[tor-talk] Is using player like VLC safe alternative to Flash?

[Joe Btfsplk]

Question of playing Flash vids comes up constantly & explanation given 
of why it can compromise anonymity in Tor Browser.

Anyone done real investigation if using some media players, that handle 
playing Flash content directly from a URL, are any better at protecting 
anonymity than Flash Player?

VLC player & SMPlayer (front end for MPlayer) - both open source, free - 
can directly load the video URL from the page you're viewing (assuming 
have Flash Player disabled or not installed).
You may / may not have to click the page / video address, then it's 
automatically copied into the media player & it handles the rest.

Question is, regarding TBB & anonymity, are these safe enough to protect 
Tor anonymity?
The only circumstance I know of where these 2 players (can't speak for 
others) would be contacting their servers is to check for updates, which 
can be disabled by simple settings.