Why can VLC play files that QuickTime cannot?

cosmocosmo
Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
I love quicktime. It is one of the best apps i've seen for playing video files (on any platform), but as of late i've come accross quite a few files that QuickTime cannot play. Some are DivX and some are (s)vcds. I"m sure there are others. VLC can play these movies without any problems. If a simple app like VLC can read these codecs, why can't QuickTime?



VLC can play the files just fine, but VLC is still in development and doesn't work well when fast forwarding, rewinding, etc. Quicktime is also far more stable than VLC.



Will quicktime ever support all of the codecs that VLC does?



Maybe QT 7?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    mr. memr. me Posts: 3,221member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Cosmo

    I love quicktime. It is one of the best apps i've seen for playing video files (on any platform), but as of late i've come accross quite a few files that QuickTime cannot play. Some are DivX and some are (s)vcds. I"m sure there are others. VLC can play these movies without any problems. If a simple app like VLC can read these codecs, why can't QuickTime?



    VLC can play the files just fine, but VLC is still in development and doesn't work well when fast forwarding, rewinding, etc. Quicktime is also far more stable than VLC.



    Will quicktime ever support all of the codecs that VLC does?



    Maybe QT 7?



    First off, QuickTime is not an app. The QuickTime player is an app. QuickTime is the set of multimedia APIs for the MacOS. These APIs have been ported to Windows. Any QuickTime-enabled application can display most QuickTime-compatible media. That includes M$ Office and many others.



    QuickTime can play any media for which a QuickTime codec exists. Unfortunately, each Windows multimedia application writer seems to think that he has a better codec scheme than the next guy. VLC can play media for which it has been programmed, including some for which there is no QT codec. However, it cannot play everything. Real and WM9 are two obvious examples. Were it not for porn, no one would care.
  • Reply 2 of 5
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    MPLayer smokes VLC. It plays Real flawlessly. I always wonder though why 3ivx plugin doesn't work right most of the time, screwing up audio or just not working at all.



    Has anyone noticed that QT 6.4 messed up the 3ivx plug in even more? Graphics glitches and random skipping show up in movies that used to work fine with 3ivx 4.0.4 and QT 6.3.
  • Reply 3 of 5
    wmfwmf Posts: 1,164member
    VLC cares about playing broken video files created by people who don't know what they're doing, and QuickTime doesn't.
  • Reply 4 of 5
    banchobancho Posts: 1,517member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Mr. Me

    Were it not for porn, no one would care.



    Mr. Me is exceptionally astute.
  • Reply 5 of 5
    tobyxtobyx Posts: 35member
    VLC is a nice application to have for all those video files out there compressed with any of the unofficial, hacker-coded, narrow-minded codecs that morph into newer incompatible versions, every once in a while intertwining and molding with each other.



    The QuickTime Player could never officially deliver those codecs. Apple shouldn't jump on to that half-legal half-official wagon (that some people even try to charge for).



    Toby
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