Opening files
There are three ways to open something:
- Drag files or whole folders onto the NHD Media Player window.
- Click Open files or Open folder (or press Ctrl+O).
- In File Explorer, right-click a file and choose Open with > NHD Media Player. To make NHD Media Player the default for a type, pick Choose another app, select NHD Media Player and tick Always.
Files appear in the list on the left. Click one to view it. Press Space to pause or play a video, and use Frame ▸ to step one frame at a time. On photos, scroll to zoom and double-click to switch between fit-to-window and 100%.
What the coloured dots mean
Repairing a file
When a file won’t open, NHD Media Player explains why in plain English and asks whether you want it to try a repair. Your original file is never changed. Repaired copies are saved in Documents\OMS Repaired and added to the list so you can check them straight away.
- NHD Media Player first rebuilds the file around the existing picture data, without re-encoding. When this works, the result is an exact copy of what survived.
- If that fails, NHD Media Player asks before trying a last resort: decoding whatever is readable and saving it as a new video. That copy looks right but is not identical to the original, and NHD Media Player labels it as such.
- If no picture can be saved, NHD Media Player offers to recover just the sound.
For damaged photos, NHD Media Player searches inside the file for an intact picture, such as the preview a camera stores alongside the full image. Check anything recovered by eye.
Some files can’t be repaired: encrypted files need the software that made them, and an unfinished recording whose index is missing needs a working video from the same camera to rebuild it.
The Info panel
The panel on the right shows what the file itself records, never a guess.
Taken
The date and time stored by the camera or phone. If the device had no clock or didn’t record one, NHD Media Player says “Not recorded in the file”.
Modified
When the file was last changed on this PC.
Source
Where it came from, when the file shows it: the device, an app such as WhatsApp or Signal (from the file name), editing software, or a web download.
SHA-256
A fingerprint of the file’s exact contents. Two files with the same fingerprint are identical. It’s worked out automatically for files under 256 MB; for bigger files, click Calculate.
The Bytes tab shows the first 4 KB of the file, which is useful when a file’s extension doesn’t match what it really is.
Supported formats
| Video | MP4, M4V, MKV, AVI, MOV, WMV, FLV, WebM, TS, M2TS, MTS, MPG, VOB, 3GP, OGV, ASF, RM/RMVB, MXF |
|---|---|
| Photos | JPEG, PNG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, WebP, HEIC/HEIF, AVIF, JPEG 2000, JPEG XL, PSD (flattened), ICO, DDS, EXR, HDR, TGA, DICOM |
| Camera RAW | Canon CR2/CR3/CRW, Nikon NEF/NRW, Sony ARW/SR2/SRF, Fujifilm RAF, Olympus ORF, Panasonic RW2, Pentax PEF, Samsung SRW, Leica RWL, Sigma X3F, Adobe DNG, GoPro GPR and more |
| CCTV | Dahua DAV and raw H.264/H.265 streams are converted to standard video. Other systems (Genetec, Bosch, Pelco, IndigoVision, Vicon) are identified and NHD Media Player tells you which player they need. |
| Music | MP3, WAV, FLAC, M4A, AAC, OGG, Opus, WMA |
NHD Media Player identifies files by their contents, not their extension, so a photo renamed to .mp4 still opens as a photo.
Privacy policy
What NHD Media Player collects
Nothing. NHD Media Player has no account, no analytics, no advertising and no tracking. It does not connect to the internet, and no information about you or your files leaves your PC.
How NHD Media Player uses your files
NHD Media Player reads only the files you open, on your own computer, to display, identify and repair them. It never modifies or deletes them. Repaired copies are saved only when you choose to repair, in Documents\OMS Repaired, and you can delete them at any time.
Files NHD Media Player writes
A troubleshooting log (oms.log) in your Windows temporary folder records the names of files opened and the result. It stays on your PC, is overwritten each time NHD Media Player starts, and is removed by Windows’ normal temporary-file clean-up.
Microsoft Store
If you install NHD Media Player from the Microsoft Store, Microsoft handles the download and may collect installation and crash data under its own privacy statement. The publisher receives only anonymous, aggregated figures such as install counts.
Children
NHD Media Player collects no personal information from anyone, including children.
Changes
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted on this page with a new effective date.
Contact
Questions about privacy or NHD Media Player: [support email]