Home Media Player

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Sony MHC-WZ8D: Casette, Audio CD, VCD, SVCD and DVD home media supported high-end speaker set system

Shouldn't be confused with other media player devices such as: portable media players, smart TVs, DVRs, smart TV boxes/digital media players/media boxes, smart blu-ray players, android consoles and set-top box.

Home media player is a device for playback (and some of them features recording, copying, delivery) of various types of entertainment and information in the home. Most popular use case scenario for these kinds of devices is playing home video content; the term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as VCD, DVD and Blu-ray. In a different usage, "home video" refers to amateur video recordings, also known as home movie.

Such device examples other than VHS, VCD or DVD players are VCRs, LaserDisc players and multiplex or converged devices like VCR/DVD combo, TV/VCR combo, VCR/Blu-ray combo and home media supported speaker set systems, etc.

Contents

List of Audio CD, VCD, DVD and Blu-ray Players[edit]

Interactive media[edit]

 
Playing "DreamWorks Movie Trivia DVD Game" interactive game with MPC-HC media player software.

Interactive media is a method of communication in which the output from the media comes from the input of the users. The media still has the same purpose but the user's input adds interaction and brings interesting features to the system for better enjoyment.

  • A DVD-Video/Audio, Photo CD/CD-i Digital Video, HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc Video typically includes an interactive menu allowing the user to change settings or play additional content. VCD2.0 (or onwards) and SVCD discs has menu support with playback control (PBC), see media player software section for more information.
  • Interactive film/movie is a video game. In the video game industry, the term refers to a movie game, a video game that presents its gameplay in a cinematic, scripted manner, often through the use of full-motion video of either animated or live-action footage.
  • On the other hand lots of QTE-based FMV game/interactive movie released for various multimedia capable home console or handheld devices too, such as;

Emulators[edit]

Main article: DVD game emulation player

As cited above, there is no emulator for any of the home media player or its chipsets due to lack of interest and media player software solutions. Also, with the exception of those listed below, there are currently no emulators that support media playback emulation for home consoles, handhelds, or hybrid home consoles originally designed as "Interactive Multimedia" CD players.

Here are some exceptions
  • Commodore CDTV emulators for Audio CDs, CD+G and CD+G+MIDI
  • Amiga CD32 emulators for Audio CDs, CD+G and VCDs[1][2][3]
  • PCFX emulators for Audio CDs, CD+G and Photo CDs
  • Sega Mega CD emulators for Audio CDs and CD+G discs
  • Sega Saturn emulators for Audio CD, CD+G and Photo CD
  • Sega Dreamcast emulators for Audio CD
  • Atari Jaguar CD emulators for Audio CDs
  • PlayStation emulators for Audio CDs
  • SuperGrafx CD emulators for Audio CDs
  • GBA emulators for Game Boy Advance Video cartridges
  • JPCSP for UMD Video (partially, work-in-progress)
  • PCSX2 MagicGate fork for DVD-Video and DVDi (partially, work-in-progress?)

Also there are Arcade LaserDisc emulators for captured arcade games that uses pre-recorded video (either live-action or animation) played from a LaserDisc, but only the MAME emulator supports new Domesday Duplicator project, see "Difference between captures for Daphne/Singe and dumps for MAME" section for more information.

Systems with multimedia capabilities[4];
 
DVD menu with MPC-HC media player

Media player software[edit]

Media player software is basically a type of application software for playing multimedia computer files like audio and video files or home media content from ripping process, optical drive, optical disc image, raw disc image or network. Some of these software even compatible with interactive media content such as menu support and FMV/interactive movie games.

