VLC is perhaps one of the most popular software on various platforms, chiefly because it's a media player that can open almost any type of media file. Now it's gotten even better.
A new 3.0 update for VLC, nicknamed "Vetinari," has now been released, adding a ton of new features and improvements to the already extremely capable piece of software. It now supports hardware acceleration on all platforms, HD audio passthrough, and is now able to play up to 8K quality video.
VLC 3.0 Features
Folks with a Chromecast streaming stick will be pleased as well, as this update adds support for native Chromecast playback, which is perfect because Chromecast doesn't support a lot of video files itself. The new update also brings support for Blu-ray Java menus, 360-degree video playback, 3D audio, HDR, HDR tone-mapping, and more.
The updates are available across various platforms, including iOS, Android, Apple TV, Chrome OS, Windows, Mac, Linux, and even Windows Phone. The new version also fixes over 1,500 bugs and shares the same code across platform. The VideoLAN project has been working on this version for three years, VentureBeat reports. The last major update came in early 2015. Make sure to check the VLC page to find out all the new features that have been added to version 3.0. Below are some of the core features included:
• Network browsing for distant filesystems (SMB, FTP, SFTP, NFS...).
• HDMI passthrough for Audio HD codecs, like E-AC3, TrueHD or DTS-HD.
• 12bits codec and extended colorspaces (HDR).
• Stream to distant renderers, such as Chromecast.
• 360 video and 3D audio playback with viewpoint change.
• Support for Ambisonics audio and more than 8 audio channels.
• Subtitles size modification live.
These are just the tip of the iceberg. VLC 3.0 also apparently consumes less CPU and GPU than apps such as Media Player Classic Home Cinema and the Movies app on Windows.
VLC 4.0
The developers are already thinking about VLC 4.0, and they plan on dropping support for older operating systems such as Windows XP and Vista, macOS 10.7 and 10.8, and Android 3.0 and below. If true, that would mean VLC 3.0 is a long-term support release, which are versions or editions of a software meant to be supported for a long period.
Thoughts about the new VLC upgrade? Have you tried it yet? As always, if you have anything to share, feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
