MPlayer OSX Extended no longer alternative to VLC

[HitTheRoad]

For about two years I've been using MPlayer OSX Extended for playing MPEG2's and VOB's. Since the recent update (rev15-test2) I'm not so happy anymore with MPlayer OSX Extended. MPEG2- and VOB-video's that originally have an 16:9 aspect ratio are played now in a 4:3 aspect ratio. Video's with an 4:3 aspect ratio are somewhat stretched out.

I'm on a 10.6.8 intel iMac

I reported this problem to developer Adrian Stutz, but he doesn't respond.

Hopefully he will solve this, but until then I'll be using VLC.

[Ai Haibara]

You might see if MPlayerX will play the files properly. It's what I use on my Mac (also running Snow Leopard), though I'll admit I haven't had much call to play MPEG2 or VOB files with it. It's also based on mplayer, though, so if MPlayer OSX Extended used to work for you, MPlayerX might also work.

[HitTheRoad]

Ai Haibara,

MPlayerX plays the files properly.

About two years ago I tested both MPlayerX and MPlayer OSX Extended. The one I liked most was MPlayer OSX Extended. I don't remember why.
But yes, you're right MPlayerX would be another alternative.

[HitTheRoad]

I had forgotten why I left VLC, but now I remember. It has a very bad deinterlace function.

[jman98]

I had forgotten why I left VLC, but now I remember. It has a very bad deinterlace function.

It's also been a bit of a stepchild to the developers. For years the Mac release was on a somewhat different code base than the Windows and Linux versions.

The last time I checked on my iMac, VLC still had a bug that the 2.x release cycle had never fixed. Want to make VLC on a Mac crash consistently? Open a VCD with it. You must use a VCD for this test. Look it up if you don't know what that is. Once it starts playing, move the slider bar forward to perhaps half way through the video or further to try to skip forward. It crashes VLC every time on a Mac.

[Hoser Rob]

I consider vlc buggy in win/linux too, and I have good company in this. I use it if smplayer won't work with some weird version of a codec used in encoding. Which is rarer than the reverse. Vlc is definitely one of the better video players but I also think it's the second most overrated program. Behind windows.

Have you tried UMPlayer? I think it's a fork of smplayer. There are actually a bunch of mplayer front ends like smplayer. I don't know about them particularly.

[HitTheRoad]

Hoser Bob,

Thanks for the UMPlayer suggestion, but judging from the UMPlayer screen shots, it doesn't look very inviting. It has a typical Windows look.

I think for now I go for MPlayer, although it has a bug: some of the MPEG2s and VOBs I play end up making a static beep (in the very last second).
The same files play fine in VLC.

[HitTheRoad]

I'm back to MPlayer OSX Extended (not to be confused with MPlayer!). I simply downgraded from rev15-test2 back to rev15-test1 (1501). Apart from the static beep at the end of some MPEG2's, everything works fine again. No aspect ratio problems anymore.

The main things I don't like about VLC:
The deinterlace function doesn't work at all.
No automatic widescreen (for those who are on Leopard).

The main things I don't like about MPlayer:
The back and forward button don't work
Ugly big interface bar
Video's start playing in a funny way, moving forward rapidly

I Hope Mplayer OSX Extended will come up with a new and better update.