14 DAY TRIAL // Almost a month after offering early adopters the Release Candidate of VLC 1.1.0, VideoLAN wrapped up and released the final Build of the media player, sporting a wide range of enhancements. Even as early as the RC, version 1.1.0 of the VLC Media Player brought to the table a consistent evolution in terms of performance stability and reliability, but also expanded codec support, and numerous bug fixes. According to VideoLAN, the latest release of VLC is better equipped to dealing with HD content, will deliver a superior audio experience to its predecessors, comes with extensions and web improvements, has more to offer to developers, and is faster and lighter.
As far as HD capabilities are concerned, VLC 1.1.0 now features “GPU decoding on Windows Vista and 7, using DxVA2 for H.264, VC-1 and MPEG-2. GPU decoding on GNU/Linux, using VAAPI for H.264, VC-1 and MPEG-2. DSP decoding using OpenMax IL, for compatible embedded devices. Improved support for MKV HD, including seeking fixes, and 7.1 channels codecs. [And] support for new codecs, like Blu-Ray subtitles, MPEG-4 lossless and VP8,” VideoLAN stated.
The fact that VLC 1.1.0 plays nice with VP8 is a consequence of the introduction of WebM decoding and encoding support. In addition to improved web plugins, the recently released version of VLC also delivers improved streaming capabilities. At the same time, the media player sports new add-ons and script frameworks, which should make it easier for developers to extend the application. VideoLAN also worked to streamline VLC 1.1.0 as much as possible, having boosted the decoding speed by up to 40% especially in HD resolutions. On top of this, the application’s code has been rewritten, and the overall functionality of the media player optimized.
In terms of Audio experience, VLC 1.1.0 now offers “integrated playlist in the Qt4 interface. Multiple views (like album art) in the playlist in the Qt4 interface. Support for AMR-NB, Mpeg-4 ALS, Vorbis 6.1/7.1, FLAC 6.1/7.1 and WMAS. CDDB and CD-Text works now on the Windows port when listening to CD-Audio. Support for DVD-Audio files (.aob). Improved meta-data and album-art support,” according to VideoLAN.
VLC 1.1.0 Final for Windows is available for download here.
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