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'''MPlayer''' is a [[free and open-source]] [[media player software]] application. It is available for [[Linux]], [[OS X]] and [[Microsoft Windows]]. Versions for [[OS/2]], [[Syllable Desktop|Syllable]], [[AmigaOS]], [[MorphOS]] and [[AROS Research Operating System]] are also available. A port for [[DOS]] using [[DJGPP]] is also available.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/util/user/mplayer/ |title=Index of /pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/util/user/mplayer |publisher=Ibiblio.org |access-date=2012-01-01}}</ref> Versions for the [[Wii]] [[Homebrew Channel]]<ref>{{cite web |author=Erant |url=http://hackmii.com/2008/08/libdi-and-the-dvdx-installer/ |title=libdi and the DVDX installer |publisher=Hackmii.com |access-date=2012-01-01}}</ref> and Amazon Kindle<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gitorious.org/kindlebrew |title=kindlebrew |publisher=Gitorious |access-date=2012-01-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407063924/http://gitorious.org/kindlebrew |archive-date=2012-04-07 }}</ref> have also been developed.
'''MPlayer''' is a [[free and open-source]] [[media player software]] application. It is available for [[Linux]], [[OS X]] and [[Microsoft Windows]]. Versions for legacy systems such as [[OS/2]] and [[AmigaOS]] were previously available, but are no longer actively maintained. A port for [[DOS]] using [[DJGPP]] is also available.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/util/user/mplayer/ |title=Index of /pub/micro/pc-stuff/freedos/files/util/user/mplayer |publisher=Ibiblio.org |access-date=2012-01-01}}</ref> Versions for the [[Wii]] [[Homebrew Channel]]<ref>{{cite web |author=Erant |url=http://hackmii.com/2008/08/libdi-and-the-dvdx-installer/ |title=libdi and the DVDX installer |publisher=Hackmii.com |access-date=2012-01-01}}</ref> and Amazon Kindle<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gitorious.org/kindlebrew |title=kindlebrew |publisher=Gitorious |access-date=2012-01-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120407063924/http://gitorious.org/kindlebrew |archive-date=2012-04-07 }}</ref> have also been developed.


==History==
==History==
Development of MPlayer began in 2000. The original author, [[Hungary|Hungarian]] Árpád Gereöffy, started the project because he was unable to find any satisfactory video players for Linux after [[XAnim]] stopped development in 1999. The first version was titled ''mpg12play v0.1'' and was hacked together in half an hour using ''libmpeg3'' from [[Cinelerra|Cinelerra-HV]]. After ''mpg12play v0.95pre5'', the code was merged with an [[Audio Video Interleave|AVI]] player based on ''avifile''{{'}}s ''[[Win32]] [[Dynamic-link library|DLL]] loader'' to form MPlayer v0.3 in November 2000.<ref>[http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/history.html History]</ref>  
Development of MPlayer began in 2000. The original author, [[Hungary|Hungarian]] Árpád Gereöffy, started the project because he was unable to find any satisfactory video players for Linux after XAnim stopped development in 1999. The first version was titled ''mpg12play v0.1'' and was initially prototyped using ''libmpeg3'' from [[Cinelerra|Cinelerra-HV]]. After ''mpg12play v0.95pre5'', the code was merged with an [[Audio Video Interleave|AVI]] player based on ''avifile''{{'}}s ''[[Win32]] [[Dynamic-link library|DLL]] loader'' to form MPlayer v0.3 in November 2000.<ref>[http://www.mplayerhq.hu/design7/history.html History]</ref>  
 
Gereöffy was soon joined by many other programmers, in the beginning mostly from [[Hungary]], but later worldwide.
Gereöffy was soon joined by many other programmers, in the beginning mostly from [[Hungary]], but later worldwide.


