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I don't have any questions directly, just wanna say that I love VLC, it's one of the first programs I install on any computer, and I will continue to use it as

I don't have any questions directly, just wanna say that I love VLC, it's one of the first programs I install on any computer, and I will continue to use it as my primary media-viewer for the foreseeable future. The number of features that the devs have packed into VLC is staggering; I've been using VLC for almost 15 years now, and I still find new things about it occasionally. Fun fact (though probably not as surprising to an HN crowd as it is to most people I tell this to), VLC can also be used to convert media to different formats, AND works as a quick ad-hoc media server if you want to display something on a TV. This can be really handy if you have a video file in a weird format and want a way to quickly watch it on a device that doesn't support weird formats. I think I'm going to donate. Keep up the good work folks!

Topgamer7 6y ago
I found out it will work with karaoke files!
- jbk 6y ago
  CDG files? yes :)
tomjen3 6y ago
I only found out fairly recently that it can stream youtube videos (mostly, it does fail sometimes for seemingly no reason), which is great for those of us who end up clicking too frequently (read, all the time) on the related videos tab. It also mean that you don't see the ads, but there are extensions that can do that too.
- malwarebytess 6y ago
  There are extensions that add youtube ads to vlc?
  - 7786655 6y ago
    I assume tomjen3 was referring to browser extensions that block ads on the YouTube website.
    - smokelegend 6y ago
      Will a pi-hole stop the YouTube ads?
      - callesgg 6y ago
        No YouTubes video Ads comes from the same servers that delivers normal content so dns blocking can’t stop video ads.
- tombert 6y ago
  I didn't know that! That's so awesome! See, my point stands...there's still a ton of cool features that are available in there if you dig around.
- jcynix 6y ago
  Yes, it can play YouTube videos. And it can even show you the link to the video in ints info no, so you can download it. That's what I used before youtube-dl appeared on the scene.
- abdullahkhalids 6y ago
  This actually works for a number of popular websites. Twitch will work, for instance.
legohead 6y ago
Same -- it's one of the first programs I install. I wish the video conversion was simpler, more intuitive, and provided better feedback. My impression is you have to "stream" to convert a file, and then it just sort of happens without you knowing when it's done. And the settings are...odd. Selecting a framerate/resolution is still old school - provide some common defaults, or % choices to match the video's ratio. Very clunky. --- I just tried it and it keeps repeating itself trying to overwrite a file, had to force close it, though it did convert!
- tombert 6y ago
  Yeah, admittedly typically when I do video conversion, I use ffmpeg nowadays, just because I am comfortable enough with the command line and it's easier to script. That said, whenever my dad needs my help with any video stuff, trying to talk him through ffmpeg command line args is tricky, and while VLC's interface is a bit weird, I've managed to talk him through how to use it. It's not ideal, but considering that it's free, works, and supports basically every format imaginable, we forgive it...certainly better than when I was using AutoGordianKnot as a teenager :).
  - _fzslm 6y ago
    handbrake is also pretty great from a user-friendly point of view :)
    - tombert 6y ago
      Handbrake is great, though IIRC it doesn't encode into any weird formats. For reasons too annoying to go into here, we needed to convert some weird Intel Indeo file into a WMV/ASF, due to some weirdness of a program that he needed to use for work only supporting WMV stuff.
      - callesgg 6y ago
        Handbreak is just a ffmpeg gui right?
mrec 6y ago
I set up a Win10 box recently and was kind of stunned to find that the built-in Media Player is now b0rked to the extent that it can't play media. Practically any media. Even with codec packs installed it won't play any of my hundreds of h264 DVD rips, it won't play the few WMVs I still have kicking around, it won't even play bloody MP3s. I think I found one weird-codec MP4 and a couple of ancient AVIs it deigned to accept, but that was it. Or I can spend 30 seconds installing VLC and be 100% confident that it'll handle anything I throw at it. If I could fit a Lascaux cave wall into a USB port it'd play it. Congrats to everyone involved in making this software. The world would be a sadder and more frustrating place without it.
- tombert 6y ago
  I have not run Windows in any serious capacity in about 12 years, but I don't remember Windows Media Player being that bad, and I thought that Windows now had a license to H264 built in, so I'm actually a bit surprised that a rip wouldn't work. Any idea what the issue was?
  - mrec 6y ago
    No idea. I'd been using Win 7 before that where Media Player mostly managed fine (probably with codec packs). VLC had audio glitching issues on that box but doesn't on the new one, so I quickly lost patience with trying to debug MP. Diagostics and codec help links are utterly useless.
    - vitorgrs 6y ago
      Are you sure you didn't tried Windows 10 N? It's a specific version for Europe, it comes without codecs.
      - mrec 6y ago
        Good question, but pretty sure. Settings > System > About > Windows Specifications just shows generic "Windows 10 Pro" as the edition. Also, AFAICT the N edition doesn't have Media Player at all, it doesn't just gut the codecs.
bugBunny 6y ago
Same here, I have it literally everywhere, TV, mobile, laptop at home, at work... Thumbs-up guys
admax88q 6y ago
I have never had the media server support in VLC work for me.
wombat-man 6y ago
I learned vlc makes it really easy to get videos onto my ipad over wifi. Truly a lifesaver. Donated to them straight away. Extremely useful and effective.

