The new VLC: Chromecast support, network browsing, 4K playback and adaptive streaming

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/02/19/video-lan-client.html

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VLC really is the best, though I hope the implement one of those “skip back 10 secs” buttons.

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I’m shocked how much I love those buttons. Same for skip forward.

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I don’t understand why Netflix doesn’t have it when Hulu and Amazon does. Some times you miss something, especially when phone distractions come into play. Or some times you just didn’t understand what someone said.

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I don’t have the new version yet, but in the old version there were some very useful shortcuts (hotkeys) which were customizable. I am assuming these are also available in the new version.

Command Hotkey
Very short backwards jump Shift-Left
Very short forward jump Shift-Right
Short backwards jump Alt-Left
Short forward jump Alt-Right
Medium backwards jump Ctrl-Left
Medium forward jump Ctrl-Right
Long backwards jump Alt-Ctrl-Left
Long forward jump Alt-Ctrl-Right

Source: QtHotkeys - VideoLAN Wiki

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Oh wow! Thanks. I’ll try it out tonight.

Next thing you will tell me there is a way to get my microwave to stop blinking 12:00 :wink:

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Airgap it

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Like… leave the door open a little?

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No, like this:

I thought Netflix had a 10 seconds back button? At least on my iPhone… investigating. Yeah my phone has a 10 second back button, though it won’t on my laptop or fireTV.

I agree that any device missing it is obnoxious because I use it so much (especially with kids).

Wait… isn’t Alt-Right a long backwards jump?

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VLC no longer prevents the screen from blanking if a video is paused (finally). And there was much rejoicing.

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You can set it to whatever you want. Generally I’ll set short backward and forward jump to alt+left and right, set the time to 10 seconds, and use the tilting wheel on my mouse for scrubbing back and forward.

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Yeah when I watch on my Roku it has a button on the remote, but I watch probably 95% of my Netflix on my computer in bed. Alone. With no pants… tips fedora.

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VLC has always had the ability to skip back or forward by small to large jumps.

The weird thing was that they had adamantly refused to implement an ability to skip back by the smallest amount (1 frame), something QuickTime had had for a decade. Apparently, the available solution was too inelegant.

Soooo I got it. And it stutters after resuming from a pause when playing .MKV files, every time. I can resume normal playback by scrubbing back a couple of seconds, but still…

That’s why I keep the prior version of VLC around when new updates drop, there’s always some screwy little thing on the Mac version. But they’re pretty good about fixing things, so…3.1 for me!

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There is one thing I’d love to see at least in the Android version of VLC if not all versions: the ability to bookmark streams. That being said, it still has a place on my software “must have” list.

Another worthy tool for the video toolbox is FFMPEG. There’s a whole lot of functionality packed into a little command-line tool. The learning curve is pretty steep, but it can do some amazing things.

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It’s worth mentioning too that the EU is paying bug bounties for VLC under their FOSSA program. It’s good to see it getting some attention in that area, given my laptop often sounds like a harrier taking off, when I fire it up.

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