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== Video acceleration ==
== Video acceleration ==
There are various [[Semiconductor intellectual property core|SIP blocks]] that can accelerate video decoding computation in several formats, including [[Nvidia PureVideo|PureVideo]], [[Unified Video Decoder|UVD]], [[Intel Quick Sync Video|QuickSync Video]], [[OMAP 4|TI Ducati]] and others. Two studies in 2007 and 2010 implemented  hardware decoding for MPlayer,<ref name=zhang>{{Cite conference |date=2010 |title=The design and implementation of an embedded high definition player |conference=The 2nd International Conference on Computer and Automation Engineering (ICCAE) |volume=4 |vauthors=Zhang H etal}}</ref> including for specific mobile device architectures.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Chang |first1=Hoseok |last2=Lee |first2=Youngjoon |last3=Sung |first3=Wonyong |chapter=Performance Optimization of a Multimedia Player on a Mobile CPU Platform |date=October 2007 |title=2007 IEEE Workshop on Signal Processing Systems |chapter-url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/sips.2007.4387538 |pages=163–168 |publisher=IEEE |doi=10.1109/sips.2007.4387538|isbn=978-1-4244-1221-1 |s2cid=8023880 }}</ref>
There are various [[Semiconductor intellectual property core|SIP blocks]] that can accelerate video decoding computation in several formats, including [[Nvidia PureVideo|PureVideo]], [[Unified Video Decoder|UVD]], [[Intel Quick Sync Video|QuickSync Video]], [[OMAP 4|TI Ducati]] and others. Hardware acceleration for MPlayer was implemented in the 2000s for several chipsets. However, newer forks such as <code>mpv</code> now provide more modern and active support for hardware decoding for MPlayer,<ref name=zhang>{{Cite conference |date=2010 |title=The design and implementation of an embedded high definition player |conference=The 2nd International Conference on Computer and Automation Engineering (ICCAE) |volume=4 |vauthors=Zhang H etal}}</ref> including for specific mobile device architectures.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Chang |first1=Hoseok |last2=Lee |first2=Youngjoon |last3=Sung |first3=Wonyong |chapter=Performance Optimization of a Multimedia Player on a Mobile CPU Platform |date=October 2007 |title=2007 IEEE Workshop on Signal Processing Systems |chapter-url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/sips.2007.4387538 |pages=163–168 |publisher=IEEE |doi=10.1109/sips.2007.4387538|isbn=978-1-4244-1221-1 |s2cid=8023880 }}</ref>


==Capabilities and classification==
==Capabilities and classification==
MPlayer can play a wide variety of media formats,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/codecs-status.html |title=Codec Status Table |publisher=Mplayerhq.hu |access-date=2012-01-01}}</ref> namely any format supported by [[FFmpeg]] libraries, and can also save all streamed content to a file locally.
MPlayer supports a broad range of media formats, leveraging [[FFmpeg]] libraries for decoding and playback. However, users seeking support for modern codecs and streaming protocols often use [[Mpv_(media_player)|mpv]], which builds upon MPlayer's foundation and can also save all streamed content to a file locally.


A companion program, called '''[[MEncoder]]''', can take an input stream, file or a sequence of picture files, and [[transcoding|transcode]] it into several different output formats, optionally applying various transforms along the way.
A companion program, called [[MEncoder]], can take an input stream, file or a sequence of picture files, and [[transcoding|transcode]] it into several different output formats, optionally applying various transforms along the way.


A variety of [[command-line interface|command-line]] parameters allows changing the appearance of the player, including <code>-speed [number]</code>, <code>-af scaletempo</code> for changing audio speed while maintaining the pitch, <code>-ss</code> (start at x seconds), <code>-sb</code> (start at x bytes), <code>-endpos</code> (stop playing at x seconds), <code>-novideo</code> for only playing the audio track of a video, and <code>-loop [number]</code> for looping.<ref>MPlayer documentation and user manual</ref>
A variety of [[command-line interface|command-line]] parameters allows changing the appearance of the player, including <code>-speed [number]</code>, <code>-af scaletempo</code> for changing audio speed while maintaining the pitch, <code>-ss</code> (start at x seconds), <code>-sb</code> (start at x bytes), <code>-endpos</code> (stop playing at x seconds), <code>-novideo</code> for only playing the audio track of a video, and <code>-loop [number]</code> for looping.<ref>MPlayer documentation and user manual</ref>
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[[File:Gnome-MPlayer v1.0.9 on Debian 8.png|thumb|Gnome-MPlayer v1.0.9 on [[GNOME]]]]
[[File:Gnome-MPlayer v1.0.9 on Debian 8.png|thumb|Gnome-MPlayer v1.0.9 on [[GNOME]]]]


Like [[GStreamer]], MPlayer has only [[command line interface]] and there are a couple of [[Front-end (computing)|front-end]]s available, which use [[GUI widget]]s of [[GTK]], [[Qt (software)|Qt]] or some other widget library. When not using these front-ends, mplayer can still display video in a window (with no visible controls on it), and is controlled using a keyboard.
Like [[GStreamer]], MPlayer has only [[command line interface]] and there are a couple of [[Front-end (computing)|front-end]]s available, which use [[GUI widget]]s of [[GTK]], [[Qt (software)|Qt]] or some other widget library. When not using these front-ends, mplayer can still display video in a window (with no visible controls on it), and is controlled using a keyboard. MPlayer itself is a command-line based player, but various third-party front-ends have been developed over time. Active and popular front-ends include '''[[SMPlayer]]''' (Qt-based), while others such as '''Gnome-MPlayer''' and '''MPlayerX''' are no longer actively maintained.
 
