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RealPlayer

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RealPlayer
Developer(s)RealNetworks
Stable release
Preview release16.0 (TBA) [±]
Operating systemCross-platform
TypeMedia player
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.real.com

RealPlayer is a media player, created by RealNetworks, that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, and Windows Media formats as well as multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo codecs.[1]

The first version of RealPlayer was introduced in April 1995 as RealAudio Player, one of the first media players capable of streaming media over the Internet. [2] Version 6 of RealPlayer was called RealPlayer G2; version 9 was called RealOne Player. Free "Basic" versions have been provided as well as paid "Plus" versions with additional features. On Windows, version 9 subsumed the features of the separate program RealJukebox.

The current version for Windows is RealPlayer 10.5 and other versions with fewer features, are available for Mac OS X, Linux, Unix, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian OS.[3] The program is powered by an underlying open source media engine called Helix.[4] The free version is not currently available for Windows x64.

RealPlayer 10.5 for Windows also contains audio CD burning capabilities, PVR-style playback buffering, multimedia search, Internet radio, a jukebox-style file library, an embedded web browser (using Microsoft Internet Explorer), and the ability to transfer media to a number of portable devices, including Apple's iPod, MP3 players, and Windows Media devices.

Features

RealPlayer, beyond its function as a audio/video player, also contains additional features such as:

  • RealPlayer contains a built-in Media Browser, which is based on Internet Explorer. It allows the user to browse internet pages while listening to music.
  • The Playlist editor is similar to these in Windows Media Player and Winamp. It supports "drag and drop" and also can randomize the currently playing tracks.
  • RealPlayer can view video files in Theater Mode (full screen mode) or in normal mode. The paid version contains also a Toolbar Mode which is provided to take less space on the desktop. With RealPlayer can support over 1000s of Skins.
  • RealPlayer also has some Visualizations. Annabelle the Sheep, Cosmic Belt, Fire, Audio Analyzer and Nebula visualizations are included in the RealPlayer set-up. There are a lot of other visualizations which one can download from the RealNetworks site, including the 3D Visualization Plug-In Surreal.FX.
  • RealPlayer contains Continuous Play (Loop multiple songs) and Shuffle Play (Play tracks randomly).
  • Also a feature to Stay on top while playing is available.
  • The Favorites menu allows the user to access media easily by adding it into the menu.
  • The Equalizer and the Video controls are included both in the free and the premium version. Crossfade and Gapless playback are only included in RealPlayer Plus.
  • RealPlayer contains media library which allows the user to organise his or her media through track tagging and editing.* The premium version contains an Audio Converter which converts tracks between the RealMedia, MP3, AAC, Windows Media, and WAV formats, as well as other formats.
  • RealPlayer Plus also features Recording audio, which records vinyl to a soundcard.
  • LivePause pauses streaming video clips without having to stop the buffering.
  • Version 10.5 included Harmony technology, making the Music Store compatible with iPod portable media players and Windows Media DRM-compatible players.
  • Both the basic and the plus version can burn CDs. The current burning technology is powered by NPI; formerly it was powered by Adaptec (Roxio). The free version can burn audio and data CDs; the premium version burns MP3 CDs.
  • The CD ripping is fully-functional in both free and paid versions. By default RealPlayer rips CD-Tracks into .m4a (AAC) format. These are the formats which are available to rip tracks:
    • Real Audio 10 (32 kbps - 320 kbps)
    • MP3 (32 kbps - 320 kbps)
    • AAC (in MP4) (32 kbps - 320 kbps)
    • Real Audio Lossless
    • WAV (1411Kbps)
    • Windows Media Audio (Requires Windows Media Player 10 installed) (64 kbps - 192 kbps)
  • The RealPlayer Music Store allows the user to locate and purchase songs. Each song costs from $0.49 to $0.99.

