SMPlayer is a free, open-source audio and video player for Windows, Linux and macOS. It provides a graphical interface for the MPlayer or mpv playback engine, putting file selection, track choices and playback adjustments in menus and dialogs. Its built-in codecs cover formats such as AVI, MP4, MKV, MPEG and MOV, so these files can be played without a separate codec pack.
SMPlayer’s playback memory
SMPlayer remembers where playback stopped and the settings used for each file. Reopening a movie restores its position along with the selected audio track, subtitles and volume.
Files open through the toolbar or Open menu. The playback controls provide pause, rewind and seeking, while fullscreen mode keeps a floating control bar available at the bottom of the picture. Playlists also retain their position and progress between sessions, allowing a listening or viewing queue to continue after the application closes.
Subtitle tracks
Audio and subtitle selections are available through the player menus. For a video without the subtitles you want, SMPlayer includes a search window that lists available downloads. Selecting a result downloads the subtitle file and displays it with the open video, keeping the search and playback tasks within the player.
Subtitle delay controls move text earlier or later relative to the picture. Audio delay can be adjusted separately for speech that does not match lip movement.
SMPlayer can display two subtitles at once when using the mpv engine. One appears at the bottom of the image and the other at the top, allowing two language tracks to be visible together. The playback engine can be selected in General preferences, so this capability depends on that choice.
Video adjustments
Playback-speed controls change the rate at which a video runs. Audio and video filters offer further adjustments during playback, and the video equalizer provides control over the displayed picture. A software equalizer is available when the hardware equalizer does not work with a particular graphics card or driver.
Visual navigation has two forms. An optional thumbnail preview appears when the pointer hovers over the seek bar, showing the part of the video associated with that position. The separate Thumbnail Generator produces a preview of the open video from the Video menu.
External screens
The Send video to screen command moves the video to a selected display connected to the computer. SMPlayer’s application controls remain on the computer screen, allowing the picture and its controls to occupy different displays.
Chromecast playback uses a browser control page opened from SMPlayer’s Play menu. That page receives the video’s URL and provides device connection, play, pause, volume and seeking controls. A QR code also lets a phone or tablet open the control page, so playback can be controlled away from the computer.