* [[GTK]]-based are '''gmplayer''' (official)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/README|title=README|access-date=2016-03-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/HTML/en/gui.html|title=What about the GUI?|access-date=2016-03-19}}</ref> and '''Gnome-MPlayer'''
* [[Qt (software)|Qt]]-based are [[SMPlayer]] and <abbr title="Konqueror Media Player">KMPlayer</abbr>, among others.
* [[Cocoa (API)|Cocoa]]-based are MPlayer OS X Extended and MPlayerX<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mplayerosx.ch/ |title=MPlayer OSX Extended |date= 2011-12-09 |access-date= 2015-01-23 }}</ref>


==Forks==
==Forks==
'''mplayer2''' was a GPLv3-licensed fork of MPlayer, largely the work of Uoti Urpala, who was excluded from the MPlayer project in May 2010 due to "long standing differences" with the MPlayer Team.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTI0Ng |title=Is MPlayer2 a viable fork of MPlayer? |publisher=[[Phoronix]] |date=2011-03-24 |access-date=2014-04-18}}</ref> The main changes from MPlayer were improved pause handling, Matroska support, seeking, and support for Nvidia VDPAU; enabling multithreading by default; and the removal of MEncoder, the GUI interface, and various video drivers and bundled libraries, such as ffmpeg, relying instead on shared libraries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mplayer2.org/comparison.html |title=mplayer2 differences from mplayer |date=2011 |access-date=May 4, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504055423/http://www.mplayer2.org/comparison.html |archive-date=May 4, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ostatic.com/blog/did-you-know-there-was-a-fork-of-mplayer |title=Did You Know there was a Fork of MPlayer? |publisher=ostatic.com |date=2011-03-22 |access-date=2011-11-29 |archive-date=2012-01-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111135451/http://ostatic.com/blog/did-you-know-there-was-a-fork-of-mplayer |url-status=dead }}</ref> The developers also indicated intentions to enable MPlayer2 to use [[Libav]] as an alternative to ffmpeg.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.gentoo.org/scarabeus/2013/01/15/libav-going-to-be-default-provider-for-your-codec-experience/#comment-2705|title=Libav going to be default provider for your codec experience (comment)|date=January 16, 2013}}</ref> The first release, 2.0, was published in March 2011. There have been no subsequent stable releases.
'''mplayer2''' was a GPLv3-licensed fork of MPlayer, largely the work of Uoti Urpala, who was excluded from the MPlayer project in May 2010 due to "long standing differences" with the MPlayer Team.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OTI0Ng |title=Is MPlayer2 a viable fork of MPlayer? |publisher=[[Phoronix]] |date=2011-03-24 |access-date=2014-04-18}}</ref> The main changes from MPlayer were improved pause handling, Matroska support, seeking, and support for Nvidia VDPAU; enabling multithreading by default; and the removal of MEncoder, the GUI interface, and various video drivers and bundled libraries, such as ffmpeg, relying instead on shared libraries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mplayer2.org/comparison.html |title=mplayer2 differences from mplayer |date=2011 |access-date=May 4, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504055423/http://www.mplayer2.org/comparison.html |archive-date=May 4, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ostatic.com/blog/did-you-know-there-was-a-fork-of-mplayer |title=Did You Know there was a Fork of MPlayer? |publisher=ostatic.com |date=2011-03-22 |access-date=2011-11-29 |archive-date=2012-01-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111135451/http://ostatic.com/blog/did-you-know-there-was-a-fork-of-mplayer |url-status=dead }}</ref> The developers also indicated intentions to enable MPlayer2 to use [[Libav]] as an alternative to ffmpeg.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://blogs.gentoo.org/scarabeus/2013/01/15/libav-going-to-be-default-provider-for-your-codec-experience/#comment-2705|title=Libav going to be default provider for your codec experience (comment)|date=January 16, 2013}}</ref> The first release, 2.0, was published in March 2011. Mplayer2 development has ceased, and its goals have largely been continued by '''mpv''', an actively developed fork.


