windows 7 — How can I know if my media player is using hardware acceleration?
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I’m using The KMPlayer for my media playback needs, especially because it has faster startup time even with larger media files. But I’m not sure whether it is utilizing hardware acceleration or not (the DirectX Diagnostic Tool shows that hardware acceleration is enabled).
Though I do have not have an issue where CPU usage burns up during video playback as I’ve monitored task manager while its running, and what I see is that it uses 12 to 18 units as a CPU usage but I don’t know what this number suggests, that if its actually using h/w acc. or not.
I’ve read about Hardware Acceleration and its association mostly with H.264, so does hardware acceleration has anything to do with how video is encoded? I’m having video files in variety of formats like many have, i.e. AVI, MP4, MKV, M4V, etc. So how H.264 and Hardware acceleration work with the media player to play different files?
- windows-7
- video
- h.264
- hardware-acceleration
Fraps shows the current FPS when a game or application uses DX Hardware/Video Acceleration. Also, the Wikipedia page lists some of the applications, KMPlayer is not listed among them, but it’s obviously not the full list.
2
Since you’re on Windows 7 I would suggest using a simple desktop gadget to monitor GPU usage. If you see that your GPU usage goes up while you’re playing a video then the hardware acceleration is working properly. I use this one at home: http://gallery.live.com/liveItemDetail.
aspx?li=83a44bd6-6b5f-4bc7-ba0f-28758cd9c509&bt=1&pl=1
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HD 1080p .
mkv videos don’t play smooth. Is it a CPU, GPU, player or OS issue?
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5 years, 2 months ago
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57k times
I have some .mkv 1080p videos but VLC can’t play them smoothly.
If I open the Task Manager, I can see that CPU is at 100%, because VLC uses as much as it can (95% or more).
Then, I wonder
- Is it a CPU problem, because it’s slow?
- Is it a GPU problem because it isn’t so good, so the CPU must do all work?
- Is it a player problem, because it’s a VLC bug, or it doesn’t use the right codec, or doesn’t support hardware acceleration?
- Is it a OS problem, because XP it’s too old?
I have:
- CPU: DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2200 MHz (11 x 200) 4200+
- GPU: nVIDIA nForce 6100-430
- Player: VLC v2.
0.5 - OS: Windows XP SP3
- vlc-media-player
- gpu
- cpu-usage
- high-definition
- video-playback
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VLC uses the CPU heavily, you can find other players that utilize the GPU better. Daum PotPlayer, SMPlayer, Gom Player. LifeHacker Link
4
Your GPU doesn’t support accelerated HD decoding. More recent GPUs can handle HD decoding and are much more efficient at this than CPUs.
1
Another option relating to changing VLC settings is that you can also try to disable or enable hardware decoding. Enabling it worked for me: Preferences -> Under Show Settings, click ‘All’ -> Input/Codecs -> Video Codecs -> FFmpeg -> Search for the Hardware decoding checkbox and try checking/unchecking it.
More information related to this issue can be found at:
http://www.
howtogeek.com/howto/windows/fix-for-vlc-skipping-and-lagging-playing-high-def-video-files
I had the same problem. I saw the solution on another site and it worked for me. The 1080p file actually played fine in windows media player, so I knew it wasn’t my computer. The solution is to change the file cache to a larger value, say 2000, in vlc player. You can find the setting in tools/preferences with «all» checked in show settings. Then go to Input/Codecs, where near the bottom of the window it says advanced/file caching. Set it to 2000 and save, then restart VLC player. Voilà, it worked for me. It took me a second to find the show settings at the bottom, and then it took a little while longer to find the file caching, but once I found it, it worked perfectly. You might also want to reset VLC player, just in case you messed it up really bad, and then increase the cache value. Good Luck.
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An unbiased review and complete guide to KMPlayer
Today we are entering the era of video. There is a huge amount of video content on social networks, on web pages and in mobile applications. In order to help people distribute animated content, developers and tech giants have released many video file formats such as FLV, MP4, WebM, MOV, WMV and more, as well as HD, 4K, 4K Ultra, etc. As a result, we need a powerful media player, such as Kmplayer to get the best experience. In this article, we will share an objective review.
- Part 1: Overview of KMPlayer
- Part 2: The best alternative to KMPlayer
- Part 3: Frequently Asked Questions about KMPlayer
Part 1: Overview of KMPlayer
KMPlayer is a multimedia player, but not a simple video player. The right media player is essential for any system, as almost everyone would like to enjoy their digital devices.
