KMPlayer - Freeware Media Player

KMPlayer – Freeware Media Player

by Johnny Karp 7 July 2009 14 Comments

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Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)

Overview

KMPlyer is a versatile freeware media player that supports many video file formats and containers. It can also handle various types of subtitle files.

Review

My favorite video player right now is the open source SMPlayer, I like the way it works and of course I love the fact that it’s open source. But since many people asked me over and over to try KMPlayer I finally decided to give it a go. I installed it in my PC a few months ago and I played some video files with it from time to time. Now it’s the moment to evaluate the program and see if I’ll keep it or if it will get uninstalled.

First of all the program supports various types of container formats such as VCD, DVD, AVI, MKV, Ogg Theora, OGM, 3GP, MPEG, WMV, RealMedia or QuickTime. So you can say that it plays just about anything. It can also handle various subtitle formats, from the widespread .srt to closed captions or transport stream subtitles. And above all it has a quite low memory footprint.

The first impression that I had after looking at the interface was that it’s quite simple and clean, not clogged with too many commands, bars and menus.

But if you get deep into the program settings you’ll have quite a good time, there are countless options that you can customize to suit your needs and taste.

The feature that I liked the most was the nice control box that can be opened alongside the main video window. That’s when KMPlayer can no longer be simple, it gets very complex for the users that want to customize and play with the various video, audio or subtitle settings.

Overall this freeware program looked pretty solid, it never crashed while I used it and it is versatile indeed – you can use it as a simple video player or you can tweak your heart out through the control box or the preferences panel.

Version Tested

2.9.4.1434

Author

KMPlayer.com

Operating System

Windows XP, Vista

Download link

Summary

Simple and complex at the same time.

Can play virtually anything you throw at it.

The latest version was released in December 2008.

Rating

Verdict

The only concern that I have regarding KMPlayer is that the latest version was released in December last year, nothing new since then. Overall it looks better than SMPlayer, it has way better DVD support and can handle some file formats that SMPlayer does not just yet. On the other hand SMPlayer is open source, so there’s much more potential for future development. I can’t make up my mind yet, so I’ll keep both programs for a while and maybe wait to see how and if they develop.

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14 Comments »

Alek Davis said:

Don’t know if you saw this thread, but it explains the background and current state of the KMPlayer project. BTW, KMPlayer has been my favorite video player for quite a while (and I tried a lot of other people’s favorites including VLC, GOM, SMPlayer, etc).

# 8 July 2009 at 1:48 am

Johnny Karp said:

Thanks for the link Alek. However, that thread is written in 2008 and the latest version was released in 2008, so I’s still a bit concerned because there were no new versions released this year…

# 8 July 2009 at 8:47 am

Dushan said:

The only think that annoys me with KMPlayer is that, for every video file I read with it, appears a “KM Player” folder inside. I don’t understand why and wasn’t able to find in the options how to remove that…

Did you guys have the same problem ? If someone know how to remove that folder summoning for every files read, I would gladly hear about it !

# 8 July 2009 at 12:53 pm

Johnny Karp said:

Dushan, I never experienced the problem you are describing with KMPlayer. I also checked the preferences and I didn’t find anything related to what you are describing. Maybe you should uninstall it and install the latest version or check the program forums, maybe you’ll find some info there.

# 8 July 2009 at 3:36 pm

KMPlayer – Snygg och allsidig mediaspelare | Gratisprogram - hundratals tips! said:

[...] FreewareMission Liknande artiklar:GOM Player – Kraftfull, snygg och bra mediaspelareSMPlayer – Schysst [...]

# 8 July 2009 at 4:26 pm

Rono said:

You have said that km player can handle some file formats that SMPlayer does not just yet.Does it support the newly invented file format .ivr from real player 11.I once used sm player.Being a developing player it has several bugs so it crashed a lot.So i switch to mpcstar a reliable & intuitive video player.But it plays all file format except newly invented .ivr so i need to know is km player has the capability to play this .ivr file format.You can overview my review about mpcstar on your blog.

# 8 July 2009 at 9:04 pm

Johnny Karp said:

As far as I know it doesn’t support .ivr but I didn’t try any file of that type on it. I’ll try to find such a file and test it. I read your mpcstar comment, please place it in a post and I’ll review it and eventually publish it.

# 8 July 2009 at 9:50 pm

misclue said:

Does KMPlayer support files with VOB extensions?

# 21 July 2009 at 5:04 am

Alek Davis said:

@misclue: Yes.

# 21 July 2009 at 5:35 am

rono said:

Every time i try to play a file in full screen mode it goes black but the file continues to play.Plzzzzzzzzzzz help me.

# 16 September 2009 at 9:52 pm

Johnny Karp said:

Rono, that never happened to me and I played lots of files with KMPlayer. Maybe you have a codec conflict or something like that. Did you try reinstalling the program?

# 17 September 2009 at 4:28 pm

rono said:

Yes i tried.But got no result.I think my pc is low configured.I use a pc with pentium 4 2.4 ghz processor, 256 mb of ram & 256 mb agp.So i am satisfied with my latest & most reliable video player “MpcStar”.I am loving it.I like the kmplayer’s sleek & stylish look rather than it’s powerful features.But i have failed to acclaim this great player.

# 17 September 2009 at 5:42 pm

rono said:

It’s updated version 2.9.4.1435 has arrived.I hope it will help me to eradicate my problem.

# 17 September 2009 at 6:07 pm

rono said:

Kantaris Media Player a great alternative to km player http://www.kantaris.org/

# 9 October 2009 at 10:25 pm