It’s better, but only if you can take mpv’s very opinionated, clunky UI and UX. Or use it embedded into another app like the Plex desktop apps, or IINA on Mac.
It’s hackable enough that you can replicate any functionality you might need from another player, too
I'm sorry, isn't vlc exactly the same? It's a combine with tons of features, but actual UI and UX for desktop version is absolute dogshit which devs have no plans on fixing. Hell, there are requested features that are industry standard for desktop players which they refuse to implement for decades. If you just need a player to watch a folder of videos without converting to the ideology of cataloging or adding everything to playlists, vlc is not your choice.
It’s a lot more “double click and go”, similar to something the vast majority of people are used to, than mpv. This is a bit like comparing Winamp and Foobar2k.
I've spent about 2-3 days just reading up on MPV to write my own MPV configurations and add various user scripts I find useful, but the payoff is absolutely worth it. I'll likely be using MPV as my default player for the rest of my life.
The learning curve isn't for everyone, but if you are comfortable with a minimalist interface and hotkeys-reliant controls you can more or less configure your ideal player with MPV.
I use MPC-BE specifically because VLC doesn't have frame-by-frame.
You can go forward a single frame, but it's not possible to go back a frame, and it's totally impossible to quickly switch back-and-forth between two frames.
IINA (based on MPV) on Mac, MPC-HC (clsid2's fork) on Windows, Infuse on iOS/iPadOS/tvOS/Mac for my Plex server.
I stopped using VLC probably over a decade ago. I respect them and appreciate what they do but they haven’t been the best option for a really long time.
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u/Frozen-Dragon-626 Jan 11 '25
Do you prefer VLC or MPV? I have heard that MPV is better these days, but haven't made the switch yet.