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Video player: What's the quickest (fastest/lightest)?

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superboyac:
I'm looking for the quickest responding video player out there.  Please note the emphasis on "quick".  I don't know what else word to use, but I'll try to describe it in more detail.  I'm not asking simply "what's the best" or "what's your favorite".  I want to know which player is the fastest as far as double-clicking on a file and starting the video.  Now, I'm well aware of the normal responses like VLC, MPC, KMPlayer, so before you just throw that out there, please remember that speed is what I'm looking for.  Normally, people just want to know what works with all video files, which the aforementioned software are all good with.  My question is different.

Let me describe how I use video players.  Like many here, I don't have just one favorite.  I use several of them depending on the situation.  However, I do have my "default" player which is the one associated with the video files on my system (Windows XP).  This is the one that opens up when I double-click on a video file, and this is the one that I have a question for.  I'm not concerned about DVD playing ability so much with this one.  OK, on with what I know so far.  Here's my little roundup and analysis:

Light Alloy
For years, this was my default double-clicker video player.  I know few, if any, of you use this one.  It's not free.  What I love about it is how quickly the video opens after double-clicking a file.  And it has a lot of configuration options to boot.  However, it does not include it's own codecs; it's only a player.  But I wonder if that's the very reason why it responds more quickly than the others.  I would continue to use this except development seems to have stopped, and it seems to crash a lot randomly recently, especially with larger files or HD files.

KMplayer
My second favorite of the bunch.  It has a lot of configuration options, and plays everything (codecs are included).  But it's significantly slower than Light Alloy.  I'd prefer something faster.  If this were faster, I would use it for sure.

GOM Player
Another good one (also comes with all codecs).  Faster response time that KMPlayer.  However, it has a couple of quircks I can't stand.  For example, there is a pause when you click once on the screen to play/pause, just in case you want to double-click for full-screen.  You can disable this pause, but then you lose the double-click option.  No other player handles it this way.  I find it annoying.  Also, I can't find a way to add previous/next buttons on the player.  If it were not for these things, I may prefer this one.

VLC
Not my favorite at all.  It's slow, and I don't like the interface at all.

SMplayer
Nice, but responds weirdly.  Not that fast, either.

MPC
Haven't tried it for years, but when i was using it, it was significantly slower than Light Alloy.

Zoom Player
I love Zoom.  It's actually pretty quick relative to the others.  I may settle on this one.  It's quicker to open than it is to close.  But it's faster than most of the other programs here, except maybe for Light Alloy.  It also seems to have a hard time with my larger or HD files.  Why?  I have no idea.  I have a pretty impressive computer, I can't imagine it not handling any kind of HD video.  Frankly, the idea of it annoys me a lot.


So, any suggestions?

MrCrispy:
I don't really have a player to suggest, but the speed of the player will depend on 2 things - its internal code, and the codec/filter graph used. Most players are either DirectShow based, or use bundled codecs, so you might want to try out different combinations. Kmplayer has a super speed option (which disables a bunch of advanced options), might want to try that.

JavaJones:
Hm, when you mentioned "SMPlayer" I kind of figured you meant SPlayer, but I see there is also an SMPlayer. So, if you haven't tried Splayer, you might want to check it out:
http://www.splayer.org/index.en.html
It claims speed and low memory use as advantages. I've found it's pretty decent, I'm testing it as a secondary or even replacement for my current favorite The KMPlayer.

However, I do have another thought. Have you looked into optimizing The KMPlayer? For example if you're willing to use a player without built-in codecs, you could turn off all it's own codecs. Not sure if this would make it faster... or slower. But something to test. Also I imagine what video renderer you use affects this. I know there are many more options that affect this, such as playlist reading modes, etc, etc. I would think there is probably optimization-related discussion on the KMPlayer forums (hopefully in the English part :D). If you do look into that, let us know if you find anything promising, as it's something I'd be interested in too.

Good luck!

- Oshyan

superboyac:
After googling around a little bit, I discovered that Light Alloy is still slowly being developed.  However, they are doing it all in Russian.  I don't blame them; I don't think anyone gave two seconds of thought to their software.  You can find the russian forum here:
http://www.softella.com/la/forum.ru.htm

Their original english site has not changed for a long, long time:
http://www.softella.com/

In their defense, and because I think some of you here actually would be interested, I am going to make the following statement:
Light Alloy is hands-down the fastest responding video player I have ever used.  Fastest to open a file, and fastest to close the program.
It responds beautifully.  No codecs are included, it uses the system installed decoders.  I know that will deter a lot of you, but give it a shot.  I think you will be impressed by its speed.

Anyway, using the google translater, I was able to see that it is still being slowly developed.  The updates are only available in the russian forum.  The english website still has the old version.  But if you want to purchase a license, the english site will give you a valid one.  Mine still works on the newer versions.  I've attached the latest installer here, just to make it easier to find for english users (version 4.4 build 873).

I hope this is helpful for any of you.

superboyac:
Thanks Java!  Splayer looks interesting, I'm going to try it out.
Also, regarding the configuration of filters and such; not to be difficult, but I just don't have the heart for it at this point.  Maybe I will later, but I'd crossing my fingers that there's one that works awesome right out of the box.


PS I have to say, this latest version of Light Alloy is pretty amazing.  This may be the winner.

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