Here is my favorite mediaplayer. It is called the kmplayer. Why is it my favorite, it can virtually play any media file and you don't have to install a separate program to allow it to play any media file. You can package it into one folder and transfer it to another computer and it works just as well as the other one. It can play dvds with menus, works with tv tuner cards. It can capture pics from your videos, record the video/music which is useful if you use post processing to enhance the video, has visualizations with music, tons of options, video/audio processing filters, portable, and more. It doesn't quite fit my ideal mediaplayer, but it is still the best one for windows os right now.
http://www.kmplayer.com/forums/index.php?