Features First things first. Splash PRO EX supports a multitude of video and audio files.
Supported video files: AVI, M2T, MTS, M2TS, MKV, MKA, MOV, MP4,MPG, TS, M4V, VOB, DIVX, XVID, WMV, MBTSupported audio files: MP3, MP2, M4A, AAC. For video files, Splash also supports subtitles in four formats: TXT, SUB, SRT, SSA. Hardware accelerated video decoding is available for both video playback, as well as for video exporting. Technologies supported: Intel Clear Video, nVidia Pure Video HD, ATI Avivo UVD, Broadcom Crystal HD. For further reading upon Splash PRO EX’s features, visit their website. I am not going to bother you with these details. Taking a tour of Splash The player’s interface is quite intuitive, and clean. You have the main
panel at the bottom center featuring the play, next/previous and stop buttons, but also the playlist button and the playback options button.Just like in almost every player out there, right clicking the video area, gives you a list of options. But what i really like about Splash, is that when moving the cursor to the upper part in the video area, a stylish fading-effect menu appears. This menu has 7 buttons in the Pro EX version: Open file, Open folder, Subtitles, Settings, Playback options, HD camcorder and Export. Pretty neat! Easy access to what you need. Obviously it supports drag and drop, for video and for subtitle files. And did i mention that the cool blue arrow has a moving reflection? Pointless I know, but it looks cool. The playlist, a feature most would probably use is also quite intuitive and easy to use. It features a plus and a minus(adding/removing a playlist file) - though for adding something to the playlist you can also drag the file in it. The clear playlist, export(save) playlist and import(load) playlist are also quite useful. Two more features of Splash's playlist are the search within the playlist function, and the "Change mode" button - switch between a simple list view or a picture from within the video and some basic information about the video file. In the settings menu, you can configure just about everything you would need. Going from the notebook-friendly Eco Mode to HDMI bitstream and even subtitle synchronization. These are just a few of the settings available to tinker with. I will let the photos do the talking. Enjoy! |
Why Splash? To be honest, the thing that really caught my eye was the "Playback
options" menu. It's so easy to use, so handy and really does the trick. This will probably sound like a dumb ad but you can really see the difference when using these settings(you have a demo mode too...to be sure of it). The Light Boost and Detail Boost add allot of quality to your video. It gives a touch of realism, and clarity. Mirillis really did a great job with these, making them very easy for every user to adjust the settings for his maximum viewing pleasure. For some demonstrations of Mirillis great work with Splash, you can go here. And some pictures made by your's truly. Notice how the right side looks better? In some scenarios this is more visible than in others. Well the right side is the one with all the Splash features activated by my taste, and the left one is the standard video with no adjustments what so ever.
For those of you with performance in mind, I must say that while playing a 720p HD video, Splash got to 180Mb of ram, and eating 38Mb of ram in idle mode. The cpu usage whilst playing the above video file, was under 14%, this being a high value reached once every 10-20 seconds. It's nor really a resource hog for the today's average computer. EX Yes EX. What these two letters mean for Splash, is that it can now convert video files, as well as upload them to Facebook or Youtube.
Again, with the help of GPU hardware acceleration, Splash PRO EX works pretty fast and does the job pretty well. A bit more advanced(not complicated!), the export menu gives us allot of features: -input file: file to be exported(converted) - it chooses the currently selected item in the playlist; -output profile: allot of choices here, allot of freedom. You even have presets(for example: Youtube/Youtube HD, for various phones...etc); -video quality: suggestive; -video bitrate: select your video file's desired bitrate; -audio track: the audio track to use; -audio output: stereo or whatever you wish; -output size: it approximates the new video file size. You also have the upload menu, at the top, so you can easily upload the exported file where you wish, as well as edit some basic information about the video file. Conclusions Well, for quite a while now, Splash has been my default choice for home use. It has never failed me so far, and I don't think it will too soon. What I admired the most at the player Mirillis offers us, is it's simplicity and also the tidy aspect of all it's features, features witch really do make me never want to change my video player. Way to go Mirillis!
Note: I do not own, nor do I work for any of the brands,names or companies specified in this review. This is not advertising, it's my personal review of a software product I use. |