Supported media formats

  • RealMedia (.ram, .rm, .ra, .rmm, .rax, .rv, .rmvb)
    • RealAudio (.ra)
    • RealVideo (.rv)
  • RealPix (*.rp)
  • RealText (*.rt)
  • RealTime Streaming Protocol (rtsp://)
  • Progressive Networks Streaming Protocols (pna://, pnm://)
  • Microsoft Windows Media Streaming Protocol (mms://)
  • MP3 (.mp3, .mp2, .mp2, .m3u)
  • CD Audio (.cda)
  • WAV (*.wav)
  • AAC/aacPlus v1 (.aac, .m4a, .m4b, .mp4, .acp, .m4p)
  • DVD (*.vob)
  • MPEG Video (*.mpg, *.mpeg, *.m2v, *.mpe etc)
  • AVI (*.avi, *.divx) (an installed DivX codec is required)
  • Windows Media (*.wma, *.wmv and etc) (requires Windows Media Player 9/10)
  • QuickTime (*.mov, *.qt) (Quick Time Player must be installed)
  • Playlists (*.rpl, *.xpl, *.pls, *.m3u)
  • Adobe Flash (*.swf)
  • Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (*.smil, *.smi)
  • Scalable Multicast (*.sdp)
  • AIFF (*.aif, *.aiff)
  • AU Audio Files (*.au)
  • Panasonic AAC (*.acp)
  • Bitmap (*.bmp)
  • Gif Images (*.gif)
  • JPEG Images (*.jpeg, *.jpg)
  • PNG (*.png)

Formats supported by a plug-in

Plug-Ins

RealPlayer has wide variety of plug-ins. Some of the plug-ins are listed at the RealPlayer accessories page, but most are not. There is no official plug-in page.

Audio Enhancement
There are four audio "enhancers" available for the latest version of RealPlayer. DFX, iQfx, Volume Logic and Sanyo 3D Surround. Lake PLS, created by Lake Technologies, works only with RealJukebox, and has limited use. There are some registry tweaks which allow Lake PLS to work with RealPlayer 10. Lake PLS is still available on the RealPlayer website.
RealPlayer Skin Creators
RealPlayer has had two skin creator plug-ins: SkinsEditor for RealJukebox -- an easy to use skins creator made by DeYoung software. The second application, RealJukebox Skins Converter,converts Winamp skins into RealPlayer skins.
Playback Plug-Ins
Please see section File formats supported by a plug-in.
Radio Tuners
vTuner Plus and HMRadio are radio tuners specially created for RealPlayer.
Visualizations
The available visualizations from the RealNetworks site are: FrequencywurX, FyrewurX, FlamewurX, XFactor, Spectrl View, FluxWave, Puddle, Paint Drops, Polka dots, StickSterZ 1.0, Circle, On the road, Real Logo, Hubble Bubble. There are some more visualization plug-ins like Surreal.FX by RealNetworks, G-Force and WhiteCap by SoundSpectrum and SticksterZ 1.1 by Eric Metois.

Editions

RealPlayer for Windows is the primary edition of the RealPlayer. There are some other editions like RealPlayer Enterprise (RealOne Enterprise Desktop), RealPlayer for Mac OS, RealPlayer/Helix Player for Linux/BSD and RealPlayer for Pocket PC.

RealPlayer Enterprise

RealPlayer Enterprise (also known as RealOne Enterprise Desktop) is a specially designed version for enterprise deployments. This version is absolutely free, without any advertising services. It does not contain extra features, like Equalizer or Video Controls. Some plug-ins are not supported.

RealPlayer for Mac

RealPlayer 10 for Mac OS X is similar to the Windows version, distributed for free and capable of playing RealAudio and RealVideo. It also supports QuickTime media, AAC, and MP3 formats. There is a fully-functional 10-EQ Band, as well as a tether mode for viewing video in full screen.

RealPlayer 10.1.0 (412) for Mac OS X supports web browsing via WebCore which means RealPlayer and Safari share cookies.

The new interface of RealPlayer is similar in feel to other Mac OS X applications, though users of Mac OS 9 must download RealPlayer 8.

RealPlayer for Linux

RealPlayer for Linux is developed separately from the Windows and Mac versions. The Linux client is based on the open-source Helix Player which can be found at the Helix Community Website. It supports RealAudio/Video, MP3 and Ogg Vorbis. The interface depends on the current GTK+ theme.

RealPlayer for Symbian

The Symbian version of RealPlayer allows mobile phones to play Real Audio, Real Video, MP3, 3GP, AMR and other media formats. It is provided as freeware.

