X-VCD Player

Pros

• Language neutral
• Lightweight
• Works with almost all VCD resources

Cons

• Requires MPEG libraries to be installed
• Limited UI

X-VCD Player allows you to view movies encoded on VCD disks on any Windows-based PC even if it doesn't have a dedicated VCD drive. If you have a standard optical drive that can read DVDs, then X-VCD Player can play videos from it as soon as you insert a VCD.

As long as you have MPEG and MPEG-2 codecs installed on your computer, you shouldn't have any trouble playing these discs. VCDs are so close to traditional CDs that it could theoretically work with most types of external USB optical drives as well. This should make the app rather attractive to those who don't have an internal slot but still want to watch movies.

Since the VCD format has been especially popular in international markets, X-VCD Player is designed to be relatively language neutral. While the interface is in English, the app can play movies that are recorded in any language. It'll also show subtitles if you're watching something that has hard subs that can't be switched on or off.

For instance, viewers of a film in Japanese or Chinese would hear the audio in that language even though the X-VCD control scheme stays in English. Language isn't the only area where the app proves to be flexible, however.

You might occasionally find SVDC, XVCD and XSVCD formatted discs. These are sometimes used for distributing theatrically released action movies and instructional films in some parts of the world. The app should be able to play these as seamlessly as any others.

While it's primarily designed to work with physical VCD media, the developer also tested it with PixPlay-type DVD slideshows as well.

Pros

• Language neutral
• Lightweight
• Works with almost all VCD resources

Cons

• Requires MPEG libraries to be installed
• Limited UI