modify the view or the deinterlace mode, adjust the zoom level or change the aspect ratio.

The application comes with various adjustments and effects that you can experiment with to obtain better playback quality. There is an equalizer and a compressor among the audio tools, while the video toolbox packs adjustments for the image, the colors, the geometry, the overlay and more.

Plugins are there to enhance the overall user experience by adding new or improved functionality to an already comprehensive media player. The application packs streaming and conversion capabilities alongside a built-in snapshot tool that allows you to capture images during video playback.

VLC is, without a doubt, one of the top media players out there. It delivers a customizable interface, excellent playback support, and functionality that can be enhanced via plugins. Its extended support for multiple formats makes it versatile enough to meet the requirements of the most pretentious users.