What exactly is VLC?

[kapalua12]

I'm pretty new to OSX and keep hearing about VLC player but do not want to put anything on my new iMac that might cause problems. I also have a 2010 i7 iMac with DVD drive.

What do people use VLC player for that OSX does not natively do? The same goes for "PLEX". What does that software do?

 

[kylera]

I'm pretty new to OSX and keep hearing about VLC player but do not want to put anything on my new iMac that might cause problems. I also have a 2010 i7 iMac with DVD drive.

What do people use VLC player for that OSX does not natively do? The same goes for "PLEX". What does that software do?

VLC is a player that plays more different codecs than the native QuickTime Player does, hence the reason you see it mentioned a lot. Oh, and it's free, too.

 

[eco7777]

Best player ever

 

[Mr. McMac]

Best player ever

Agreed. I've been using it on both Mac's and PC's for several years. I love it.

 

[kapalua12]

Thanks.

What does PLEX do?

 

[Mackilroy]

Plex is a multimedia manager intended to be the centerpiece of a home theater. Say you have a Mac Mini which you have all your media on–music, movies, TV shows, audiobooks–then you plug it into your TV and use Plex as a front-end interface to listen to all of it.

It may be a little more than you need at the moment, though.

 

[Gregg2]

VLC is a player that plays more different codecs than the native QuickTime Player does, hence the reason you see it mentioned a lot. Oh, and it's free, too.

This is going to stick in my brain better if I know what the letters in the acronym stand for. Video LAN _____ is all I could find, leading me to another acronym(!) which I think stands for Local Area Network?

English, where are you?
I don't speak the Codec.

 

[Gav2k]

This is going to stick in my brain better if I know what the letters in the acronym stand for. Video LAN _____ is all I could find, leading me to another acronym(!) which I think stands for Local Area Network?

English, where are you?
I don't speak the Codec.

Video LAN client

 

[Mike MA]

What do people use VLC player for that OSX does not natively do? The same goes for "PLEX". What does that software do?

And one of the major advantages, especially when somebody like you is new to the Mac, VLC is able to play .wmv files - which Quicktime can't if not Flip4Mac is being used.

So with Quicktime AND VLC, you should be in good shape.

 

[kokako]

what are they? serious! c'mon download them take a look, do some homework experiment yourself, what are you market research? yeah ofcourse you are conducting market research that's a given.

 

[Xe89]

Wow, have you been living under a rock? Sure, there are good alternatives but VLC is the de facto standard player of mkv files and others on both OS X and Windows. It is about 100 years old and there is no way you can not know what it is – at least if you're not new to computers in general.

Found this link btw about VLC...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VLC_media_player

 

[kapalua12]

Thanks for the information and for the motivation! Also, for the delicacy of the response.

 

[flynz4]

Thanks for the information and for the motivation! Also, for the delicacy of the response.

Spoken with class. Nice job.

/Jim

 

[BrianBaughn]

Plex has both a video/audio server app as well as a client app. Additionally, you can play movies from a Plex server via your web browser.

I have the Plex server app on my Mac serving up a movie library that I can play via wifi on my Samsung smart TV (installed the Plex app on it) as well as my iOS devices anywhere (the app is not free). It works great for us.

 

[Austin Karl]

Video Lan Client (VLC) is an open source portable media player that functions compatibly with various audio and video files including streaming protocols and is now becoming a household name.

 

[fabiettomac]

is there a good skin for the latest vlc on mac? i used black pearl in the past. there is something similar out there?

( http://cypohirogen.deviantart.com/art/BlackPearl-VLC-Player-86014335 )

 

[takeshi74]

What exactly is VLC?

The same goes for "PLEX". What does that software do?

Have you looked at the sites for both of these? They have plenty of info on there as well.
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
http://www.plexapp.com/

I'm pretty new to OSX and keep hearing about VLC player but do not want to put anything on my new iMac that might cause problems.

No need to fear it. If you want to check out VLC then download and install it. If it causes problems then remove it.