Legendary open source video playback application VLC — widely known for compatibility with a huge number of file formats — received a noteworthy update today. Version 2.1 includes improved audio processing, including proper and complete support for surround sound output. But most notably, this is the first version of VLC to offer 4K playback, though it's still in its preliminary stages. It's still incredibly difficult to find videos at such high resolution, but with a number of 4K TVs and monitors on the market there is certainly some interest.

VideoLAN has also updated its Android and iOS ports of VLC, with the former now offering support for far more devices than in the past. There are also new "partial ports" of VLC for Windows Phone 8, Windows RT, and the "Metro" interface in Windows 8 and 8.1. Among a list of improvements, video playback itself should be tightened up on mobile devices.