'''[[mpv (media player)|mpv]]'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mpv.io|title=mpv.io|access-date=2015-01-28}}</ref> is a GPLv2-licensed fork of mplayer2. Since June 2015, mpv has worked to relicense its code as [[GNU Lesser General Public License|LGPL]] v2.1 or above.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/issues/2033|title=Possible LGPL relicensing|website=[[GitHub]]|access-date=2016-09-27}}</ref>
'''[[mpv (media player)|mpv]]'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://mpv.io|title=mpv.io|access-date=2015-01-28}}</ref> is a GPLv2-licensed fork of mplayer2. Since June 2015, mpv has worked to relicense its code as [[GNU Lesser General Public License|LGPL]] v2.1 or above.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/issues/2033|title=Possible LGPL relicensing|website=[[GitHub]]|access-date=2016-09-27}}</ref>
Line 79: Line 76:
==Legal controversy==
==Legal controversy==
In January 2004, the MPlayer website was updated with an allegation that the Danish DVD player manufacturer, [[Kiss Technology]], were marketing DVD players with [[firmware]] that included parts of MPlayer's GPL-licensed code. The implication was that Kiss was violating the GPL, since Kiss did not release its firmware under the GPL license. The response from the managing director of Kiss, Peter Wilmar Christensen, countered that the similarities between the two pieces of code indicate that the MPlayer team had in fact used code from Kiss's firmware.<ref name="2004-03">{{cite web |title=MPlayer - The Movie Player |date=2004-01-10 |url=http://mplayerhq.hu/design7/news-archive.html#kiss05 |access-date=2012-06-24}}</ref> However, the Kiss DVD player, released in 2003, used a subtitle file format that is specific to MPlayer, which was designed by an MPlayer developer in 2001.<ref name="2004-03" />
In January 2004, the MPlayer website was updated with an allegation that the Danish DVD player manufacturer, [[Kiss Technology]], were marketing DVD players with [[firmware]] that included parts of MPlayer's GPL-licensed code. The implication was that Kiss was violating the GPL, since Kiss did not release its firmware under the GPL license. The response from the managing director of Kiss, Peter Wilmar Christensen, countered that the similarities between the two pieces of code indicate that the MPlayer team had in fact used code from Kiss's firmware.<ref name="2004-03">{{cite web |title=MPlayer - The Movie Player |date=2004-01-10 |url=http://mplayerhq.hu/design7/news-archive.html#kiss05 |access-date=2012-06-24}}</ref> However, the Kiss DVD player, released in 2003, used a subtitle file format that is specific to MPlayer, which was designed by an MPlayer developer in 2001.<ref name="2004-03" />
== Current status ==
As of 2025, MPlayer remains available as a legacy media player but is no longer under active feature development. Users seeking a more modern and actively maintained media player are generally encouraged to use [[Mpv (media player)|mpv]], a fork that continues the MPlayer2 development line with improved compatibility, hardware acceleration, and interface options.


==See also==
==See also==
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==External links==
==External links==
{{commons|MPlayer}}
{{commons}}
{{wikibooks}}
{{wikibooks}}


Latest revision as of 23:42, 12 November 2025

Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Template:Multiple issues Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Template:Main other

MPlayer is a free and open-source media player software application. It is available for Linux, OS X and Microsoft Windows. Versions for legacy systems such as OS/2 and AmigaOS were previously available, but are no longer actively maintained. A port for DOS using DJGPP is also available.[1] Versions for the Wii Homebrew Channel[2] and Amazon Kindle[3] have also been developed.

History

Development of MPlayer began in 2000. The original author, Hungarian Árpád Gereöffy, started the project because he was unable to find any satisfactory video players for Linux after XAnim stopped development in 1999. The first version was titled mpg12play v0.1 and was initially prototyped using libmpeg3 from Cinelerra-HV. After mpg12play v0.95pre5, the code was merged with an AVI player based on avifileTemplate:'s Win32 DLL loader to form MPlayer v0.3 in November 2000.[4]

Gereöffy was soon joined by many other programmers, in the beginning mostly from Hungary, but later worldwide.

Alex Beregszászi has maintained MPlayer since 2003 when Gereöffy left MPlayer development to begin work on a second generation MPlayer. The MPlayer G2 project was abandoned, and all the development effort was put on MPlayer 1.0.[5]

MPlayer was previously called "MPlayer - The Movie Player for Linux" by its developers but this was later shortened to "MPlayer - The Movie Player" after it became commonly used on other operating systems.