Topgamer7 6y ago

I found out it will work with karaoke files!

jbk 6y ago
CDG files? yes :)

tomjen3 6y ago

I only found out fairly recently that it can stream youtube videos (mostly, it does fail sometimes for seemingly no reason), which is great for those of us who end up clicking too frequently (read, all the time) on the related videos tab. It also mean that you don't see the ads, but there are extensions that can do that too.

malwarebytess 6y ago
There are extensions that add youtube ads to vlc?
- 7786655 6y ago
  I assume tomjen3 was referring to browser extensions that block ads on the YouTube website.
  - smokelegend 6y ago
    Will a pi-hole stop the YouTube ads?
    - callesgg 6y ago
      No YouTubes video Ads comes from the same servers that delivers normal content so dns blocking can’t stop video ads.
tombert 6y ago
I didn't know that! That's so awesome! See, my point stands...there's still a ton of cool features that are available in there if you dig around.
jcynix 6y ago
Yes, it can play YouTube videos. And it can even show you the link to the video in ints info no, so you can download it. That's what I used before youtube-dl appeared on the scene.
abdullahkhalids 6y ago
This actually works for a number of popular websites. Twitch will work, for instance.

legohead 6y ago

Same -- it's one of the first programs I install. I wish the video conversion was simpler, more intuitive, and provided better feedback. My impression is you have to "stream" to convert a file, and then it just sort of happens without you knowing when it's done. And the settings are...odd. Selecting a framerate/resolution is still old school - provide some common defaults, or % choices to match the video's ratio. Very clunky. --- I just tried it and it keeps repeating itself trying to overwrite a file, had to force close it, though it did convert!

tombert 6y ago
Yeah, admittedly typically when I do video conversion, I use ffmpeg nowadays, just because I am comfortable enough with the command line and it's easier to script. That said, whenever my dad needs my help with any video stuff, trying to talk him through ffmpeg command line args is tricky, and while VLC's interface is a bit weird, I've managed to talk him through how to use it. It's not ideal, but considering that it's free, works, and supports basically every format imaginable, we forgive it...certainly better than when I was using AutoGordianKnot as a teenager :).
- _fzslm 6y ago
  handbrake is also pretty great from a user-friendly point of view :)
  - tombert 6y ago
    Handbrake is great, though IIRC it doesn't encode into any weird formats. For reasons too annoying to go into here, we needed to convert some weird Intel Indeo file into a WMV/ASF, due to some weirdness of a program that he needed to use for work only supporting WMV stuff.
    - callesgg 6y ago
      Handbreak is just a ffmpeg gui right?

mrec 6y ago

I set up a Win10 box recently and was kind of stunned to find that the built-in Media Player is now b0rked to the extent that it can't play media. Practically any media. Even with codec packs installed it won't play any of my hundreds of h264 DVD rips, it won't play the few WMVs I still have kicking around, it won't even play bloody MP3s. I think I found one weird-codec MP4 and a couple of ancient AVIs it deigned to accept, but that was it. Or I can spend 30 seconds installing VLC and be 100% confident that it'll handle anything I throw at it. If I could fit a Lascaux cave wall into a USB port it'd play it. Congrats to everyone involved in making this software. The world would be a sadder and more frustrating place without it.

tombert 6y ago
I have not run Windows in any serious capacity in about 12 years, but I don't remember Windows Media Player being that bad, and I thought that Windows now had a license to H264 built in, so I'm actually a bit surprised that a rip wouldn't work. Any idea what the issue was?
- mrec 6y ago
  No idea. I'd been using Win 7 before that where Media Player mostly managed fine (probably with codec packs). VLC had audio glitching issues on that box but doesn't on the new one, so I quickly lost patience with trying to debug MP. Diagostics and codec help links are utterly useless.
  - vitorgrs 6y ago
    Are you sure you didn't tried Windows 10 N? It's a specific version for Europe, it comes without codecs.
    - mrec 6y ago
      Good question, but pretty sure. Settings > System > About > Windows Specifications just shows generic "Windows 10 Pro" as the edition. Also, AFAICT the N edition doesn't have Media Player at all, it doesn't just gut the codecs.

bugBunny 6y ago

Same here, I have it literally everywhere, TV, mobile, laptop at home, at work... Thumbs-up guys

admax88q 6y ago

I have never had the media server support in VLC work for me.

wombat-man 6y ago

I learned vlc makes it really easy to get videos onto my ipad over wifi. Truly a lifesaver. Donated to them straight away. Extremely useful and effective.