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Media Playback
From Mac vs. Windows
Mac OS X and and Windows Vista come installed with software to playback audio CDs, audio/video encoded files, and even DVDs. There are three applications that are available to Mac OS X users: Quicktime Player 7, iTunes 7, and DVD Player. On the Windows Vista side, there is just one application for everything—Windows Media Player 11.
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Supported Media
Mac OS X:
Both Quicktime Player and iTunes support the playback of the following media file types:
Audio: MP3, AAC, AIFF, AIFC, SND, WAV, MIDI, AU, MP2, WMA (iTunes)
Video: MPEG-1, MPEG-4, h.264, QT, DV, FLC, Flash (subset of version 5 only), 3GPP, AVI (container), MOV (container), VIDEO_TS (DVD Player)
Playlist: M3U (iTunes)
Streaming: SDP, SMIL
If attempting to playback non-protected WMA content in iTunes, it will be automatically converted to AAC format. While this means you will be to play the file, some quality will be lost by converting the file from one lossy format to another.
Users can download and install third party codecs to extend playback support of additional audio or video formats (like WMA/WMV or xVid). In order to playback MPEG-2 video content, the purchase of the MPEG-2 Quicktime component from Apple is required.
Quicktime also has the capability to transcode audio and video into a variety of formats, as well as save media in its own MOV container format for easier deployment. By default, iTunes has a limited capability to execute these features. Users can enable these, and a variety of other media viewing and transcoding features by purchasing Quicktime Pro from Apple and receiving an activation serial number.
Windows 7:
Windows Media Player supports playback of the following media file types:
Audio: MP3, MP2, WMA, WAV, MIDI, RMI, AU, SND, AIFF, AAC, M4A, AIFC, CDA (CD audio)
Video: MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, WMV, DVR-MS, WTV, AVI (container), ASF (container), 3GP, QT (only version 2.0), MOV (only version 2.0), AVCHD (m2t, m2ts, mts)
Playlist: M3U, WPL
Streaming: ASX, WAX, WVX
Windows Media Player users can download and install third party codecs to extend playback support of additional audio or video formats (like AAC or Divx).
Listening to Audio CDs
Mac OS X:
Users can use either Quicktime Player or iTunes to listen to the tracks of Audio CDs.
Quicktime Player can't play audio tracks back to back. Each track must be opened and played individually. Additionally, it doesn't retrieve any track information such as song name, album, or artist.
iTunes is much better suited for the task. Perhaps that is why it is set as the default application and launched automatically when an audio CD is inserted. Audio CDs appear in the navigation bar on the left side of the iTunes window under "Sources".
Audio CDs are treated as if they were just another playlist. Users can play tracks back to back and even shuffle between them. If connected to the Internet, iTunes will retrieve song name/album/artist information for each track. This information will be saved locally in the iTunes' user's database and remembered if the audio CD is inserted again.
Windows Vista:
Windows Media Player is the default application for playing audio CDs. Audio CDs appear in the navigation bar on the left side of the window under "Sources".
Audio CDs are treated as if they were just another playlist. Users can play tracks back to back and even shuffle between them. If connected to the Internet, Windows Media Player will retrieve song name/album/artist information for each track. This information will be saved locally in the database and remembered if the audio CD is inserted again.
Audio and Video Files
Mac OS X
iTunes is set as the default application for playback of audio files in Mac OS X, while QuickTime Player is the default app for playing video files in Mac OS X (videos gotten through the iTunes Music Store play in directly iTunes).
QuickTime Player is a standalone media player for audio/video files and streaming content on the Internet. It offers you basic playback controls. Apple also sells QuickTime Player Pro, which offers audio and video recording and editing capabilities. Unregistered versions of QuickTime will display QuickTime Pro's additional menu commands dimmed in its menu. Selecting a dimmed command will encourage users to upgrade to QuickTime Pro to gain A/V editing/recording functionality.
Full-screen video
Videos can be played back in full-screen mode complete with on-screen controller in both QuickTime Player and iTunes. The on-screen controls are the same in both applications.
Compace mode
Clicking the green button that makes the window bigger and smaller with enable the compact mode of iTunes wich compares to the 'Compace mode' of Windows Media Player.
Built-in Equalizer
iTunes comes with a sound equalizer and has 22 presets. Users can edit these presets and save them as new ones. Each audio or video file can be set to use a different preset during playback.
Cross-fade playback.
iTunes can be setup to cross-fade between audio files during playback. This lets on song start playing while another is about to end. The old song quietly fades out while the new song fades in.
Custom start and stop times
Users can configure the start and stop time for each audio or video file in the library. Perfect for trimming quiet spots sometimes found at the beginning or end of songs.
Remembers playback position.
