Best Free 4K Video Player for Windows 10 and Play Unsupported 4K on Windows 10

The wide availability of 4K video source including 4K movies and TV shows downloaded from online sites or 4K video captured with 4K device recorders make the 4K video playback demands increase day by day. For users who have just bought a computer with Windows, you can easily watch 4K movies by configuring your Windows 10 to ensure the best experience 4K resolution and beyong. The following article will introduce some free 4K video player for Windows 10 and how to play uncommon 4K video on Windows 10.

Play 4K on Windows 10

Best free 4K video players

Although there are many free media players for Windows 10, however, only a few are in the list that support 4K videos playback. The following part has picked 5 best for you. The 4K playback capability of those free apps also depends on other facts such as frame rate, resolution, bit rate, etc.

No 1: VLC Player

Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux
License: Free

As the free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols, VLC also adds support for 4K video playback since an update in 2013. However, the 4K video playback effect on VLC is not that satisfactory. A lot of VLC users complain that they suffer VLC 4K video playback choppy or lagging issues.

No 2: 5K Player

Platform: Windows & Mac
License: Free

5KPlayer is a relatively new but powerful 4K video player. Like VLC, it is completely free and clean and safe to use. Any malicious stuff is excluded. It has full compatibility with Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7, and lower, and Mac edition can also run perfectly on new macOS Sierra and previous operating systems like OS X 10.11. With this UHD player, you can play (4096x2160, 3840x2160) 4K 60fps, 48fps or 30fps video at any format (e.g. MKV) without choppy or other problems.

No 3: Media Player Classic and K-Lite Codec Pack

Platform: Windows
License: Free

Media Player Classic, also known as MPC, is an open source free media player, mimicking the look and feel of Windows Media Player 6.4. As a matter of fact, MPC on its own cannot play 4K UHD videos. It needs the help from K-Lite Codec Pack. To make things easier, you are suggested to download K-Lite Codec Pack full package which covers Media Player Classic. Despite that it can work on even the oldest computers, you still need a more powerful system to perform 4K playback.

MPC is also a 100% clean 4K UHD media player. No advertisements, no toolbars. You may feel relieved the use greatly.

No 4: KMPlayer

Platform: Windows & Mac
License: Free

The KMPlayer at first only serves for Windows users. But in April, 2016, a Mac alpha version was released for Mac users with OS X 10.6 or later operating system. It supports for a wide range of file formats and can play videos in superb quality, including 4K UHD. According to the description in its official site, the PC edition only works on Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7(32bit). If you need a 4K video player for Windows 10, 8.1 or 7, you'd better choose another program, such as 5KPlayer.

No 5: Divx Player

Platform: Windows & Mac
License: Paid

DivX Player is the first of its kind, award-winning software offering free HEVC playback, including Ultra HD (4K), a must-have for those who appreciate high-quality video. Player is also optimized for movies, TV shows and web video clips in the Internet's most popular formats, including AVI, DIVX, MKV, MP4 and more.

Note:
1. There's an open candy in DivX 4K player download package. Make sure to clean it while installing.

Play Unsupported 4K video on Windows 10

It's likely that you will have some 4K video with the format of H.265, XAVC/XAVC S, AVCHD, MXF or Prores that above listed 4K video player fails to handle with or you get a 4K video with 4K video players incompatible profile parameters. Why get a 4K video converter to fix all those format and settings incompatible issue for you. Here, a powerful yet simple to use 4K video converter - Pavtube Video Converter for Windows/Mac is highly recommended to you. The program can comprehensively convert all 4K video including 4K AVI/WMV/MP4/MOV/MKV/H.264/H.265/Prores/XAVC/XAVC S/AVCHD/MXF, etc to multiple popular 4K file formats such as 4K AVI, 4K WMV, 4K MP4, 4K MOV, 4K MKV, 4K H.265, 4K H.264, 4K Prores.

Customize output 4K video

Besides converting 4K video, you can also adjust output 4K profile parameters such as video codec, resolution, bit rate, frame rate, audio codec, bit rate, sample rate, channels, etc to get better output 4K file quality. If your 4K video is too large, you can trim or cut the video to remove unwanted parts or segments or split the video into small clips by file size, count or lengh. If there are black bars on the top/bottom or side of the 4K video, you can use the crop window to remove the black edges or change the output aspect ratio of the 4K video to let it fit with the display screen of your computer.

Compress 4K to 1080p

If you wish to play 4K video on non 4K capable devices or programs, this powerful 4K video converter can also do you a great favor to compress 4K to 1080p for smoothly viewing on smartphone, tablet, HD TV, etc.

What's Next? Price: $35