Pc media software reviews

It was, after all, originally called Xbox Media Player. Regardless of how you navigate Kodi, it will automatically organize your content to give it a more polished look. You can set it to scrape metadata from your choice of sources to deliver synopses, reviews, movie posters, titles, and genre classification for your downloaded media.

You can also install custom skins to give your media library its own unique feel. The software is lightweight and snappy and loads fairly quickly. It can handle almost all popular audio and video formats around.

New users are advised to read the Wiki carefully before getting started. Emby is a newer media server software that combines the polished interface of Plex with the open-source foundation of Kodi to deliver a highly customizable media experience that has a premium feel.

But how exactly does this software combine an open-source platform with commercially licensed features? It evolved with the times. That said, Emby still offers a considerable set of features even if you just stick with the free version of the software.

Alternatively, you can use the web app on another PC. If you are using the free version, these must be on the same local network as your server. Emby automatically scrapes metadata from your choice of sources so that you can organize your library by genre, date, cast, etc. It also allows you to create user profiles and apply parental controls to specific users. While this basic feature set may be enough for beginners, advanced users will certainly want to invest in Emby Premiere, which adds a laundry list of extra features.

The most important feature of Emby Premiere is the ability to remotely access your media library, and from a larger selection of devices as well. To add to that, you get live TV support subscription required , DVR support, hardware accelerate transcoding, cloud syncing, offline viewing, and a cinema mode that enhances your viewing experience with trailers and custom intros.

Before you consider using the free version of Emby, you may want to look into Jellyfin , which forked off from the final open-source release of Emby. Additionally, I review a number of other open-source options below that are equally well-suited for budget users.

Universal Media Server is an open-source and fully free media solution, that though quite a bit more complicated than Plex, is just as stable and reliable. This software can be set up on a PC or NAS open-source software, with about the same setup burden, but if any steps of the process get you hung up, a fairly robust support community will be able to help you out. Installing UMS is a fairly hands-on process. The software walks you through configuring each setting before you can get your server up and running.

To make things trickier, some of your devices might not find your stream if you set it up incorrectly. On the other hand, if set it up correctly, UMS will work with just about any streaming device. You do have some access to plugins like SoundCloud, last. And this will be a deal-breaker for some, but UMS is unable to offer remote access, restricting your server to your local wireless network.

For some, this is the whole appeal of a home media server, but for others, they will be happy enough casting to multiple rooms in the house. This software can remember the settings you have made. Kodi is free to use a player that is specially designed to play movies. This app offers an interactive full-screen interface. ALLPlayer is a cross-platform software.

The software automatically searches for available titles of the video on your computer. PotPlayer is a feature-rich video player program that can virtually play any files. It is one of the best video player for laptop that offers basic customization functionality and many customization options.

User can use this software to play degree, and 3D video. Plex is a software that enables you to take care of the large size of media collections. The application allows you to play TV shows, movies, personal videos, and many more.

This software helps you to share videos with your family. RealPlayer is a video player for PC. This tool enables you to keep your favorite web videos safe on the computer. It can convert videos to the most common formats so that you can enjoy videos in HD. You can use it to keep the video private. Skip to content. Top Pick. Learn More. Jellyfin is free media software. It helps you to stream any media from your server. This application allows you to collect and manages videos.

Subsonic is a personal media streamer. It enables you to listen to music from any browser. It allows you to use remote to control your Home theater PC. Mezzmo is a media server software for streaming TV shows, movies, music, and photos. The tool is easy to use as well as highly configurable. It works with all popular devices like browser, TV, home theater systems, and more.

TVersity is a tool that enables you to stream web and personal media. It helps you to watch movies and videos from computer to TV or mobile. Serviio is a free media server software that allows you to stream media files on TV and mobile phones. The tool is based on Java technology, and therefore it is platform-independent.

JRiver Media Center is a program that enables you to manage and watch movies and videos. You can control your media using iPhone, iPad, and more. Madsonic is a media streamer and web-based audio, video, and photo library.

This open source media streaming server tool is based on Java and, therefore, supports all its features. Imediashare is application to watch videos on the TV screen and mobile device without any interruption. It enables you to discover sports, news, and fitness classes with ease. Ampache is an open source media server tool that enables you to browse and manage music using easy to use web interface.

It allows you to listen to your favorite songs on the website with HTML 5 player.