RealPlayer for Palm

RealPlayer 10 is available for free for Palm OS 5 devices, such as the Palm Tungsten or Zire series. [37] It is also compatible with RealPlayer Music Store tracks.

RealJukebox

It was a computer program released by RealNetworks that allowed users to organise their digital music. It was first released in May 1999. By late 2001 the functionality of the program had been integrated into the Real's core media player program, RealPlayer.


RealNetworks Scheduler

realsched.exe (RealNetworks Scheduler) is a background process, bundled with the installation of RealPlayer. It is intended to provide users with information about critical RealPlayer updates, and as such is only functional when a computer is connected to the internet. It is non-essential both to the functioning of Windows and to the functioning of RealPlayer. The process generally takes 136k of system memory.

Controversy

PC World Magazine named RealPlayer as #2 in its list of the 25 worst products of all time. [37]

RealPlayer 10 is configured to run the Message Center program automatically at system startup and RealPlayer shutdown. The message center has generated controversy because it features advertisements for bands. Some have said this could qualify as adware. Although there is an option to turn the messages off, RealPlayer 10 will automatically turn some message options back on. As a result, the Message Center will almost always pop up with new messages. This was remedied in the 10.5 version; the Message Center can be completely disabled. [citation needed]

Security researcher Richard M. Smith dissected some of RealJukebox's network traffic and discovered that it was sending a unique identifier with information about the music titles its users were listening to. RealNetworks acknowledged this, and after an outcry, they removed it with version 1.02. Their download page stated RealJukebox included privacy enhancements and gave a link to the privacy policy. [38]

RealPlayer uses the System Wave volume control. If the user mutes RealPlayer, he or she will mute the computer sound speakers. This issue has not been fixed. The Volume Logic plug-in corrects this bug. It disables RealPlayer's sound control and uses its own. The Sanyo 3D Surround has the same feature, but does not disable RealPlayer's sound control. [citation needed]


See also

Notes

  1. ^ Supported Formats by RealOne Player [1]
  2. ^ Release History[2]
  3. ^ RealPlayer - Multiple Editions[3]
  4. ^ Helix Community License[4]
  5. ^ AT&T A2B[5]
  6. ^ Adobe SVG[6]
  7. ^ Audible Audio[7]
  8. ^ DiamondBack Vision Partners With Media 100 To Explore MPEG-4 Internet Streaming Solution For Cleaner(TM) (Object Video)[8]
  9. ^ eBeam Presenter Download[9]
  10. ^ Digital Bitcasting[10]
  11. ^ Envivio Announces MPEG-4 Support for RealPlayer[11]
  12. ^ Even Technologies - PSI Decoder[12]
  13. ^ LearnKey RealCBT [13]
  14. ^ RealPlayer supports Liquid Audio[14]
  15. ^ VP5 Plug-In Download[15]
  16. ^ a b RealPlayer to support VP5[16] Cite error: The named reference "vp3" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  17. ^ Supported RealPlayer Formats[17]
  18. ^ rNSV for RealPlayer Formats[18]
  19. ^ Crescendo Forte Plug-In Info[19]
  20. ^ Camtasia for RealPlayer info[20]
  21. ^ Xiph OGG for RealPlayer Download[21]
  22. ^ Pulse Player Detection[22]
  23. ^ RichFX Plugin Download[23]
  24. ^ Mode2Real Info and download[24]
  25. ^ Mimio boardCast Info[25]
  26. ^ Mimio Plug-In Download[26]
  27. ^ Be Here To Debut Its iVideo Plug-in At Real Conference 2000[27]
  28. ^ iPix Plug-In Download[28]
  29. ^ ScreenWatch Plug-In Download[29]
  30. ^ RealNetowrks Acquires Vivo[30]
  31. ^ RealPlayer to support MJuice[31]
  32. ^ RealPlayer Supported Formats (Blue Matter)[32]
  33. ^ OZ.Com announces fluid3d for RealPlayer[33]
  34. ^ RealNetworks backs IBM digital music system[34]
  35. ^ VP4 for RealPlayer is available[35]
  36. ^ ImagePower's JPEG2000 Technology Compatible with RealPlayer[36]
  37. ^ "The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time" — March 26 2006, PC World Magazine
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