As always, VideoLAN has come up with interesting tweaks, updates and enhancements to its all popular VLC media player with the release of version 1.1.0.

Among some of the new features introduced by the VLC 1.1.0 player we can mention:

  • GPU decoding using VAAPI for H.264, MPEG-2 and VC-1
  • DSP decoding using OpenMax IL
  • Improved seeking for High-Definition (HD) MKV files
  • Support for Blu-Ray PGS subtitles
  • Support for HD-DVB subtitles
  • Support for VP8, MPEG-4 lossless and Indeo5 video codecs
  • Encoding and decoding of the WebM format
  • Support for Atrac1, FLAC 6.1/7.1, Vorbis 6.1/7.1, MPRG-4 ALS audio codecs
  • DVD-Audio files support
  • Optimized for SSE3/SSE4 and ARM Neon
  • Improved streaming performance
  • New x11, xv and glx modules
  • ADPCM support for FLV files
  • Rewrite of the playlist (tree structure, input preparsing …)
  • and much more!

For your pleasure, I’ve tested the new VLC 1.1.0 on the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (Lucid Lynx) operating system. All I had to do was open the Software Sources application from System -> Administration, go to the “Other Software” and add the following Launchpad PPA repository for VLC 1.1.0:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/vlc/ubuntu lucid main

It is also available for the upcoming Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick Meerkat) operating system, from the following PPA:

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/c-korn/vlc/ubuntu maverick main

Whichever you choose, don’t forget to add this key (right click -> Save As) in the “Authentication” tab and you’re all set.

To install it on Fedora or SuSe you download the respective RPM from here.

You can now install VLC 1.1.0 with Synaptic or just update your machine if you already use an old version of the VideoLAN Client.

Conclusion

VLC 1.1.0 is now lighter, faster, especially with High-Definition (HD) files. It can now be personalized with add-ons and scripts, has improved support for cover art and metadata and an integrated playlist (for the Qt4 interface) with multiple views. I’ve tested VLC with many video and audio files and I did’nt find any issues. It played all the files flawlessly. Oh, and the best part is that you don’t need any codec pack to play your favorite streams!