Software » Video Players » Zoom Player 22

"*" = New
"+" = Changed
"-" = Fixed

Zoom Player MAX v22 change list:
What's new, changed and fixed:
New :

* If you have Zoom Player setup to use a local settings file, please disable this setting (Adv. Options / System) before upgrading. Once upgraded, you can re-enable the setting. Not following this procedure may result in your settings being reset.
This issue does NOT apply to Zoom Player MAX.

* I have designed an entirely new Video Streaming Home Theater interface.
You can access the new interface by:
1. Using the right-click menu under "Home Theater".
2. Using the Shift+"G" keyboard shortcut.
3. Navigating through the home theater main interface (assuming the Video Streaming setting is enabled in Zoom Player's advanced options).
4. By assigning it as a button in the control overlay's advanced options page.

What works:
1. Playing streams.
2. Playing VOD movies & series.
3. Playing archive (catch-up) programs.
4. EPG Grid & List view modes.
5. Multiple playlists.
6. VOD movies / series meta-data information and posters (basic).
7. You should be able to easily control and navigate the interface using a mouse, keyboard or remote control.
8. The Streaming Video Home Theater interface is fully customizable. From colors to element sizes, press the top bar's paint brush button to begin customizing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JXbFB5OWyM

What's coming in next :
1. Search / Filtering.
2. Playing stream indicator
3. A prettier VOD Movies / TV Series thumbnail with backdrop display.
4. Manual refresh Playlist/EPG database button.
5. Fancy animations.

* Wrote a Video Streaming Player API meta-data scraping spider that uses multiple threads to download and cache VOD meta-data such as descriptions, cast, director, etc).
Specify how many threads in Advanced options under "Playback / Video Streaming". The default value is "4" and when choosing a higher value, consider how much you're willing to overload your content provider's servers or even risk having them block your IP address (most probably won't notice a higher value).

* The Video Streaming Windowed interface (Ctrl+"G" keyboard shortcut) icon download/decoding/resizing code is now heavily multi-threaded, freeing the user interface to be more responsive and icons to load faster. The updated code supports displaying WebP icons/thumbnails and uses a place-holder if no image is found or if an unsupported format is used (e.g. SVG).
If WebP icons are not showing, make sure you have Microsoft's WebP extension installed: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9PG2DK419DRG SVG icon support may come eventually if Microsoft decides to release an extension that supports it.

* Video Streaming M3U playlist URLs and Player API JSON URLs are now automatically parsed and cached in the background as soon as the download completes to ensure the fastest operation when opening the Video Streaming Windowed or Home Theater interfaces.

* Implemented a Video Streaming M3U caching system that automatically caches M3U files as soon as they're added as a video streaming playlist sources.
Since cached parsing speed is over 200% faster, initially opening the Video Streaming Window or Home Theater interfaces should feel faster when using M3U sources.

* Rewrote the Video Streaming's Player API JSON playlist caching code to a binary format, increasing both reliability and performance.

* The Video Streaming's Player API JSON playlist parsing now processes the "Live / Series / Movie" JSON playlists concurrently using multiple threads, increasing parsing speed by 20-50% depending on your system and content provider.

* Window's keyboard shortcut to move the active window across multiple monitors did not work well if Zoom Player had an overlay/window interface visible, instead of moving Zoom Player, Windows' keyboard shortcut would move the open window or overlay interface instead.
Another issue with this Windows keyboard shortcut is that it simply doesn't work well if Zoom Player is in fullscreen mode and you are moving the user interface between two different resolution monitors.
To work-around both issues. I've created two keyboard shortcuts of my own: Ctrl+Shift+"]" - Move Zoom Player's interface to the next monitor Ctrl+Shift+"[" - Move Zoom Player's interface to the previous monitor

* A new feature to specify an exact subtitle synchronization value is now accessible under the "Controls" section of the right-click menu.

* Added a "refresh" option to Video Streaming TV Series episode listing.

* The Stream Group Manager has been redesigned for greater clarity and a few new features were added :
1. The ability to easily unhide multiple previously hidden groups.
2. New Cut/Copy/Paste right-click menu functionality in the "Favorite Group Streams" list to easily organize favorites between multiple favorite groups.

* The Streaming Video content browser window's stream filtering feature now supports multiple "or" search queries. For example, typing "Spo, Wea" will only list streams containing "Spo" or "Wea" in their title.

* I changed the way streaming playlists are parsed so each playlist is now parsed in a separate thread. If you're a power user with multiple streaming sources, you should notice a significant speed increase when initially opening the video streaming Windowed or Home Theater interfaces.

* Added another caching layer to optimize the re-opening of the video streaming window which should now be nearly instantaneous even when dealing with playlists with over 20,000 groups.

* New feature on the right-click menu of the Video Streaming window to open streams/favorites in a new player instance.

* New feature on the Video Streaming window to open previously played streams in a new player instance.

* Zoom Player's pre-configuration wizard has been extended with support for a new Home Theater video streaming mode and Zoom Player STREAM will now display the pre-configuration wizard to query whether to use Video Streaming PC or Home Theater PC modes.
The pre-configuration wizard can be used manually at any time using the Alt+Shift+"F12" keyboard shortcut.

* The Video Streaming Setup Wizard (Ctrl+Shift+"F12" keyboard shortcut) has been redesigned to allow you to easily add and manage multiple Subscriptions and URLs (links) to M3U playlists and XML Episode Guides.

