Take Your Movie Viewing to a New High! Best Video Players for PC for a Truly Immersive and Spectacular Multimedia Experience (2020)

Videos have become a part of everyone's lives. It may be due to your job requirements or to see a movie during your free time. An ideal video player will improve your experience and allow you to play files of any format without having to worry about downloading another codec to view the file.

There are several video players, but it is essential to be picky about the video player to get the highest quality audio and video experience. While there are more straightforward players that give a no-frills experience, there are other feature-rich ones that offer an exceptional viewing experience along with several add-on features that suit the user. In this article, we will take you through some of the video players that rank among the best and can be one of your choices.

If you are a novice, the 5KPlayer is ideal for you due to its minimalist features. The main tools are easily laid out on the dashboard. In short, the 5KPlayer is a mix of a music player, UHD video player as well as a DLNA enabled video streamer and online downloader. This unique video player can play several file formats, including WebM, VP 8/9, MKV, AVI, FLV, H.265/264, etc.

It can also allow the user to download videos from DailyMotion, YouTube and Vimeo and downloading audio files from YouTube is also easy. The video player allows the user to stream video and audio using DLNA and AirPlay over wireless. It can also bridge several DLNA enabled devices and provides interoperability between them. The music player has a smooth playback, and the AirPlay feature allows you to stream the media from your Apple devices to the computer. It is supported on Windows and can be downloaded free from 5KPlayer.

The VLC Media Player works on several operating systems viz. Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. It can play any video file and can support plug-ins. However, it has several features that can take time to learn. It is a free software that can play any media of up to 8K resolution. It has a full feature set covering subtitle synchronisation, along with audio and video filters.

It also has several features, along with an assortment of controls. The playback and audio quality can be changed using the settings and it can also act as a streaming player for videos from YouTube. The player receives several updates and has a large community of users too. It can also play webcams, devices, files, discs, etc. The player does not carry any ads and does not support user tracking too.

PotPlayer has several advanced features with customised settings. It is a free player if you are using Windows, and it can support all media. It has an array of codecs that are inbuilt and offers support for 8K as well as 3D videos. The video player allows you to enjoy 3D videos too with 3D glasses. It has inbuilt keyboard shortcuts and hotkeys. It also has an easy-to-use interface along with a free screen recorder and a video editing software.

This player loads faster than most other software and uses lesser resources when running. PotPlayer can handle files from several storage devices like FTP servers, DVDs, Blu-rays and digital TV. You can sharpen the video through easy controls and it allows playback optimisation too.

The Gretech Online Movie Player is free on Windows platform and supports most audio and video files. It can play standard formats like MOV, MP4, MKV, FLV, AVI, etc. The GOM Player has a user-friendly layout and supports screen-casting that allows you to connect the computer terminal to a projector or television. It can handle 360° videos and supports 8K videos and play YouTube videos too. The settings of the GOM Player cannot be customised as extensively as in other video players.

While it has several codecs inbuilt, it also allows you to search for one that will enable you to play any video. The player can play subtitles too and can import an entire playlist as well. It has a subtitle finder and can play YouTube videos as well as the interactive ones that you have created. There are navigation related features pertaining to the on-screen controls also.

This is one of the classic players that many of you would have used at some point. The Home Cinema version is an update of the older video player. The new version has several free playback options and also ranks among the best free video players. It has several customisable toolbars along with a library of filters for your benefit and it supports a majority of the video and audio files.

This video player has several options to customise the playback, and the menus are easily navigable, allowing you to find the controls quickly. It does not require much processing power and supports 360° and 8K videos. It is free from advertisements, toolbars and spyware.

MediaMonkey is a new addition to the list of video players that run on Windows. It is a freemium software that allows you to keep your database of files in an organised manner. This player is enabled to manage a massive database of video files to the tune of lakhs without any hassle. It allows you to record as well as download movies or podcasts. It also supports plug-ins and enables you to improve the playback features and have better discovery capabilities.

It has advanced search capabilities, and you can look up and tag any multimedia file as per your necessity. An ideal case would be where a music lover can categorise the files based on the genre of music. The Gold version is a paid one and allows you to tag the Editor with the lyrics lookup automatically. It also has an embedded DVD/CD burner with 48X speeds. The paid version also has on-the-fly conversion for DLNA sharing and unlimited MP3 encoding. The price of the 4.x version is ₹ 2,421.00 while the lifetime license costs ₹ 4,846.00 with licenses for all future versions.

