MPCHC Or VLC

[+longgonebn Subscriber²]

I am a long time user for Media Player Classic Home Cinema, with my own custom setup of codecs (from a highly rated source).

 

The issue though is, you have to install all these apps, change all the settings, etc.. I don't feel like doing that this time around, you think VLC would be just as good?

 

I know this area can be quite opinionated, but is there really a reason to do all that over just a single nice install?

[snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member]

I am a long time user for Media Player Classic Home Cinema, with my own custom setup of codecs (from a highly rated source).

 

The issue though is, you have to install all these apps, change all the settings, etc.. I don't feel like doing that this time around, you think VLC would be just as good?

 

I know this area can be quite opinionated, but is there really a reason to do all that over just a single nice install?

 

Consider this: would VLC be much different than just installing and using the defaults for a codec pack with MPC-HC (for example CCCP)?

 

The one reason I can think of why you'd want to go with codec packs is that you can get hardware acceleration in some cases (I have quicksync for example on my laptop).

 

EDIT: in the VLC developers defense, I feel they are pretty clever and I hold the project in high regard. I just don't like the UI as much as MPC (it's kind of cluttered in the options menu).

[+longgonebn Subscriber²]

After no one answered (I was impatient) I went a

head and did my custom MPCHC.

 

Yes

 if you installed CCCP or similar, it would probably be the same as VLC, but I don't do that. I install custom codecs, madVR, LAV filters etc...and customize all the settings. It ends up being a much higher quality image and sound.

[snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member]

After no one answered (I was impatient) I went a

head and did my custom MPCHC.

 

Yes

 if you installed CCCP or similar, it would probably be the same as VLC, but I don't do that. I install custom codecs, madVR, LAV filters etc...and customize all the settings. It ends up being a much higher quality image and sound.

 

By any chance were you using this guide? :

http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=516729&show=0

[FlintyV]

Latest MPCHC nightly build has LAV Filters in so no need for codec packs :D - http://nightly.mpc-hc.org/

 

No need to change a single setting out of the box.

 

That or PotPlayer is quite good.

[+longgonebn Subscriber²]

Yes, well a variation on that setup.

 

By any chance were you using this guide? :

http://myanimelist.net/forum/?topicid=516729&show=0

[MindTrickz]

You could use VLC, but the quality is not nearly as good as MPC-HC + MadVR. It's a only 10 minute setup time after which you are not required to tinker with it again; at least not until you do a fresh reinstall of Windows.

 

I think it's worth it

 

 

[snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member]

You could use VLC, but the quality is not nearly as good as MPC-HC + MadVR. It's a only 10 minute setup time after which you are not required to tinker with it again; at least not until you do a fresh reinstall of Windows.

 

Do you know whether those dithering issues still exist (that picture appears to be an example showing VLC issues from 2011)? I'll admit that I don't use VLC much, but I've never seen such issues when I have.

[MindTrickz]

Do you know whether those dithering issues still exist (that picture appears to be an example showing VLC issues from 2011)? I'll admit that I don't use VLC much, but I've never seen such issues when I have.

 

Those are still common in Anime, TV shows & movies. Here is a more recent comparison from some months ago. Notice in particular the text in the background and the faces.

 

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/38184

[snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member]

Those are still common in Anime, TV shows & movies. Here is a more recent comparison from some months ago. Notice in particular the text in the background and the faces.

 

http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/38184

 

That isn't the dithering issue. That looks like a comparison of upscaled video to show that MADVR is using a better (sharper) upscaling algorithm.

[MindTrickz]

That isn't the dithering issue. That looks like a comparison of upscaled video to show that MADVR is using a better (sharper) upscaling algorithm.

 

My mistake, I wasn't highlighting the dithering in that comparison link. But the dithering still exists and is noticeable in 8bit and 10bit(hi10P).

[UseLess]

While I know there is a lot of controversy about it, I actually prefer using KMPlayer out of the box (with and the Haali renderer it comes built-in with). Haali seems to provide quality equal to that of others, e.g. madVR. I find I enjoy a lot of the features from KMPlayer

 

-Easy renderer switching (if Haali doesn't work for anything)

-Easy AV resync

-Auto file playing (if you open S01E01, it will automatically play S01E02 once the first video is finished - can disable/enable as needed)

-High quality and wide range of post-processing effects (sharpen, deinterlace, etc)

 

The latest version of KMP however is full of crapware and I no longer use it (MUCH cry :cry:) so I have resorted to reverting back to an earlier version (3.5.x).