Comparison of media player software
  • LD-G as the storage medium for karaoke (music and additional content such as graphics), almost all manufacturers have transitioned to CD+G discs later.
  • VCD/White book standard disc playback supported by some of the media player software when you are using the physical disc. Also you can use compatible virtual disc image mount software with media player software->open disc option. Another option is directly launching .DAT file with media player software. Lastly if you have a VCD packaged inside a CD-image, VLC media player can play this directly without you having to mount it or extract it such as; CDRWIN's BIN/CUE format, cdrdao's TOC format, and a limited set of Nero (NRG) formats.[3]. But due to lack of support for playback control (PBC) with VCD2.0 or onwards[4]; most of the media player software do not support VCD menus/navigation. For a complete VCD experience which includes menu selections/navigation, hot spots and playback control (PBC)[5][6][7][8], use xine (keep in mind, its obsolete[7])[9][10][11] or emulator that supports this.
  • SVCD and CVD playback using .mpg or .bin files is supported with VLC and most of the other media player software or if you have a SVCD packaged inside a CD-image, in some cases VLC media player can play this directly without you having to mount it or extract it such as; CDRWIN's BIN/CUE format, cdrdao's TOC format, and a limited set of Nero (NRG) formats.[3], though as cited above; handling still frames (often used in menus) and switching between different video formats is often problematic or not supported. For a complete SVCD support which includes menu selections, hot spots and playback control, use xine[10][12] or emulator that supports this.
  • CD-i Digital Video playback is not possible; you cannot rip your disc or use .DAT files (or launch CD-image directly) due to Green Book standard for CD-i discs; making it incompatible with the Video CD format and ISO-9660 file system which causing unreadable discs or incompatibility with media player software, though White Book standard CD-i movie discs released later, which shouldn't be confused with CD-i Digital Video discs[13]. Either way, do not expect menu support; which is possible with Video-CD 1.1 format exclusive to CD-i players (VCDs with only version 2.0 or onwards supports this as cited above, e.g VCD players with Return button)[6], you have to wait for an CD-i emulator that fully implements "DVC" or use compatible hardware for playing Green Book standard CD-i Digital Videos and menus.
  • Photo CD/Beige Book standard disc playback is possible with VLC or MPC-HC if you are using physical disc or compatible virtual disc image mount software with media player software->open disc option, or you can use compatible emulator software for Photo CDs. Another option is using something like XnView for .PCD files.
  • Audio CD/Red book standard disc playback is possible; if you have a CD-DA/Audio CD/Red book standard disc packaged inside a CD-image, in some cases VLC media player can play this directly without you having to mount it or extract it such as; CDRWIN's BIN/CUE format, cdrdao's TOC format, and a limited set of Nero (NRG) formats.[3] otherwise you need to insert the physical disc to play it[14]. You can use emulator that supports Audio CD playback, another option for Audio CD's using something like "Audacity" software to import the .BIN files (File - Import - Raw Data... - Signed 16-bits PCM, 2 channel stereo, 44100 Hz) and, then, export as .WAV.[15]
  • SACD/Scarlet Book standard disc playback: MPC-BE play SACD only from DSD and DSF file. Alternatively you can use Audacity [8][9].
  • CD+G/Red book standard disc discs are often used for karaoke machines similar to LD-G, which use this functionality to present on-screen lyrics for the song contained on the disc. VLC has no support for CD+G .zip files currently but you can use emulator that supports this.
  • UMD Video playback and menu support is not possible with any of the media player software. But if you do this ripping and transcoding processes correctly you can play it on your media player software (without menu support of course). In the meantime your only choice for menu support either using emulator that supports this or real hardware.
Notes;
  • VLC 4.0 nightly builds has issues with DVD activation response currently, use 3.0 nightly builds for workaround. However there is a cursor missing problem for navigation if you are using VLC, unfortunately there is no solution for this problem at the moment other than using MPC-HC or other DVD menu compatible media player software.
  • If you are using MPC-HC for DVDs and using virtual image instead of inserting physical disc, make sure mount that virtual image to your file system before using it, otherwise menu navigate support will usually doesn't work properly. You can use this simple batch script for handling all of this automatically but make sure edit batch script for path and media player software location first. Keep in mind that you do NOT need to mount your virtual image; you can directly play with menu support if you are using VLC.
  • Always take a look at default settings for media players before using it.
  • VLC always skips intro section with default settings; for preventing this go to Tools -> Preferences -> Show settings: ALL and then Input codecs -> Access modules -> DVD with menus : Untick the option "Start directly in menu".
  • Make sure edit your hotkeys for menu navigation before using it however most of the time you can use your mouse cursor to navigate so you don't need to do this. For MPC-HC; go to Options>Player>Keys>change each one of "DVD ... ..." command hotkey.
  • It's recommended to turn off "Show media title on video start" from VLC>Preferences>Subtitles / OSD especially if you like to navigating on the DVD menus.
  • If you see glitching and green artifacts during playback of some DVD image files, it might be caused by the copyright decryption process. VLC media player is generally more successful at handling DVD copy protection measures compared to other media players.

See also[edit]

External Links[edit]

  • ↑ Reddit thread: I finally collected all six VHS-based video game systems
  • ↑ SegaRetro - FMV
  • ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 VLC Wiki: Compact Disc (CD) Images
  • ↑ VideoHelp Forum: VCD problems - playing using VLC; no menus
  • ↑ VCD version 2.0 also adds the playback control (PBC), featuring a simple menu like DVD-Video
  • ↑ 6.0 6.1 icdia: cdifaq6 page - VCD versions and CDi faq
  • ↑ encode2mpeg: Menu for VCD/SVCD/DVD
  • ↑ PBC supported VCD2.0 sample disc images
  • ↑ xine faq: VCD support
  • ↑ 10.0 10.1 VLC Wiki - xine media player software full SVCD support
  • ↑ Google Bard: I need navigation-capable vcd media player software like "xine"
  • ↑ forum.kodi - SVCD menu support
  • ↑ ObsoleteMedia: CD-i Digital Video (1993 – 1994)
  • ↑ VLC wiki: Audio CDs
  • ↑ superuser: How do I play .bin and .cue files in VLC media player software?
  • ↑ mpv player: DVD menu support issue page
  • ↑ Get libdvdcss compiled library from here, then move the downloaded libdvdcss-2.dll file to VLC or any other media player software installation folder to work with libdvdcss.
  • ↑ Ubuntu Community: Restricted HD-DVD
  • ↑ Decrypted .evo samples
  • ↑ VideoHelp forum: encrypted HD-DVD playback
  • ↑ Doom9 forum: HD-DVD protection and libaacs with keydb.cfg
  • ↑ Cyberlink forum: PowerDVD ultra doesnt compatible with HD-DVD menus
  • ↑ MPC-HC: Blu-ray menu support
  • ↑ VLC 3.0.18: Blu-ray Menus finally working
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