SMPlayer is a free video player for Linux and Windows and has built-in codecs due to which it can play most audio and video files. The most common files formats like MOV, MPEG, DivX, MP4, AVI, etc. are supported. It allows several customisation options, but the icons look quite back-dated. The player supports Chromecast and will enable you to see movies on a bigger screen. It has a unique feature that allows it to remember the settings of all the files it plays. The player can quickly start from the point of closure with the same background settings.

You can play YouTube videos using SMPlayer and can download the subtitles too. It also has several icon themes and skins. The SMPlayer has many advanced features like changing the playback speed, adjusting the delay between the subtitles and audio, audio and video filters, video equaliser, etc. The player also comes in around 30 languages.

UMPlayer also does not cost anything for users. It is a feature-rich player for Windows with several playback controls and customisation. The player supports all known audio and video formats and does not use too many system resources. It has more than 200 codecs allowing it to play almost any audio or video file with ease.

Apart from playing CDs and DVDs, the UMPlayer can also play radio stations and online television. It has an inbuilt feature to stream music using SHOUTcast and search videos on YouTube. UMPlayer views ease of use to be of prime importance. It has a simple interface and allows you to access the menu options with ease. The user interface has an orthodox design. It also supports audio filters and noise reduction.

DivX Player is an award-winning video player that allows you to play your favourite videos. It supports almost all the formats, including HEVC, AVI, DIVX, MKV, etc. and is available on iOS as well as Windows. The free software has three major components, viz. a high-quality video playback player, a converter and a mechanism to cast video from the computer to the television. You can view videos in high quality, up to 4K.

You can also navigate your favourite scenes using chapter points. There is a feature to switch between soundtracks. The media library has a track of all the videos, and you can create and play playlists. There is a Pro version that provides enhanced audio features, including AC3 surround sound and import files from Google Drive or Dropbox. You can also crop video borders and set customised frame rates. The Pro version also does not have any advertisements. The volume licensing model of DivX costs ₹ 1,485.00 for up to 10 users.

KMPlayer is a multimedia player for Windows. It can support most of the contemporary file formats like AVI, OGM, HDML, MKV, 3GP, WMA, WMV, MPEG, FLV, RealMedia, QuickTime, etc. It has an inbuilt codec that allows it to support most of the file types. The player can play high-quality videos and has a highly efficient video renderer. It can also download videos from Instagram, YouTube and DailyMotion. The player has video acceleration settings along with advanced audio equalisers.The player is available on Mac and Windows.

The player has a stylish and user-friendly interface and allows you to select the skins that you prefer. The welcome screen allows you to directly move to social media channels like Twitter or Facebook, the media library or other service applications. It has a robust playlist editor and allows you to create several playlists based on your wishes. The player will enable you to shift from SD to HD content quickly and supports 3D video too.

Your video player of choice must provide an excellent viewing experience. The player must have the setting options that can be customised to provide the ideal viewing experience. If you would like to fetch videos from popular sites like YouTube, DailyMotion, then do some research and find out the players that offer this option.

Some of you like to bookmark the scenes you want in the video or would like to sync media from other devices. You must list out your viewing preferences and do adequate research about the video players that provide those options.

When you are given to choose a video player, it is essential to finalise the features that you want in it. One point to consider is whether it can support all the files and formats of content. You must also check the compatibility with the operating system. It is just fine if you are using Windows, but always do some research to find out compatibility with other operating systems as well.

It is also essential to check the ease of use and navigation across the menu options. You must check whether the commonly used tabs are present on the front screen. If you are into seeing videos of several languages, always find out if the player supports subtitles. Also, check whether the volume control is upfront or requires you to navigate through the menus.

Many of you would like to see videos on a bigger screen. It is essential to ensure that the chosen video player supports the Chromecast option so that you can view the videos on your television or any projector. If you are a 3D movie freak, the video player needs to support such formats. You must also check whether the player supports high-resolution videos to be played. For some others, the screen layout and the icons on the front screen could be a deciding factor too. The video player must be easily navigable and must support all the common file types.