VLC 3.0 Hits the Mac: Here’s What’s New and What’s Next

The popular open-source media player, VLC, has just released its latest version, VLC 3.0, and it’s now available for the Mac. This new version brings a host of exciting features, improvements, and fixes to the table, making the already popular media player even more user-friendly and powerful. In this article, we’ll dive into what’s new, what’s changed, and what’s next for VLC on the Mac.

What’s New in VLC 3.0 for Mac

  1. Significant Speed Boost: VLC 3.0 has been optimized to run faster and more efficiently, resulting in a smoother and more responsive experience for users. This means you can now play your favorite videos faster, with fewer hiccups and lag.
  2. Better Multi-Format Support: VLC 3.0 has improved support for various formats, including Blu-ray, H.265, and VP9, making it possible to play a wider range of video files without conversion.
  3. Enhanced UI and Accessibility: The new version sports a more modern and intuitive user interface, with improved support for high-DPI displays and a range of accessibility features, such as text-to-speech and dark mode.
  4. New Network Stream: VLC 3.0 introduces a new network stream, which allows you to stream videos to other devices on your network, making it easy to share content across devices.
  5. Improved Video Filters: The new version includes a range of new video filters, including Deband, deinterlacing, and vorbis, which can be used to enhance video quality and remove unwanted artifacts.
  6. Faster Decoding: VLC 3.0 boasts faster decoding capabilities, which translates to faster playback times and better performance when working with large video files.

What’s Changed

While some changes are deliberate and improvements, others are simply side effects of the development process. Some of the key changes in VLC 3.0 include:

  1. Dump of the Default Streamer: The default streamer has been deprecated, and users are now prompted to choose a different streamer if the default one is not suitable for their needs.
  2. Removed Support for Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard): VLC 3.0 no longer supports Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard), which is no surprise, given the outdated status of the operating system.
  3. Update to FFmpeg: VLC 3.0 now uses a newer version of FFmpeg, which brings better video and audio encoding and decoding capabilities.

What’s Next for VLC on the Mac

While VLC 3.0 is an excellent update, it’s just the beginning. Here’s what’s next for VLC on the Mac:

  1. Collaboration with the Community: The VLC development team is actively seeking feedback and bug reports from the community, ensuring that future updates address user concerns and improve the overall user experience.
  2. Continued Improvement of Performance and Stability: Expect further optimizations and tweaks to ensure VLC remains fast, stable, and reliable.
  3. Additional Features and Functionality: The team is working on introducing new features, including better support for HDR, 4K video, and hi-fi audio, as well as additional accessibility options.

Conclusion

VLC 3.0 is an excellent update that brings significant improvements to the popular media player. With its new features, better performance, and enhanced accessibility, it’s now more powerful and user-friendly than ever. As the VLC development team continues to listen to feedback and push the boundaries of what’s possible, we can expect even more exciting updates in the future. If you haven’t already, grab the latest version of VLC 3.0 and experience the difference for yourself.

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