KMPlayer 4.2.3.11 x86 / 2024.3.28.17 x64

Overview

A good thing about KMPlayer is that it assists a broad series of codecs and file formats with a complete VCD/DVD playback feature. KMPlayer can also record audio and video and even take screenshots through different methods. It supports almost all known file formats and chooses the codecs accordingly. The supported formats include VCD, DVD, AVI, MKV, OGM, 3GP, MPEG 1/2/4, WMV, Ogg Theora, RealMedia and QuickTime. It’s a better option than many other players supporting codecs and formats.

Installation

The installation is a conventional four to five step process. The installation prompt will guide you in every step 'till you reach the settings part. For beginners, the ‘Recommended Settings’ are advised and if you have had experience with this player before it offers a wide customization. It offers some toolbars to be installed with the exe file, but you can always skip the option. Once the installation is complete the main thing to work on is the KMPlayer Wizard.

The optimization settings will show you two choices: speed and movement for Performance or picture quality for Quality. An impressive thing is that the Decoder options can be internal and customized allowing users to make the player work with a codec not found in the player. The rest of the options are for the look and feel of the player. You can customize it accordingly or leave it like that. The whole process takes about 3 to 4 minutes, better than GOM but slightly slower than VLC.

Interface

The interface of KMPlayer 3.0.0.1440 is user friendly. Almost everything is available upfront which makes it a minimalist interface. The playbacks are quick. It is fully skinnable and you might enjoy changing color scheme with every new track. There are a lot of customization options available like visualizations, plug-ins and playback. The picture quality can be changed while watching movies and videos. It provides sharpening features with other picture properties and filters and can even capture videos within the program. The mouse over label options make it better than Windows Media Player and Winamp, very simple and hassle free.

Pros

• Internal and external filters to give a controlled DirectShow environment
• Comes with an extra feature of playing damaged AVI files, locked media files and compressed audio album
• Internal logic supports Winamp, Realmedia and Quicktime by default
• Users can provide their own decoders apart from the built in
• Frame capture and frame forward feature
• Playback speed is good
• Live URL broadcasting support
• Picture quality
• No advertisements to upgrade
• Very friendly interface
• It is supporting 25 languages
• Configuration options are extensive
• Plays almost everything

Cons

• Lacks help file
• Showed problems with RealPlayer 11 video capture in IVR format
• Its slightly slower than VLC
• Some MGP files cannot be resized
• The subtitle version may not be available in a free setup

Alternatives

There are many alternatives to KMPlayer 3.0.0.1440 as many media players are now supporting multiple codecs and file formats. VLC Media Player, iTunes, JetAudio, SPlayer, MPlayer and GOM Player are some of the alternate options. Window Media Player can also be a good option if it's combined with a codec pack such as CCCP, so it will be able to play video files encoded with different codecs.

Conclusion

Overall the experience with KMPlayer is excellent. The multifunctional options for codecs are an excellent feature and a unique selling point for the product. I liked the interface which was not complicated to move around. The downloading and installation had no issues. If you’re running into a problem with the product there are many forums to get an idea of solving it including the official site's forum. There are spaces to improve as with every software program out there, but overall its a way better solution than most media players. Give it a try and you won't regret it!