Unless the user specifies otherwise, iTunes will remember the playback position of any audio or video file that is stopped before finishing. The next time the audio or video is played again, iTunes will start playback at the exact spot the user left off at. While a useful feature, there is no option to quickly enable or disable this feature. Users must manually turn it on/off in the properties dialog for each file. At least there is a batch option to do this quickly, but it still is an annoyance. By default, imported videos have this feature enabled, and imported audio files do not.
Gapless playback.
Play songs from an album back to back without pause. Great for live recordings.
Sound enhancer and sound check.
Sound enhancer boosts the level of bass and treble in audio or video files. Enabling sound check adjusts the volume level of all audio in a user's iTunes library to be the same. audio playback to be the same.
Video color adjustments
QuickTime offers controls to adjust brightness, saturation, contrast, and hue settings during playback of video. Also available in QuickTime are controls to adjust balans, low-, mid- and high tones and pitch shift for audio during playback of audio. And finally the option to Jogg shuttle forward and backwards, and the playback speed.
Windows Vista:
Windows Media Player is the default application for playback of audio/video encoded files and streaming content on the Internet.
Full-screen playback
Videos and DVDs can be played in full-screen mode with playback controls in Windows Media Player. Additionally, users of Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate can use Windows Media Center instead.
Multiple player modes
Windows Media Player 11 offers three options for reducing the footprint of the player's window. There's compact mode, skin mode, and a taskbar player mode.
Built-in Equalizer
Windows Media Player comes with a sound equalizer and has 22 presets. While you can create a custom preset, you can't save it.
Cross-fade playback.
Windows Media Player can be setup to cross-fade between audio files during playback. This lets on song start playing while another is about to end. The old song quietly fades out while the new song fades in.
SRS WOW Effects and auto volume leveling.
Turning on SRS WOW effects can boost bass and treble quality of audio in songs and video. Auto volume leveling attempts to adjust the volume level of all audio in a user's library to be the same.
Video color adjustments
Windows Media Player offers controls to adjust hue, saturation, brightness, and contrast settings during playback of video.
DVD Playback
Mac OS X:
While both Quicktime Player and iTunes can open and playback movies files, neither supports DVD content. If a user wants to watch a DVD, they will have to use the application DVD Player. By default, DVD Player is set to launch automatically when DVDs are inserted into the user's computer.
Full-screen DVD playback
Users can watch DVDs in full-screen.
On-screen remote and playback controls.
DVD Player's on-screen remote lets users pause, rewind/fast forward, skip, etc. through content on their DVDs. Other on-screen controls let users adjust audio and picture settings.
Bookmark and save clips of favorite scenes.
DVD Player remembers the playback position for each DVD a user watches. The next time a user goes to watch the same DVD, it will ask if they wish to resume from where they left off. Users can also create their own bookmarks of scenes or spots they wish to revisit at a later time. Another feature DVD Player offers is video clips. Users can specify the start and stop times for their favorite scenes. The actual video isn't saved to the user's hard drive. Only the information for referencing that particular scene on the DVD when it has been inserted.
Play DVDs saved on hard drive
DVD Player can playback the VIDEO_TS folders from DVDs that have been saved to a user's hard drive. All of the same features such as bookmarking, video clips, etc. work the same as if watching the DVD from a disc that has been inserted.
Windows Vista:
Windows Media Player 11 supports the playback of DVDs, however only the Ultimate and Home Premium Editions ship bundled with a DVD decoder. With any other editions of Windows Vista, you will have to either purchase DVD playback software, purchase a DVD decoder, or find other third party software in order to be able to play DVDs.
Full screen playback
Users can watch their DVDs in full-screen complete with on-screen remote. However, there are no controls for adjusting audio or video in full-screen mode.
Chapter Titles
After a DVD is inserted, Windows Media Player will scan and display all its chapters under the "Now Playing" tab. This lets the user quickly jump to specific chapters on the DVD with one click.
Odds & Ends
Mac OS X:
- Can control iTunes from the Dock and the Dashboard (with an Apple-supplied widget). Play/Pause, skip, rate songs (only from the Dock), etc.
- Windows with video playing will continue to play when minmized to the dock in a small window.
- iTunes includes a visualizer that displays colored patterns that change depending on the pitch and intensity of audio.
- iTunes supports third party visualizers.
- iTunes' smart shuffle lets users control just how random the playback is of media from their library.
Windows Vista:
- Windows Media Player includes several visualizers that displays colored patterns that change depending on the pitch and intensity of audio.
- In addition to skins, the interface;s color can be changed via slider controls
- Clicking the icon on the lower left corner switched between album art of the currently playing media, an icon showing the current playback state (play, pause, stop), and an equalizer
- The time display on the lower left hand can be toggled between time remaining, total time, or time elapsed
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