At the dawn of the development of the Internet, the concept of "video in the FLV format" was widespread. It was used by almost all sites. And those who wanted to view these files on their computer had to download them. But there were problems. The fact is that standard players at that time supported a very limited number of formats. Basically, they were able to read only AVI and MPG (and that - not always). Our hero was not included in the list of supported ones, so users needed a special FLV player. What is this program and how to use it? This will be discussed in the material, but first let's talk a little about the format itself.
What kind of format is this - FLV?
This is a special video format used by popular services such as YouTube. He had several advantages over the popular AVI at that time. Video files of this format “weighed” indecently little, which played a decisive role at low speeds of Internet connection. Also, this file did not require a special cache to run, even the weakest machines could play it.
However, there were drawbacks to this format. And the fattest minus is the image quality, it was just awful. Therefore, as soon as the speed of Internet connection decently increased for all users, video services together moved to a much better MP4. FLV is now almost never used, but FLV Player remains.
This program was relevant only when the players supported only one or two formats, and completely different. But now there are universal machines that can reproduce everything and everything, so the reasonable question arises: why do we need the FLV Player in modern realities? To do this, you will have to consider all its features and options. There are not so many of them, so the review will take very little time. In the meantime, let's talk about industries where this player can still be used.
Flash animation
No matter how cool modern multimedia harvesters are, they do not know how to play flash content. And that is understandable. The developers believe that such content is the destiny of a few "geeks" and those who are professionally engaged in illustration on the Macromedia Flash. For the mass segment, support for such rare and rare formats is completely useless. But for playing such flash animations FLV Player may come in handy. What is this program, however, that can read only one format? But there's nothing to be done - a highly specialized utility.
Do not forget that such files are still used by the famous graphic editor Adobe Photoshop. He also knows how to create flash animation and saves it in this format. And while there is Photoshop, FLV will also exist, since Adobe is not prone to significant changes. Be that as it may, this format is still in demand by some programs and users. Till.
Old sites with video
No matter how rapidly the Internet develops, there are also reserved corners for connoisseurs of "warm and lamp". On the expanses of the World Wide Web, sites that use FLV as the main video format are still preserved. Even modern giants like Mail.ru use this type of animation in their banners, so it’s too early to write off the FLV Player. By the way, he can play not only this format, but also the flash format SWF. This is another popular animation format.
Old Type Mobile Devices
In spite of the statistics, many more people use outdated mobile phones. And what is the optimal video format for playing on them? That's right - FLV and 3GP. The latter, however, is very ancient. Therefore, here is another option for using FLV Player. What kind of program this is is already clear. What can be used for - too. But how can you fit it into an old phone? Very simple. It is already embedded in the firmware, so there are no problems with playing files.
However, it is worth noting that due to the limited free space on the drive (both internal and external), a large number of video files cannot be recorded. And here those very outdated sites that still use FLV-formatted content come to the rescue. So you can not litter the phone’s memory and enjoy watching the video as much as possible when using a small screen. So, FLV Player - what kind of program we have already figured out, now let's see how to use it.
How to use?
It all depends on the device on which you plan to play the corresponding content. But let's talk about computers. How to use FLV Player on a personal computer or laptop? Yes, just like a standard player. The interface is the same. You just need to download the player and install it. Then you need to right-click on the desired file and select "Open with ...". In the window that appears, select the desired program - and that’s it. Playback starts.
If we are talking about mobile devices, then here is even easier. The fact is that there is only one player in such devices, and the ability to play FLV is provided by the corresponding codec, so just start the player. It will automatically detect the file format and connect the desired codec. And what kind of program is FLV Player, which is of no use on mobile gadgets? Good question.
Conclusion
So, we examined the FLV Player utility. What kind of program it is, why it can be used, and why it is needed at all, we now know. But the relevance of this player seems dubious. At least on the average user's computer, it is definitely not needed. To watch the video, a modern multimedia processor is quite enough, and rare and rare formats are not needed in our time, since they cannot compete in the quality of a picture with the same MP4 or MKV.