VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. It is also capable to record your video using the camera, as well as convert the most popular video and audio files in different formats.

A Simple, fast and powerful media player plays everything - Files, Discs, Webcams, Devices and Streams. Plays most codecs with no codec packs needed - MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, MKV, WebM, WMV, MP3... It runs on all platforms - Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Unix, iOS, Android ... It is completely Free - no spyware, no ads and no user tracking.

VLC Features:

VLC plays Files, Discs, Webcams, Devices and Streams.

1. Fast - Hardware Decoding:

VLC has hardware decoding on most platforms. It supports 0-copy on the GPU and can fallback on software when required.

2. Plays all formats:

MPEG-1/2, DivX® (1/2/3/4/5/6), MPEG-4 ASP, XviD, 3ivX D4, H.261, H.263 / H.263i, H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC, Cinepak, Theora, Dirac / VC-2, MJPEG (A/B), WMV 1/2, WMV 3 / WMV-9 / VC-1, Sorenson 1/3, DV, On2 VP3/VP5/VP6, Indeo Video v3 (IV32), Real Video (1/2/3/4).
MPEG Layer 1/2, MP3 - MPEG Layer 3, AAC - MPEG-4 part3, Vorbis, AC3 - A/52, E-AC-3, MLP / TrueHD>3, DTS, WMA 1/2, WMA 3, FLAC, ALAC, Speex, Musepack / MPC, ATRAC 3, Wavpack, Mod, TrueAudio, APE, Real Audio, Alaw/µlaw, AMR (3GPP), MIDI, LPCM, ADPCM, QCELP, DV Audio, QDM2/QDMC, MACE.
DVD, Text files (MicroDVD, SubRIP, SubViewer, SSA1-5, SAMI, VPlayer), Closed captions, Vobsub, Universal Subtitle Format (USF), SVCD / CVD, DVB, OGM, CMML, Kate.
ID3 tags, APEv2, Vorbis comment. 

3. Advanced control:

VLC has the most complete feature-set over the video, subtitle synchronisation, video and audio filters.

4. Advanced formats:

a. Input Media:

UDP/RTP Unicast, UDP/RTP Multicast, HTTP / FTP, MMS, TCP/RTP Unicast, DCCP/RTP Unicast, File, DVD Video, Video CD / VCD, SVCD, Audio CD (no DTS-CD), DVB (Satellite, Digital TV, Cable TV), MPEG encoder, Video acquisition.

b. Input Formats:

MPEG (ES,PS,TS,PVA,MP3), AVI, ASF / WMV / WMA, MP4 / MOV / 3GP, OGG / OGM / Annodex, Matroska (MKV), Real, WAV (including DTS), Raw Audio: DTS, AAC, AC3/A52, Raw DV, FLAC, FLV (Flash), MXF, Nut, Standard MIDI / SMF, Creative™ Voice.

c. Miscellaneous:

SAP/SDP announces, Bonjour protocol, Mozilla/Firefox plugin, ActiveX plugin, SVCD Menus, Localization, CD-Text, CDDB CD info, IGMPv3, IPv6, MLDv2, CPU acceleration.