If you watch a lot of movies or video files that you have downloaded from the Internet or that come from your personal digital cameras or video recorders, then you know that there are many different types of video files in use today. Unfortunately, you will also notice that some of your video players will only play certain video formats as well, which could mean that you will be disappointed if you want to play other types of files. To play some of the more unusual file types you have, you have two main options: download alternative video player software, or invest in reputable video conversion software. Each method has its pros and cons, so it is up to you to decide which one to choose.
Alternative video player software
It is almost impossible to find a video player software that plays all types of video and audio files. If you use many different types of files on a regular basis, you can choose to download many different types of playback software on your computer, if you want to play all of these files in their original format. However, downloading additional playback software to your computer can take up a lot of space on your hard drive, which could lead to choppy playback on your computer, if you only have limited hard drive space.
Video conversion software
In the past, some people were afraid to use video conversion software because it used to be unreliable. In some cases, poor video conversion software can leave you with poor video and audio quality. But if you invest in good quality conversion software, you can convert a wide range of file types to a more preferred file type, without sacrificing quality at all. If you choose the conversion path, you will only need to download one piece of conversion software, rather than multiple video views. This is a great idea if you only have a limited amount of space on your computer. If you only have one file of a certain type, it is much more efficient to convert that file to a more common file type than to download a player specifically for that type of video file. Converting a file from one format to another also usually completes much faster than the time it would take to find a suitable new video player and download it.