Media player

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This article is about media players in general. For the first Microsoft media player, see Media Player.

Media player is a term typically used to describe computer software for playing back multimedia files. Most software media players support an array of media formats, including both audio and video files.

Some media players focus only on audio or video and are known as audio players and video players respectively. The producers of these players usually focus on providing a better user experience as they are specifically tailored toward the media type.

Microsoft Windows comes with pre-loaded 'Windows Media Player'. The latest is Windows Media Player 11(Comes along with Windows Vista & can also be downloaded from Microsoft as an upgrade to current Windows Media Player), which is still in beta.

[edit] Terminology

Although the term usually refers to computer software, the term is also used for the media playback devices used in digital signage. The term may also be used to describe analog electrical or mechanical media playing equipment such as a phonograph or player piano.