* You can now double-click a favorite group in the Streaming Group Manager to rename the group and double-click a Group's stream to add it to the favorites.

* New feature accessible from the right-click menu under the "Open" sub-menu to show the playing media in Windows' File Explorer.

* You can now right-click a media library entry to show the selected file or folder in Windows' File Explorer.

* To make it easier to mobilize Video Streaming subscription across devices, I've added a new feature (Adv. Options / Playback / Video Streaming) to Disable or Enable Video Streaming subscriptions. Disabled subscriptions will not show up in the Video Streaming Windowed or Home Theater interfaces and automated/manual databases updates will remain paused until the subscription is re-enabled.

* New Setting (Adv. Options / Playback / Video Streaming) that controls whether playing archived/catchup streaming programs uses the specified time zone when creating the URL.
Previously, the time zone was always used, disable this setting if the wrong program plays.

* New Setting (Adv. Options / Playback / Video Streaming) allowing you to prevent streaming re-connection attempts if the initial connection took more than a specified number of seconds (15 by default).
The rationale behind this feature is that when a server is truly down or busy, it usually takes 1-3 seconds for the streaming component to recognize the issue. However when the server up but not configured to stream data, it may take streaming component 20 seconds to recognize the connection failure.
Performing a sequence of 3 connection attempts when the server takes 20 second to responds would have Zoom Player freezing for a solid minute, which isn't very friendly.

* Added the option to show the current time on the control overlay's timeline area (Adv. Options / Interface / Control Overlay). The new letter to show the current time in either of the left/center/right screen zones is "M".

* New Setting (Adv. Options / Interface / Home Theater / Setting) that controls whether sorting the media library by size in a folder based category includes sorting folders by their content size.
Since scanning the contents of folders and sub-folders can be slow, this setting is disabled by default.

* New Setting (Adv. Options / Interface / Mouse / Wheel) to reverse the horizontal scroll / tilt direction.

* The playlist editor's "Save Playlist" dialog now allows you to save to the M3U playlist format using the "Save as type" drop-down menu.

* New Alt+Ctrl+"F1" keyboard shortcut to run Zoom Player's install center and close the player.

* You can now access Zoom Player's options dialog from the Home Theater main menu under the "System" section.

* The Video Streaming Setup Wizard is now accessible through the right- click context menu.
Changed :

+ The options dialog's search feature has been enhanced to search drop-down menus and lists while no longer showing search result entries for invisible controls.

+ The Video Streaming EPG listing should appear a little faster.

+ The Video Streaming subscription section of the advanced options dialog has been redesigned to improve the user experience.

+ Optimized the Video Streaming playlist group name caching algorithm, now 500% faster. Initially opening the Video Streaming Window or Home Theater interfaces should feel faster.

+ Filtering Video streaming streams now includes group names in the filtered results to make it easier to differentiate between duplicate stream names by using the group's name.
Duplicate stream names ar...

Home Theater PC made Simple
Zoom Player's fullscreen navigation interface is based on a simple 5-Key system (up/down/left/right/select). The 5-key system allows easy access and navigation to such interfaces as Media Library, File Browsing, Playlist, Color Control, Audio Equalizer, Chaptering, Play History and many more. The system's simplicity makes it ideal for users with no previous computer experience.

With Zoom Player, you can instantly Convert any PC into a Home Entertainment Center or Home Theater PC (HTPC) with no requirement for specialized hardware or operating system (Zoom Player runs on every version of Windows).

Utilizing Zoom Player's modular design and flexibility, you can easily design a safe viewing environment, limiting or extending functionality, making it ideal for both children and to the consummate professional.

Forward Thinking
Zoom Player's Install Center will scan your system for missing or outdated components and automatically present you with a list of recommended updates and patches. Using Zoom Player's Install Center technology, you can be sure your system is up to date with the most recent technological innovations without compromising security (all updates are digitally signed) while gaining access to a centralized location, removing the burden of manually searching for the latest updates yourself.

Technology meets Sophistication
Zoom Player installs easily, learning your computer's hardware and software setup. Using the innovative Smart Play technology, Zoom Player employs the ideal "play profile" for every session. This profile comprises the most suitable Audio and Video decoders matched with compatible components - a combination that guarantees a perfect viewing experience, time after time.

A tool for every need
Zoom Player addresses every aspect of DVD and Media control. Zoom Player plays media in every conceivable color composition, display type, playback speed and more. With Zoom Player you can create and manage personalized Media Libraries, virtual Chaptering and Bookmarks, cut and edit scenes with the Scene Cut Editor. Zoom Player employs customizable display characteristics and user defined presets, allows to Remote-Control all menu, navigation and playback functions via wireless (RF) or Infra-Red (IR) Remote Control units, and comes ready with a set of TCP/IP Commands to allow control of Zoom Player via the internet (or any TCP/IP based connection).

Customize, Modify, Reshape as you like
Use Zoom Player's flexible customization options to match your taste. Modify the Graphical User Interface, menus and splash screens. Change operation modes, control options, codec compatibility and many other features. Don't compromise. Make the system meet your EXACT needs.

Shape your desired viewing environment with ease using Zoom Player's modular design and flexibility. Extend or limit functionality as you wish. Personalize the interface, functions and viewing parameters to suit any type of use, any viewer - from a simple, safely monitored, children-friendly viewing tool to a sophisticated, no-limits powerhouse for professionals.

Flavors for All
Zoom Player comes in three flavors: Zoom Player Professional, Zoom Player Premium, and Zoom Player MAX Professional.