Real Player
RealPlayer is a closed source cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.
History
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. Version 4.01 of RealPlayer was included as a selectable internet tool in MS Windows 98 installation. 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.
RealPlayer 11 was released for Windows in November 2007, and for Mac OS X in May 2008. Versions of RealPlayer are also available for Linux, Unix, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian OS. The program is powered by an underlying open source media engine called Helix.
RealPlayer was a popular streaming media player during the early years of the Internet, but in recent years it has been surpassed in market share by Windows Media Player, and, since mid-2007, Apple's iTunes.
Features
RealPlayer , beyond its function as an audio/video player, also contains additional features such as:
- Media Browser based on Internet Explorer which allows web browsing while playing media.
- Playlist editor similar to other media players, supporting "drag and drop" and playlist randomize.
- Theater Mode (full screen mode) video playback. The paid version offers a skinnable Toolbar Mode which uses less desktop space.
- Visualizations - graphical animations or "light shows". Five are included with RealPlayer set-up. Others are available from RealNetworks, including a 3D Visualization Plug-In Surreal.FX.
- Continuous Play (Loop multiple songs) and Shuffle Play (Play tracks randomly, however realplayer will select the random tracks in sequence eg Track 1, Track 5, Track 2, Track 6, Track 3 etc.).
- Stay on top while playing option.
- Favorites menu to save and recall media locations for files or streams.
- Equalizer and Video controls . Crossfade and Gapless playback are included in RealPlayer Plus.
- Media library allows organization of media through track tagging and editing. The Premium version adds Audio Converter to convert between RealMedia, MP3, AAC, Windows Media, and WAV formats, and others.
- Recording audio, (RealPlayer Plus only) which records audio via a sound card.
- LivePause pauses streaming video clips without having to stop the buffering.
- Version 10.5 included Harmony technology, making the Music Store compatible with iPod 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.
- CD ripping into AAC (in MP4) (32 kbit/s - 320 kbit/s) (default), Real Audio 10 (32 kbit/s - 320 kbit/s), MP3 (32 kbit/s - 320 kbit/s), Real Audio Lossless, WAV (1411 kbit/s), Windows Media Audio (Requires Windows Media Player 10 installed) (64 kbit/s - 192 kbit/s) formats.
- RealPlayer Music Store allows users to locate, preview, and purchase songs, which cost $0.49 to $0.99.
- SuperPass - paid access to premium recorded and live video broadcasts. In the U.S., content like CBS Big Brother 24/7 is provided for a fee of around USD$39.99. For Europe (except UK), this includes live broadcasts of BBC World Europe, Al Jazeera English, CNN International Europe, Euronews in seven languages, BBC News recent news clips, MTV UK music clips, and custom content from SportsNews TV, RealTV, Vidzone, and Comedy Time. Costs 17.50 € per month.
- Video Download - version 11 for Windows and OS X allowed users to download videos from sites such as YouTube and store them on their computer in Flash Video format.
- Media Converter (RealPlayer SP) - allows converting to proper format and transferring video to iPod, cell phones, Xbox, PS3 and other devices
- Video Sharing (SP) - users can post videos to Facebook and Twitter directly from the software
Supported media formats
- RealMedia formats: RealAudio (*.ra, *.rm), RealVideo (*.rv, *.rm, *.rmvb), RealPix (*.rp), RealText (*.rt), RealMedia Shortcut (*.ram, *.rmm)
- Streaming: RealTime Streaming Protocol (rtsp://), Progressive Networks Streaming Protocols (pna://, pnm://), Microsoft Windows Media Streaming Protocol (mms://), Real Scalable Multicast (*.sdp), Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (*.smil, *.smi)
- Audio: MP3 (*.mp3, *.mp2, *.mp2, *.m3u), CD Audio (*.cda), WAV (*.wav), AAC/aacPlus v1 (*.aac, *.m4a, *.m4b, *.mp4, *.acp, *.m4p), Apple Lossless, AIFF (*.aif, *.aiff), AU Audio Files (*.au), Panasonic AAC (*.acp)
- Video: DVD (*.vob), Video CD (*.dat), MPEG Video (*.mpg, *.mpeg, *.m2v, *.mpe etc), AVI (*.avi, *.divx), MJPEG video playback from .avi files,Windows Media (*.wma, *.wmv and etc) (requires Windows Media Player 9/10), QuickTime (*.mov, *.qt) (Quick Time Player must be installed), Adobe Systems Flash (*.swf) (Flash or Shockwave Player must be installed), Flash Video (*.flv).
- Playlists (*.rpl, *.xpl, *.pls, *.m3u)
- Graphics: Bitmap (*.bmp), GIF Images (*.gif), JPEG Images (*.jpeg, *.jpg), PNG (*.png)
Formats supported by optional plug-ins
Plug-ins
RealPlayer has a wide variety of plug-ins. Some of the plug-ins are listed at the RealPlayer accessories page, but not all.
Editions
RealPlayer for Windows
RealPlayer SP includes audio CD burning capabilities, DVR-style playback buffering, multimedia search, Internet radio, a jukebox-style file library, an embedded web browser (using Microsoft Internet Explorer), and the ability to convert and transfer media to a wide range of devices: Music players such as iPod and Zune, smartphones such as iPhone and BlackBerry, portable gaming devices such as Sony PSP, and console gaming systems such as Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii. Since version 11, RealPlayer SP has gained Flash Video support, DVD, SVCD, VCD burning (120-minute) and video recording (DRM is supported). The free version is not currently available for 64-bit versions of Windows. The BBC offers an advertising-free version for users of its website.
RealPlayer Enterprise (also labeled Education Edition) is a lightweight advertising-free version. It can be administered by RealPlayer Enterprise Manager. Most consumer features have been removed, and some plug-ins are not supported. The RealSched.exe update reminder can be disabled in two steps, and it is not reinstalled upon running the player.
The current stable release for Windows is RealPlayer SP 1.0.5 Build 12.0.0.343
RealPlayer for Mac OS X
RealPlayer for Mac OS X is distributed for free. The latest current stable release as of June 2008 is version 11.0. It includes Real's Helix playback engine for RealAudio and RealVideo, a 10-band equalizer and video adjustment controls, and a full-screen, resizable "theater mode" for video playback, as well as many features found in its Windows counterpart.
Since the release of version 10.0 in 2004, RealPlayer has become much more closely integrated with Mac OS X including features such as:
- QuickTime playback support (including full-screen viewing which Apple only introduced to its own basic QuickTime Player in 2007)
- An integrated Web browser based on Apple's WebKit framework, resulting in RealPlayer and Safari sharing cookies.
- Support for Bonjour to share Internet favorites.
- Cocoa user interface.
RealPlayer for Linux/Unix
RealPlayer for Linux/Unix is developed separately from the Windows and Mac versions. The 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. In newer Symbian devices it can also be used to stream both audio and video content in the form of MP3 (music) and 3GP (videos).
RealPlayer for Palm
RealPlayer 1.6.1 (US) or RealPlayer 1.6.0 (worldwide) is available for free for PalmOne-made Palm OS 5 devices, such as the Palm Tungsten or Zire series. It is also compatible with RealPlayer Music Store tracks. However, they will neither install nor run on non-PalmOne-made devices like Sony's Clie line of PDAs. They also do not support modern Palm smartphones such as the
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