Since its release, the free KMPlayer player has gained immense popularity and has become a priority for music and movie lovers.
Key features of KMPlayer
- 1. Play videos, music, movies and audio files without delay.
- 2. Enable a wide range of codecs such as WMV, MKV, MOV, 3GP, etc.
- 3. Decode 3D, 4K and Ultra HD video without quality loss.
- 4. Support for subtitles such as RTS, MPEG1, MPEG2, AAC, WMA7, etc.
- 5. Steam videos from YouTube and other platforms via URL.
- 6. Play DVD, Blu-ray and other optical discs.
- 7. Correct the sound quality with the normalize function.
- 8. Available in multiple languages such as English, Korean and more.
- 9. Control video and audio playback with buttons and hotkeys.
- 10. Offer some advanced tools such as creating slideshows.
KMPlayer Overview
Pros
- 1.
KMPlayer is available for Windows and Mac. - 2. Mobile-first can use the mobile app on iPhone or Android.
- 3. It is free to download and use, even if the site requires a donation.
- 4. The 3D playback function is great and gives the user a great experience.
- 5. Users can download additional codec from the official website, such as KMPlayer hevc codec.
- 6. Support for remote playback is also built in.
Cons
- 1. KMPlayer uses multiple sources when playing videos.
- 2. There are a lot of ads on the main page, special sidebars, options bar and pop-ups.
- 3. No way to remove annoying ads.
- 4. KMPlayer Mac is still in beta, so it’s not very stable.
- 5. The installer contains several additional programs.
How to use KMPlayer to play videos
Step 1
Download KMPlayer from the official website or trusted sources.
Once installed, open it from your desktop.
Features: You should watch the installation carefully as it will install Open Candy and other additional programs.
Step 2
Double-click an empty area of the screen if you want to play a video or song. Then find and select the file and click Open.
Step 3
After playing the video, you will get some buttons at the bottom to control playback.
Note: If you want to change user settings in KMPlayer, press F2 to access the Settings dialog. We suggest that beginners do not try it, as KMPlayer will not work properly if you set the parameters incorrectly.
Part 2: The best alternative to KMPlayer
Although KMPlayer is a great video player, it still has some drawbacks, such as ads. Therefore, you can find out more options for free video playback. Blu-ray Master Free Blu-ray Player 9 Good Option0005
Main features of the best KMPlayer alternative
- 1.
Compatible with almost all video and audio formats. - 2. Use hardware acceleration to improve performance.
- 3. Offer quick and advanced controls for video playback.
In short, Free Blu-ray Player is the best alternative to KMPlayer to watch videos for free. Besides, it allows you to play Blu-ray movies with high quality,
How to play videos without ads or lags
Step 1
Open video
Install the best KMPlayer alternative if you want to watch HD videos, 4K movies, DVD or Blu-ray. Then launch it, click the Open File button to import videos from your hard drive, or click the Open Disc button to load the disc.
Step 2
Video playback control
Once the video is downloaded, it will start playing in the main interface. Now you can see at the bottom quick controls like fast forward, stop, pause, rewind, etc. To take a photo while the video is playing, tap the camera icon. You can adjust Volume in the lower right corner.
In addition to the basic controls, the top menu bar offers more advanced features. If you need to change subtitles, audio tracks, or another setting, go to the Settings menu and you can easily reset them. The Audio and Video menus provide advanced options for audio and video effects. If the image color is bad, go to Tools
Go menu, select Effects, and adjust Hue, Brightness, Contrast and other settings.
Part 3: Frequently Asked Questions about KMPlayer
Is KMPlayer safe to use?
KMPlayer does contain a lot of ads and additional software. So, you have to be careful while using the media player. According to our test, KMPlayer is safe to use. If your antivirus software is blocking the installation, you need to disable it when installing KMPlayer.
Is KMPlayer open source available?
Although KMPlayer is a free media player, it is not open source. It was developed and released by a Korean software company. When you download the player, you will be prompted to donate to the software, but you can ignore this.
How do I reset KMPlayer to default settings?
Step 1. Open KMPlayer and press F2 on your keyboard to bring up the settings dialog.
Step 2: Click the Reset Current Preset button at the bottom left. When prompted, click Yes to confirm.
