Essential Guide to Best Free 4K UHD Playback Tools (PC&Mac)

Best 8 Free 4k Video Player Software for Windows PC&Mac

Ollie Mattison

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

4K Ultra HD videos help users to enjoy minute details and close-ups with a stunning viewing experience. The reason behind this is very simple. Its definition is much better than general human eye capabilities as it is designed with a 20/20 vision concept. But, the sad truth is that it is not possible to play 4K UHD videos for free on Windows PC as well as on MacBook/iMac or on Mac OS because common software tools result in poor video quality. If you are searching for some of the most useful and powerful 4k video players that are available for free on Mac and Windows 10 platforms, then the article below can provide you with huge details.

• Part 1: Best Free 4K Video Players
• 5K Player: Play 4K/5K/1080p HD videos
• VLC Media Player
• PowerDVD 21
• KMPlayer
• DivX Player
• MPC
• DVDFab Player 5
• UFUShare
• Part 2: 4K Video Players FAQs

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If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

Recommended Video Editor for 4K Video Editing [Windows & Mac]

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Editing 4K videos on your PC and Mac with Wondershare Filmora is easy even you don’t have a high-end computer. With the new version 9 release, Filmora now allows you to control the preview playback quality during editing and create a proxy file copy to preview the video in lower resolution during editing, but exporting with the original 4K resolutions.

Want to buy a laptop that supports 4k video editing? We’ve selected some of the best laptops which support 4K easily. You can click to read our recommendations about the best laptops for 4k video editing .

Best Free 4K Video Players in 2022

Note: Some of the video players listed below are totally free on Windows and Mac, but some of them are just providing a free trial version to experience the basic watching features. You’ve to pay some money to get the full version to get a better experience.

1. 5K Player: Play 4K/5K/1080p HD videos

It is time to enjoy impressive HD video content with MKV support in a 5K player. You will be glad to know that it offers all in one service with extended support to Online Downloader, AirPlay Media Streamer, Music Player, and HD Video Player. 5K Player can be used on both Windows and Mac platforms.

Key Features:

• 5K player supports DVDs, 1080P HD video content along with 5K and 4K resolution.
• All popular media file formats like FLAC, APE, MP3, etc., can be easily played.
• Well equipped with AirPlay receiver and sender unit that allows live streaming from iPhone 7.
• Download videos directly from Vimeo, Dailymotion YouTube, etc.

2. VLC Media Player

This open-source and free-to-use 4K UHD video player offers cross-platform multimedia support, and its advanced framework is capable enough to play almost all popular media file formats. You can download and use it onWindows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS as well. The best addition is its support for all advanced streaming protocols so that users can update content live to the internet without external plugins.

Key Features:

• It is an incredibly simple, powerful, and fast tool.
• The VLC media player can play everything ranging between live streams, devices, webcams, files, discs, etc.
• It can play all popular file formats without additional codecs.
• You will not feel annoyed with ads and spyware issues while using VLC.

3. PowerDVD 21

PowerDVD is simply the best companion for your home entertainment systems as well as for personal computers. This software environment is packed with advanced features to manage music, movies, and photos in the same place. You will always have an incredible experience with its rich tools. PowerDVD offers the ability to enhance the user experience for 4K and HDR TV. Besides, PowerDVD can playback from DVDs & Blu-ray discs to online videos & 360˚ video, but it can only be used on Windows.

Key Features:

• Professionals call it a truly stunning environment with the best sound and picture details.
• It appears like an essential solution for home entertainment.
• You can play blu-ray content on PowerDVD.
• It extends support towards VR headsets.

With the release of PowerDVD 21, an all-in-one premium multimedia player, you can now play 8K movies. One of the best parts is that you can now stream your media to any device and enjoy the seamless playback between the mobile app and web player.

Want to watch 8K videos on TV? Check the 8K TVs that you can buy right now.

4. KMPlayer

KMP offers a highly versatile interface with extended support to all inherited formats, whereas advanced media files can be played easily with automatic codec updates. KMPlayer is simply the fast and safe solution for your impressive video quality, and it works perfectly on slow computers too. Users can also modify this interface as per their needs by accessing a customizable toolset. This video player can play 4K videos on both Windows and Mac.

Key Features:

• Inbuilt internal and external codecs.
• KMPlayer supports OGG, WMA 8/7, and MPEG 1/ 2 file formats with ease.
• Customizable interface.