 

KMP is still my media player of choice, and it's amazing, however I struggle to recommend it since the latest is not usable. If there is a one-click install that is just as easy to use and feature packed, I am all ears! =)

[+Red King Subscriber²]

You could use VLC, but the quality is not nearly as good as MPC-HC + MadVR. It's a only 10 minute setup time after which you are not required to tinker with it again; at least not until you do a fresh reinstall of Windows.

 

I think it's worth it

*snip*

It is also very hardware/battery taxing - worse than VLC.

Issues that you talk about, such as needing dithering and 10-bit are only prevalent in a situation where your compressed copy is nowhere near the original quality

And in other cases, are a placebo and/or misconfiguration. For example MindTrickz showed two screenshots using two screenshots which show a difference between 16-235 luminosity and 0-255.

 

The best thing to do is to use MPC with LAV and in LAV settings enable native DXVA.

 

VLC seems the game equivalent of a "cheap port" - expected from an application that runs on Linux. This seems to be enforced by the developers inability to make VLC a modern application.

I doubt VLC's GPU offloading matching the quality of MPC + LAV combination.

 

Oh and never install codec packs. Codec packs are needed only if you prefer Windows Media Player. WMP is actually the best player, performance wise I have ever came across.

WMP just lacks proper support for most everything pirated.

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Do you know whether those dithering issues still exist (that picture appears to be an example showing VLC issues from 2011)? I'll admit that I don't use VLC much, but I've never seen such issues when I have.

Nope, these issues were fixed ages ago. For some reason when people talk about issues in VLC they like to talk about releases from 1-2 years ago.

[Jeston Veteran]

I don't use VLC mainly because I never expended too much effort trying to get it to work with HDMI audio out, especially with bitstreaming. I use PowerDVD for most of my movie/video watching needs, and when it fails to play something it's MPC-HC to the rescue. It never fails to send the lossless DD TrueHD or DTS-HD MA audio to my receiver.

 

There is the rare occasion where I have some video with a weird codec that I just want to play through my regular speakers and VLC works fine for that.

[snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member]

Nope, these issues were fixed ages ago. For some reason when people talk about issues in VLC they like to talk about releases from 1-2 years ago.

 

That's what I suspected. The horrible quality and obvious issues in those example images were a large tipoff that something didn't seem right  :laugh:

[ViperAFK]

The latest versions of VLC randomly crash for me when DXVA is enabled, but it works flawlessly with MPC-HC so I use that.

[vcfan]

WMP + filters fo' life

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

That's what I suspected. The horrible quality and obvious issues in those example images were a large tipoff that something didn't seem right  :laugh:

Yeah, that's apparently what you get when you play a 10bit video in a 8bit only player, looks like it's clamping off the high bits or something to come up with that mess.

VLC gained support for 10bit video (via GPU rendering) back in Feburary 2012 (Well, it was released then, etc.). Only way to make those screenshots would be to use an outdated version of VLC, or mess with the settings to disable GPU output.

[snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member]

Yeah, that's apparently what you get when you play a 10bit video in a 8bit only player, looks like it's clamping off the high bits or something to come up with that mess.

VLC gained support for 10bit video (via GPU rendering) back in Feburary 2012 (Well, it was released then, etc.). Only way to make those screenshots would be to use an outdated version of VLC, or mess with the settings to disable GPU output.

 

Thanks for confirming the 10bit video support. I was wondering about that, but I couldn't find the information when I checked the other day

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

I probably should have just posted a screenshot of it playing back 10bit content :laugh:

The clip's from here

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

The tough choice.

 

 

I still use them both, but i am heavily leaning towards the latest VLC, and at the next windows reinstall, i might just avoid installing CCCP + mphc all together, since i slowly learned to appreciate the VLC just as much an adopted all the keyboard shortcuts the way i like, more so, then in MPC

[Growled Member]

I use VLC on everything, mainly because it is cross platform and I can use the same player regardless of the platform.

[protocol7]

I normally use MPC-HC but I've had issues with some content (particularly DVDs where I get occasional audio sync and video stutter at the start). When I got a 10-bit encoded anime show and saw how much work it was going to take to get that working in MPC-HC I just grabbed VLC and it worked fine.

[snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member]

I probably should have just posted a screenshot of it playing back 10bit content :laugh:

The clip's from here

 

Fun show and I'd say that definitely proves it ;-)