Conclusion
This article talked about one of the most popular free video players — KMPlayer. Although it is free, users can get many useful features and customizable options from the media player. However, it can slow down your computer due to high CPU usage. What’s more, it relies on ads to provide free features. This can annoy users. So, we have also shared a free alternative to KMPlayer, Blu-ray Master Free Blu-ray Player, which is easier to use. More questions? Write them down below.
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CPU, DXVA, Hi10P, players / Sudo Null IT News
If we are talking about HD video, then a high performance decoder will be required. For example, if we decode on the CPU, then on the streams of 30-35 MBps on the Intel Core2 Duo E8500 3.
2 GHz, frames are already starting to drop out. The processor is quite fast, the difference in performance compared to the Sandy Bridge core at the same frequency will be about 20%. A well-compressed full-HD movie can create problems, not to mention the original streams from Blu-ray, where the stream can reach 45 MBps. Laptop owners usually have weaker processors, and not everyone has desktop systems with powerful CPUs. Another case where the CPU becomes a bottleneck is deinterlacing. Deintrlacing is necessary when watching satellite HD channel streams, streams there with a reasonable bitrate (usually 10-15 MBps), but software deintarlace eats up all the remnants of resources. Moreover, high-quality deinterlace, without blurring and maintaining fps, is heavy for the CPU. The only way out is to use the hardware decoding that modern GPUs offer. About video from satellite channels, it should be noted that they are partially damaged, because. the reception is not always perfect, so it is important that the player is stable in digesting such “breaks” in the stream.
On Windows, hardware decoding is implemented through the DXVA API. All modern AMD and Nvidia GPUs implement DXVA as a separate physical module (AMD — UVD, Nvidia — PureVideo). These modules are made specifically for this task, they work almost identically in both entry-level and high-end video cards. At Intel, the situation is more complicated. In Sandy Bridge CPU cores only, Intel has added an Intel Clear Video HD module. Previous generations of Intel graphics were technically accelerated, but the implementation was using GPU shaders, which was only enough for 720p video and, in my opinion, was very inefficient in terms of energy costs. For this reason, owners of most laptops with Intel graphics cannot afford to watch full-HD video. The CPU load when using DXVA is a few percent, while DXVA provides high quality deinterlace. Manufacturers provide additional decoding settings, such as motion smoothing in 24/25 fps films through the generation of intermediate frames (similar functionality is available in TVs), noise elimination, etc.
In practice, there are often streams that go beyond the Blu-ray specifications, and DXVA decoders had problems with this. The first here was AMD, which provided support for the H.264 L5.1 profile. I don’t know how Nvidia and Intel deal with this, so for now I recommend AMD solutions.
There is another new feature, the H.264 High 10 Profile (Hi10P). Hi10P is touted as the next step in video compression. It turned out that if 10-bit signal sampling is used inside the codec, then it is possible to provide a 20-40% (?!) increase in compression while maintaining quality. The main plus is the improvement in the transmission of gradients, which is visible even when outputting to screens with a normal color depth (8-bit per channel). Anime people are known to be at the forefront of using the latest in video encoding, and now there are groups of releasers who post videos encoded in this profile. This profile does not understand most codecs, and even more so hardware players and DXVA implementations.
Decoding takes place only with soft decoders, which at the same time load the CPU even more. Not all users have top processors and this causes public outrage, but does not stop release authors, who sometimes do not provide alternatives to Hi10P. But all this is in the nature of a local problem in the environment of some anime releasers.
A note about external H.264 codecs. Previously, I tried to use additional external codecs Divx H.264 DXVA and PowerDVD8 H.264 DXVA, now I refused them. PowerDVD8 H.264 is an old version that is not being developed and has problems running on Windows 7, and on Divx H.264 I have repeatedly noticed problems with uneven playback. Windows 7 has a built-in Microsoft H.264 codec with DXVA support, which has proven to be very stable and I have been using it as a base codec in Media Player Classic Home Cinema for a long time.
When choosing a player, I am guided by the following principles: do not litter the system with codecs; DXVA support; omnivorous — different containers and codecs; possibly support Hi10P.
| VLC Player
Pros
Cons
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| Media Player Classic Home Cinema
Pros
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| Windows Media Player 12 (part of Windows 7)
Pros
Cons
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| XBMC
This is the parent of two other powerful media centers — boxee and mediaportal, they spun off from XBMC at different times. Pros
Cons
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| SMPlayer
Pros
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