Total Video Player

Total Video Player is a Windows video player that supports most video and audio codecs out of the box.

Like many video players these days, Total Video Player takes after VLC, which is a good thing. Casual users can enjoy this program with ease, but it still offers most options advanced users want. There isn’t much you can throw at this program that it won’t play, and that wide support for video and audio codecs is included in the default configuration. If needed, you can also expand that support by installing other codecs on your computer and having Total Video Player use those.

Not only does Total Video Player support most video formats and file extensions common to Windows, it can play DVDs as well as CDs, including VCDs and SVCDs. It doesn’t, however, support Blu-ray. Some may consider the user interface to be a bit basic, but it’s reasonably attractive and certainly intuitive. The program also has some neat tools, such as the ability to manipulate file associations, which is something most programs do at installation but then ignore. Despite the positives, there are downsides that make Total Video Player a hard sell over a solution like VLC.

The biggest downside to Total Video Player is arguably that it doesn’t support subtitles at all. Subtitles embedded into the video will work, but subtitle files that are external or embedded into the video container will not. This will be a deal-breaker for many users and is a glaring omission for a modern multimedia player. Another issue is the lack of sound options. If sound is out of sync, for instance, there isn’t much you can do, but other players would let you time-shift the video to fix it.

Pros

• Supports most audio and video codecs
• Attractive and intuitive user interface

Cons

• No subtitle support
• No Blu-ray support
• Minimal audio options