Video acceleration

There are various SIP blocks that can accelerate video decoding computation in several formats, including PureVideo, UVD, QuickSync Video, TI Ducati and others. Hardware acceleration for MPlayer was implemented in the 2000s for several chipsets. However, newer forks such as mpv now provide more modern and active support for hardware decoding for MPlayer,[6] including for specific mobile device architectures.[7]

Capabilities and classification

MPlayer supports a broad range of media formats, leveraging FFmpeg libraries for decoding and playback. However, users seeking support for modern codecs and streaming protocols often use mpv, which builds upon MPlayer's foundation and can also save all streamed content to a file locally.

A companion program, called MEncoder, can take an input stream, file or a sequence of picture files, and transcode it into several different output formats, optionally applying various transforms along the way.

A variety of command-line parameters allows changing the appearance of the player, including -speed [number], -af scaletempo for changing audio speed while maintaining the pitch, -ss (start at x seconds), -sb (start at x bytes), -endpos (stop playing at x seconds), -novideo for only playing the audio track of a video, and -loop [number] for looping.[8]

Media formats

File:MPlayer cmd win32.png
MPlayer being run via command line in Microsoft Windows.

MPlayer can play many formats, including:[9]

MPlayer can also use a variety of output driver protocols to display video, including VDPAU, the X video extension, OpenGL, DirectX, Direct3D, Quartz Compositor, VESA, Framebuffer, SDL and rarer ones such as ASCII art (using AAlib and libcaca) and Blinkenlights. It can also be used to display TV from a TV card using the device Template:Mono, or play and capture radio channels via Template:Mono.

Since version 1.0RC1, Mplayer can decode subtitles in ASS/SSA subtitle format, using libass.

Available plugins

Script error: No such module "anchor".Interface and graphical front-ends

File:Gnome-MPlayer v1.0.9 on Debian 8.png
Gnome-MPlayer v1.0.9 on GNOME

Like GStreamer, MPlayer has only command line interface and there are a couple of front-ends available, which use GUI widgets of GTK, Qt or some other widget library. When not using these front-ends, mplayer can still display video in a window (with no visible controls on it), and is controlled using a keyboard. MPlayer itself is a command-line based player, but various third-party front-ends have been developed over time. Active and popular front-ends include SMPlayer (Qt-based), while others such as Gnome-MPlayer and MPlayerX are no longer actively maintained.

Forks

mplayer2 was a GPLv3-licensed fork of MPlayer, largely the work of Uoti Urpala, who was excluded from the MPlayer project in May 2010 due to "long standing differences" with the MPlayer Team.[10] The main changes from MPlayer were improved pause handling, Matroska support, seeking, and support for Nvidia VDPAU; enabling multithreading by default; and the removal of MEncoder, the GUI interface, and various video drivers and bundled libraries, such as ffmpeg, relying instead on shared libraries.[11][12] The developers also indicated intentions to enable MPlayer2 to use Libav as an alternative to ffmpeg.[13] The first release, 2.0, was published in March 2011. Mplayer2 development has ceased, and its goals have largely been continued by mpv, an actively developed fork.

mpv[14] is a GPLv2-licensed fork of mplayer2. Since June 2015, mpv has worked to relicense its code as LGPL v2.1 or above.[15]

MPlayer, MPlayer2 and mpv all use incompatible EDL formats.[16][17][18]

Legal controversy

In January 2004, the MPlayer website was updated with an allegation that the Danish DVD player manufacturer, Kiss Technology, were marketing DVD players with firmware that included parts of MPlayer's GPL-licensed code. The implication was that Kiss was violating the GPL, since Kiss did not release its firmware under the GPL license. The response from the managing director of Kiss, Peter Wilmar Christensen, countered that the similarities between the two pieces of code indicate that the MPlayer team had in fact used code from Kiss's firmware.[19] However, the Kiss DVD player, released in 2003, used a subtitle file format that is specific to MPlayer, which was designed by an MPlayer developer in 2001.[19]

Current status

As of 2025, MPlayer remains available as a legacy media player but is no longer under active feature development. Users seeking a more modern and actively maintained media player are generally encouraged to use mpv, a fork that continues the MPlayer2 development line with improved compatibility, hardware acceleration, and interface options.

See also

Script error: No such module "Portal".

References

Template:Reflist

External links

Template:Sister project Template:Sister project

Template:Media player (application software)

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ History
  5. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ MPlayer documentation and user manual
  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  14. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1". Alt URL
  18. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  19. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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