The default Windows Media Video (WMV) internal player integrates best because it is internal.

• It provides a display of a video overlay or preview window which is visible on almost every screen when browsing through MediaPortal. 
• You can use the OSD (On-Screen Display) to control the player during playback.

WMV Playback (internal player)

Use 5.1 audio playback for WMV movie files

External Player

This feature can be of use when the internal player does not play files to your liking. However an external player has the disadvantage of not using the MediaPortal OSD (On-Screen Display) and the video preview window will not work. Controls, settings etc. will need to be set separately for the external player by using its own setup.

Path/Filename

MediaPortal will launch this executable when a video is played. Example: C:\Program Files (x86)\ZoomPlayer\zplayer.exe

  Tip
If this option is used together with the Virtual Drive feature, be sure to not use a launcher executable such as PowerDVD's PDVDLaunchPolicy.exe or TotalMedia Theatre's uDTStart.exe. MediaPortal will mount the virtual drive, launch the executable, wait for it to finish and then unmount the virtual drive. The virtual drive might be unmounted before playback because the launcher closes after launching the main application.

Parameters

Using command line parameters you can set options in the external player. Some players have some options like /Q to quit the player when the video ends or stops. The List button shows the available variables:

Example: %filename% /Play /Q /S

Use external player (replaces internal player)

Check this option to let MediaPortal launch an external application when a video is played.

Video files extension filter...

Only video files with an extension entered in this box will use the external player configured above. Use semi colon to specify multiple extensions. Example: .avi; .mkv

  Tip
If this option is used together with the Virtual Drive feature, be aware that the video extension most likely isn't the same as the virtual disc extension. For example if a .iso disc image is mounted by the Virtual Drive but a .bdmv file is stored inside the image - enter .bdmv in the Video files extension filter... box.