KMPlayer

Pros

• Deep customization. You can do a lot, and the options available can expand as you choose different formats.
• Open to improvement. While the development team is Korean, there are English support channels and a staff willing to take suggestions.
• VR support. VR headsets and systems are always in need of easier ways to be modified, and KMPlayer adds some customization to the audio, video, and subtitle areas.

Cons

• Gaudy. The app is designed to be flashy and shiny for a mainstream audience. This slows down the player and distracts from some options.
• Ads. Since being bought by a larger company, advertisements are part of the experience unless you pay for Pro or change the web access details.

What is the KMPlayer?

KMPlayer is a media player with deep, robust support for lots of different media files. It plays audio, video, and image files, and has support for different types of data that can work with those files.

This is a third party app designed to work better than the built-in media players in Apple and Microsoft Operating System (OS) computers. This version is specifically for Mac, so you would use it instead of Quicktime and even iTunes audio player.

KMPlayer was originally written by Kang Yong-Huee, but is now updated and developed by Pandora TV. The old app was managed by Kang Yong-Huee from 2002-2007 until the transition was announced on the KMPlayer blog.

KMPlayer Features for Mac

• KMP Connect allows users to stream files from their computers, networked drives, and streaming sites.
• Video extension support includes AVI, WMV, MKV, MOV, MP4, Ogg Theora, OGM, RMVB, MPEG1, MPEG2 and many others via DirectShow
• Audio support includes AC3, AAC,, Ape, MPC, FLAC, AMR, ALAC, Module, and OGG.
• Supports FLV, GVI, NSV, PMP, VOB, 3GP, and other web formats.
• Supports multiple subtitle systems
• Unicode subtitles, Ruby tag support, SubRipText, SMIL/RealText, MicroDVD, SSA/ASS, USF, VobSub, Sasami 2K (a slightly older media player geared towards anime fans, who have a large use case for subtitles among 1990s-2000s internet early adopters)
• Subtitle support includes LRC, RT, SMI, SMIL, SUB, IDX, ASS, SSA, PSB, SRT, S2K, SSF, TXT, USF
• Includes major codec packs such as DivX, XviD, H.264, SNOW, Dirac, VC-1, RealVideo, AC3, Vorbis, TTA, QCELP, EVRC, and AAC

Understanding Custom Media Options

Why do you need a media player with a lot of different options? If you just want to watch a video, why does it matter?

Standardization isn't strong. If you've ever opened a file, only to be told by your computer that it's not supported and can't be opened, you ran into a compatibility issue.

Basically, your computer can't read the file. Why are there so many different ways to make a video, audio file, or picture? Because many individuals and companies have their own best ways to do things with different results.

There is no single authority for all formats, and even if there were, who would make every single internet user listen? Eventually, someone will come out with a better option than what the authority allows, and they will need to accept it or fail.

Instead, media players are often managed by passionate hobbyists with high technical skills and/or the patience to archive and update different formats with their media player. Format makers are often happy to help share support.

Or, if not happy, they have the decency to create guides on how to make their files work.

For advanced users, making videos and editing videos is another need. While there are big software systems out there for film makers, people who simply need to touch up colors or add subtitles don't need massive systems.

Media players like KMPlayer are useful here. Post-production techniques that add a bit of customization can happen in KMPlayer, and you can even convert the files to different formats.

While there are many strong differences between the biggest third-party media apps out there, it comes down to personal preference and final output matching that preference.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Deep customization. You can do a lot, and the options available can expand as you choose different formats.
• Open to improvement. While the development team is Korean, there are English support channels and a staff willing to take suggestions.
• VR support. VR headsets and systems are always in need of easier ways to be modified, and KMPlayer adds some customization to the audio, video, and subtitle areas.

Cons

• Gaudy. The app is designed to be flashy and shiny for a mainstream audience. This slows down the player and distracts from some options.
• Ads. Since being bought by a larger company, advertisements are part of the experience unless you pay for Pro or change the web access details.