Several readers have been asking how they would be able to play movies with the flv extension. Those flash videos do not play normally in standard programs such as Windows Media Player but there are a handful of great alternative video players that support flv files out of the box.
I have been using VLC Player which supports flv files until I found a even better player named SMplayer. Both of these players play flv files without the need of an extra plugin or codec.
There is also no need to convert the flv files into another format unless you would like to burn them on CD or DVD. If you have been looking for another reason to make the switch from your favorite player to a better one try SMplayer, this one really rocks and plays almost everything out of the box.
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My favourite movie player is MPlayer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPlayer and it too supports many file formats (including the .flv).
SMPlayer is a frontend for Mplayer and can be used on both Linux and Windows. The best part is its really easy to use.
My favorite media player is Media Player Classic – and it plays flv files too.
The Standalone KMPlayer (Korean Mediaplayer) also plays FLV.
I have been reading your blog via bloglines for some time now and I’d like to say that you run a hell of a good site, I love the way you point out these amazing little gems to your readers like that SkreemR search engine, totally awesome, finally allowed me listen to some much searched for songs…. so keep doing this and thanks.
The sm player is thejust what I needed!
heelo there,
i am realy amazed and exccited about this site, thanks for running. listen i have been upto deep in downloding streams- an i suggest k-lite mega codec pack- it can play any known audio format- – n-joy
Ever since I got my new PC with Vista installed on it I can’t find any flv players that work. I have downloaded and installed 17 so far and most of them just crash. Are there any flv players specifically written for vista or are all vista uses sol?
Re Me (379632)
You may try windows xp sp2 compatibility mode, and hopefully the player won’t crash (this worked for smplayer under vista and win7 on my computer).
If the player still crashes (usu. on some but not all flv vid.), maybe its codec is picky or buggy — mplayer has its own codecs instead of using directshow filters. try sothink flv player, which is a barebone front-end for adobe flashplayer activex. or, if you insist on sticking to your more powerful player, convert the flv to other format (using, say, ffmpeg).
I want to know if it possible to play flv files
on my mac via a proxy. Here in China I use
proxies just cos they are faster not because the
sites are blocked. flv files do not come up
on any browser I have tried when I connect to the
site via a proxy server.
Yes, you can’t play flv files with windows midio player, I used aunsoft flv player, also a free software, I feel it is better than the player you recommend.
SIMPLE…
1) PLAY FLV FILE ON DESKTOP:
Download “Irfanview” freeware.
2) PLAY FLV FILE EMBEDDED IN WEBSITE:
TOT ZIENS!
Volkan
If VLC or Totem doesn’t work, and you want to watch the downloaded flv video files in Ubuntu linux,
Google for “flv flash Totem internal data stream vlc undf”
I’m using free FLV player from Save Video plugin for Internet Explorer.(http://www.howtosavevideo.com)
It support rotate video, playlist, multiscreen, etc..
I found some very nice freeware alternatives here:
http://cyberst0rm.blogspot.com/2007/08/how-to-watch-f
lv-videos-on-your.html