5. DivX Player

DivX is designed with edge video technology, and it is popular for its award-winning software interface that allows impressive playback for files. You can also access 4K UHD videos on DivX along with other high-quality video files. This player is well designed to support web-based video clips, TV Shows, and movies. You can simply download DivX Software for free on your Windows or Mac computer**.**

Key Features:

• MP4, MKV, AVI, and DIVX formats supported.
• Big screen streaming feature added.
• It allows smooth RW/FF features with trick play abilities.
• Follows better organization with loop, play, create.
• It offers impressive organization of content on the media library.

6. MPC

MPC-HC is well known open source, the lightweight medial player that is recommended as the most interactive video player for Windows users. It extends support to almost all audio and video file formats without asking for additional codecs. The best part is its advertisement-free platform and 100% protection from spyware.

Key Features:

• It is a lightweight solution for SSE CPU as well as for old systems.
• Highly customizable platform with a wide variety of tools.
• MPC is well known as an all-around player that can also be used like a DVB player.

7. DVDFab Player 5

DVDFab is one of the most commonly used Blu-ray media players that offer incredible playback efficiency along with an impressive viewing experience. It supports 4K, and UHD video quality with a breathtaking content appearance. This tool is updated from time to time with new features so that users can enjoy the latest content with ease and can be used on both Mac and Windows computers.

Key Features:

• It consists of an advanced navigation menu to assist users with Blu-rays vision.
• One can easily view 4K, UHD videos on DVDFab.
• Enjoy non-disc-type content forever for free.
• Users can create their personalized playlists on this platform.
• DVDFab allows users to perform flipping and rotate operations on videos.
• It assists in precise and fast view with video thumbnails.
• You will love to explore variable sets of skins to make your player look more impressive.

8. UFUShare

UFUSHare is a powerful Blu-ray player that also supports content from Blu-ray ISO files, Blu-ray folders, 1080P/720P Blue-ray disc, 4K blue-ray discs, etc. You can expect immersive audio effects from this tool with higher clarity for visuals. As one of the most powerful blu-ray player software, it can be used on both Windows and Mac.

Key Features:

• It allows users to access Blu-ray ISO, Folders, and Disc without posing any restriction.
• Users can easily play any video format in this powerful environment; the details even include 4K UHD and HD videos.
• It offers impressive HD image quality along with lossless audio effects.
• Users can easily select subtitles and audio tracks for better processing.
• This feature-rich tool is much easier to use.
• Users can capture snapshots via this software tool, and these files get saved with the JPEG extension as per default settings.

To get a better experience in watching 4K videos, you may also need some 4K TVs or 4K monitors as well.

Part 2: Frequently Asked Questions about Playing 4K Videos

1. What is a 4K video?

A 4K video is a video that is recorded in the 4K resolution. The horizontal side of a 4K video has approximately 4000 pixels, while in most cases, 4K videos displayed on monitors and TVs have a resolution of 3840X2160 pixels. The movie industry standard is 4096x2160 pixels.

Ultimately, the 4K video’s resolution depends on its aspect ratio, as slight variations occur with either of the most commonly used aspect ratios for 4K videos. This, however, doesn’t affect the image quality.

2. How to play a 4K video on a PC?

You must install a media player that enables you to watch 4K videos on your PC in order to view 4K content. So, once you’ve installed a media player that can play 4K videos, you just have to open the video file with the media player of your choice.

In addition, you are going to need a 4K display to view the video in full resolution because HD or Full HD displays can’t play 4K footage in full detail.

3. Do you need a special media player for 4K videos?

At the moment, Windows and macOS don’t have a built-in media player that can play 4K videos. However, this is no cause for alarm because there are numerous media players you can install on either of these operating systems for free.

VLC or 5KPlayer are just a few options you will have at your disposal, but you should also keep in mind that you have to install appropriate codecs on your computer if you want to use it to watch 4K videos.

4. What is the difference between 1080p and 4K videos?

The total amount of pixels a 1080p and 4K video contains is not the same. Consequently, the amount of details a 4K video can depict is much more significant than on 1080p videos. That is also the reason why 4K video files are much larger than Full HD video files that contain significantly fewer pixels.

However, it is nearly impossible to spot a difference between a 1080p video and 4K video from afar, but as you zoom in, you will notice that pixelization occurs at different zoom levels.

5. Is the 4K video available on YouTube?

Yes, it is. YouTube has offered support for 4K videos since 2010, and you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding 4K content on this video hosting platform. In case you would like to upload a 4K video to your YouTube channel, you should arm yourself with patience since the duration of this process depends on the size of the file you’re trying to upload.

Ollie Mattison

Ollie Mattison is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Ollie Mattison

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