FastStream Video Player for Chrome

Buffering can really kill a lot of excitement when it comes to multimedia playback. Waiting around for a video to load is clearly not something to look forward to, but internet connections can be fickle, even in this day and age.

Perhaps a video player that manages buffering more efficiently can help. FastStream Video Player for Chrome aims to do just that: provide you with a smoother experience, so that you can sit back and enjoy streaming your favorite content without the fear of buffering breaks.

While the connection of your internet and the server you’re streaming from is still the most important part, it’s not uncommon to experience a better playback experience with an alternative player. This one uses automatic fragmentation and parallel requests to smooth out the playback experience, while also offering you the option to download a clip as you’re watching it.

This isn’t just a regular browser player, however. While it can replace the players from YouTube, Vimeo, and other video streaming websites at the press of a button, it can also be launched from a new tab in your Chrome browser, which additionally allows the user to play local video and audio files.

There are some amenities bundled with the extension that may be of interest to some users. You can adjust some parameters to modify the look of your clips, such as brightness, contrast, saturation, and other similar settings, boost the volume by up to 3 times over the default max threshold, and configure your audio playback through the provided built-in mixer, equalizer, and compressor tools.

That’s not all. Launch the extension in a new tab, and Sources Browser will automatically detect any video that’s playing in your Chrome browser, irrespective of its tab. This will then allow you to play it in the FastStream interface, offering a distraction-free multimedia environment.

I should also mention the OpenSubtitles support, which essentially gives you access to a wide library of subtitles for all manner of movies, TV shows, and more.

FastStream Video Player for Chrome really does quite a lot. The improvements to buffering speed are nice to have, but so are the extra features that come bundled with the extension, resulting in a very competent package.