FAQ
Find answers to the most commonly asked questions about Adobe® Media Player software.
What is Adobe Media Player?
Adobe Media Player is a desktop video player capable of playing both online and offline content. The default Adobe Media Player catalog is provided by Adobe TV and consists of demos, training, and tips for Adobe products and services, as well as shows tailored for the Adobe community of designers, photographers, video professionals, and developers. Adobe Media Player can also be used to subscribe to video RSS feeds from third-party content providers, and it can play local content in formats such as FLV and F4V.
What happened to the version of Adobe Media Player with a full catalog of TV shows and movies?
As part of Adobe’s initiative to streamline business priorities, the decision was made to refocus efforts away from content aggregation. Accordingly, effective June 18, the default catalog for Adobe Media Player is now provided by Adobe TV. However, users can still subscribe to content from sources outside of Adobe as long as the content is provided via RSS feeds that are compatible with Adobe Media Player.
What is the difference between Adobe Media Player and Adobe Flash® Player?
Adobe Flash Player is a cross-platform browser extension that plays back SWF and FLV/MPEG-4 content within web pages when you are online. Adobe Media Player is a cross-platform desktop application designed to play back streamed or downloaded FLV or MPEG-4 video content when you are online or offline.
How large is Adobe Media Player to download?
Adobe Media Player 1.7 is lightweight, about 2MB–3MB in size.
What operating systems does Adobe Media Player run on?
Adobe Media Player is built on top of the Adobe AIR® runtime and is cross-platform, running on Windows® and Mac OS systems. See the most recent Release Notes for more detailed information and system requirements.
How much does Adobe Media Player cost?
Adobe Media Player is free.
Will Adobe Media Player also play back local content?
Yes. Local video content such as personal videos can be added and played back in Adobe Media Player, as long as they are in FLV (Spark or VP6 codec) or F4V (H.264 codec) format. Note: In addition to Flash (FLV and FV4) video, Adobe Media Player supports video files containing H.264 and HE-AAC content, including MOV, MP4, MP4V, M4V, 3GP, 3GPP2, and 3G2 video formats. These file types can contain media other than compatible H.264 and HE-AAC, however. Adobe Media Player may play back files of these types, but only files ending with .flv or .f4v are guaranteed to play.
Is Adobe Media Player available worldwide?
Yes. Adobe Media Player is now available worldwide and ships with Adobe Creative Suite® 4 editions (excluding French and French Canadian versions).
As a content publisher, can I control the look and feel of my channel?
Yes. With customizable interface elements and backgrounds, you can create a channel that coordinates smoothly with your brand.
Is the video in Adobe Media Player served using progressive or streaming delivery?
Media content can be distributed to Adobe Media Player using either standard progressive download or streaming. Progressive download, where a file is downloaded and stored on the viewer's computer, is used by current podcasters and other online media distribution systems. For streaming delivery, Adobe Media Player uses the RTMP and RTMPE protocols supported by Adobe Flash Media Server 3.5 software.
