VLC is a video player with a lot of tricks. While you definitely would be aware about converting videos with it, the feature of converting any video to ASCII is one that is slightly less known. As ASCII version of movies like Star wars are very popular online, I think this feature of this amazing media player can be used to have lots of fun.

An example of a video in ASCII form

All you need to do is open any video and VLC will automatically display its converted form. To convert any video in ASCII, just follow the steps given below:-

1) Open VLC Media Player.
2) Click on the Tools menu and in the drop down list, click on Preferences at the bottom of the list.
3) Click on Video icon in the left sidebar.
4) Click on the drop down box next to Output.
5) Select "Color ASCII art video output" from the drop down list.
6) Click Save and restart VLC.

Older versions of VLC might require you to modify these settings under the Advance tab or All Settings tab. As VLC runs on a variety of OSs, this trick will work on any PC capable of running this media player. However, it is interesting to point out that older PCs having poor hardware will slow down and give a stuttered output.