- GOM Player
Infobox Software
name = GOM Player
caption = GOM Player (Korean version)
developer = [http://www.gretech.com Gretech Corporation]
released =January 7 ,2003
frequently_updated = yes
programming language =
operating system = Win 98se/ME/2K/XP/Vista
language = English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese (Traditional and Simplified)
genre = Media player
license = Proprietaryfreeware
website = [http://www.gomplayer.com/main.html GOM Player]GOM Player (Gretech Online Movie Player) is a freeware media player for
Microsoft Windows . Key strengths are the ability to play the majority of media files without the need to obtain acodec , and the ability to play some broken media files, both advantages over traditional players, likeWindows Media Player . GOM player can also play .flv files. It was created by theGretech Corporation ofSouth Korea .upported files or devices
* Incomplete/damaged AVI file (skip damaged frames)
* Locked media files (with realtime index rebuilding for AVI files being shared or downloaded in a consecutive order)
*HTTP Streaming (ASF/OGG/MP3/AVI)
*DirectShow playback (AVI,WMV ,Matroska ,QuickTime ,MP4 ,3GP ,Google Video ,Flash Video ,VOB ,Ogg ,OGM ,RMVB ,MPEG-1 ,MPEG-2 )
* RealMedia formats (needsReal Alternative )
* QuickTime formats (needsQuickTime Alternative )
* "'DVD Playback (needs MPEG-2 codec)
* "'Audio CD (2000, XP only)
* "'Video CD /SVCD / [http://xcd.sourceforge.net/ XCD]Covered video/audio formats
; Video formats:
MPEG-1 ,MPEG-4 Part 2 , H.263(+), H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC), MSVIDC, [http://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.php?title=Microsoft_MPEG-4 MS MPEG4 V1/2/3] ,FLV1 ,MJPEG ; Audio formats:
Vorbis , AMR,QCELP ,EVRC ubtitles
*
Unicode Text Subtitles
* SAMI(smi)
* SubRipText(srt), MicroDVD(sub), SMIL/RealText
* SAA, ASS
* [http://mewiki.project357.com/wiki/Computer_movie_files/Subtitles#VobSub Bitmap Sub/Idx] (Vobsub)
* Embedded subtitles of ASF, MKV, OGMCodec finder
For audio/video files that GOM Player can not play due to a missing codec, GOM Player will try to find one using GUID. Once it finds a match, it will direct you to a webpage where you can download and install additional codecs.
Broken or incomplete files
GOM Player can play AVI files that are being downloaded or have a broken index using its patented technology. (Patent number 10-0440495-0000, granted on July 5, 2004 in Republic of Korea)GOM TV
GOM TV is a popular streaming service in South Korea, and as the most attractive feature in GOM Player, it is chiefly responsible for GOM Player's overwhelming popularity in South Korea. The GOM TV service offers users various video contents ranging from
National Geographic documentaries and television dramas, to major motion pictures and adult videos.The service mixes both ad-supported and pay-per-view content. Prices range from 500 won and up, with most movies available for 2,000 won. (1,000 won is approximately US$1.08.) [ [http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1000&from=KRW&to=USD&submit=Convert finance.yahoo.com] ]
While functionality is very similar in the English and Korean versions of GOM Player, GOM TV is absent in the English version.
The latest release of GOM Player (V 2.1.9) allows American users to connect to the GOMTV StarLeague (a channel of GOMTV) to watch the latest matches of StarCraft leagues played in South Korea. This new addition to the American release was tested during the GOMTV Star Invitational which was aired in the month of February. Despite this new addition, the GOMTV service still remains absent from the American release (and those who watch StarCraft matches must use the website to connect to the streaming servers).
Popularity in South Korea
GOM Player is South Korea's most popular media player; as of July 2007, it had 8.4 million users, compared to 5.4 million of Microsoft's Windows Media Player. A survey of usage over a single week by [http://www.metrix.co.kr/2company.php Metrix] , an internet survey company, found that 100% of users watched
StarCraft matches, as compared to 69.8% of users who watched pornography, 43.2% who watched cinematic movies, 29.6% who watched television dramas, 21.8% who watchedvariety show s, 11% who watched cartoons, and 7% who watchedmusic video s. [cite news|url=http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200707/200707200020.html|publisher=The Chosun Ilbo|date=2007-07-20|accessdate=2007-07-20|title=Two in Three GOM Player Users Watch Porn] Gretech disputes the credibility of this report. [http://www.metrix.co.kr/2company.php Metrix] obtained the survey data from 12,000 internet users who agreed to install a monitoring tool and only file names were used to categorize media files. Gretech also noted that the media files played by GOM Player are not monitored. [cite news|url=http://www.inews24.com/php/news_view.php?g_serial=273191&g_menu=020900|publisher=inews24|date=2007-07-22|accessdate=2007-10-31|title=GOM Player doesn't monitor played files!]Violation of the LGPL licence
GOM Player has been accused of not providing credit for the
FFmpeg project [http://roundup.mplayerhq.hu/roundup/ffmpeg/issue112] [http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/shame.html] . GOM Player is listed in the "Hall of Shame" on the FFmpeg project homepage. GOM Player does include a copy of the LGPL license; the exact nature of the infringement in not widely known.References
External links
* [http://www.gomplayer.com/ Official GOM Player site]
* [http://www.gomtv.com/ Official GomTV site]
* [http://gsi.gomtv.com/ Official GomTV American Site (StarLeague Only)]
* [http://www.download.com/GOM-Media-Player/3000-2139_4-10655434.html?tag=lst-0-1 GOM Player download page at download.com (CNET)]
* [http://www.softpedia.com/reviews/windows/Gom-Player-Review-28789.shtml Software Review by Softpedia]
* [http://www.techtree.com/India/Reviews/GOM_Player_v20/551-75126-608.html Software Review by Techtree]
* [http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu FFmpeg homepage]
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