Media Player Classic Home Cinema - Best settings

byraiden -September 21, 2020

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Tutorial on how to do the basic video and audio setting in Media Player Classic Home Cinema(MPC-HC) app for better playback of media files.

MPC-HC is a free opensource media player which can play all common video and audio file formats.

System Config:

Software : MPC HC 1.9.7 x64
Operating System : Windows 10 Pro x64

Basic MPC-HC app settings

1. On Top > While playing Video

Set MPC-HC app to keep its window at top while playing a video file. this will make sure that the video frame of is always in view when playing a video file in MPC-HC app.

Select View > On Top > While playing Video.

Open the MPC-HC Options window.

Select View > Options from the main interface.

2. Process priority above normal

Set MPC-HC app to run with CPU process priority level Above Normal.

Select Player tab.
Check Process priority above normal in group box labelled Other.

3. Limit window proportions on resize

Set MPC-HC windows to resize in proportion to the aspect ration of the video file being played.

Select Player tab.
Check Limit window proportions on resize in group box labelled Other.

4. Associate Video files to open with MPC-HC

Associate video files formats to run by default with MPC-HC when opened from Windows Explorer. Associating the MPC-HC app with video file extension in Windows OS is necessary if the user want MPC-HC app to be recognized as Video Player in Windows OS.

Select Player > Formats tab.
Click on Run as administrator in the group box labelled Association.

Click Associate with video formats only icon as shown below, to select File extensions of video file formats extensions which will be associated with MPC-HC app.

Click on Set as default program button in the group box labelled Association.
Click on Apply button.

5. Volume Step

Volume Step setting allows the user to set the step size (in percentage) in which the volume will either increase or decrease when done by using keyboard shortcut or mouse buttons. By lowering the volume step size user will have more control over the volume of the output audio signal.

To set volume step size, do the following:

Select Playback tab.
Set Volume step to 2 in the group box labelled Control.

6. Disable Auto zoom

When a video file is played, Auto zoom feature resizes the MPC-HC window to a specified percentage of the resolution of the video file.

If the user wants MPC-HC window to remain at same size when video files are being played then he has option to disable the Auto-zoom feature.

To Disable Auto zoom, do the following:

Select Playback tab.
Uncheck Auto-zoom in the group box labelled Zoom and Alignment.

7. Speed Step Setting

Speed Step allows the user to set the step (in percentage) which will be taken when increasing or decreasing the speed of media playback. Setting the speed step size to a lower value gives the user a finer control over the speed of the media playback.

To do so do the followings:

Select Playback tab.
Set Speed step to 10 in the group box labelled Control.

8. Video resizer Settings

Here user can set the resizer algorithm which will be used to resize the video frame during playback. The selected resizer algorithm will be used for both upscaling and downscaling the video frame.

Resizer setting is used when one of the followings is used as DirectShow Video renderer :

Enhanced Video renderer ( Custom presenter)
Sync Renderer
Video Mixing Renderer 9 (Renderless)

Select Playback > Output tab.
Select Bicubic A=-1.0 (PS 2.0) from the drop down list labelled Resizer.

9. Set the Audio Renderer

Select Playback > Output tab.
Select Internal Audio Renderer from the drop down list labelled Audio Renderer.

10. Internal LAV Video decoder Settings

Hardware Decoder to Use

Hardware Video decoding uses GPU inbuilt video decoder to decode the video.

To setup the Hardware Decoder, do the followings:

Select Internal Filters tab.
Select Video Decoder button in the group box labelled Internal LAV Filters settings.

Option 1 : DXVA2(native)

By default DXVA2(native) is used as Hardware Decoder. DXVA2 is compatible with most GPUs for video decoding.

Hardware Decoder to use options :

None : CPU is used for decoding the video.
NVIDIA CUVID : NVIDIA GPU is used for decoding the video using CUDA Video Decoding API.
Intel QuickSync : Intel GPU which supports Intel Quick Sync Video is used for video decoding using Intel VA API.
DXVA2 (copy-back) : It uses DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA)2.0 API for video decoding. It supports Intel, NVIDIA and AMD GPU. In copy-back mode the decoded video frame is copied to CPU memory from GPU memory.
DXVA2 (native) :It uses DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA)2.0 API for video decoding. It supports Intel, NVIDIA and AMD GPU. In native mode the decoded video frame is not copied to CPU memory from GPU memory.
D3D11 : It uses Microsoft Direct3D 11 API for video decoding. It will work on GPU which supports Microsoft DirectX 11 or later.

Option 2 : D3D11

If the computer has graphics adapter(GPU) which supports DirectX 11 or later then user can set D3D11 as hardware video decoder.

Select D3D11 as Hardware Decoder to use in the group box labelled Hardware Acceleration.
Select Apply button.

Hardware Device to Use

If user want a specific GPU device to be used for video decoding then user can select it in drop-down list labelled Hardware Device to use.

Example

In my computer NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 GPU is installed. To use this GPU device specifically for hardwae decoding do the following :

Select GPU Device(NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070) from the drop down list labelled Hardware Device to use.
Click Apply button.

11. LAV Audio decoder settings

Select Internal Filters tab.
Click on Audio Decoder button in the group box labelled Internal LAV Filters settings.

In the Properties window.
Enable Enable Mixing in the group box labelled Mixer.
Enable Don't mix Stereo sources in the group box labelled Settings.

Make sure you select correct Speaker configuration from the drop-down menu labelled Output Speaker Configuration . Its more about wiring you are using to connect the computer to the speaker.

In may case its Stereo which is the most common scenario.

Set Output Speaker Configuration to ( Computer Speaker configuration)
Click on Apply and OK.

12. Color controls

Color control settings can be used increase or decrease the Brightness, Contrast and Saturation of the video.

It can be used with the following video renderer:

Enhanced Video renderer (EVR, EVR-CP)
Video Mixing Renderer 9 (VMR-9) renderless & windowed
madVR

Increasing the brightness and contrast enhances the details in the video. User may increase

You may increase or decrease the color saturation to a level which look good to you.

Brightness : Keep level between -10 to +5.

Contrast : Keep level between 0 to +30.

Saturation : Keep level between -40 to +30.

Example 1 :

Set Brightness to "+5"
Set Contrast to "+15"
Set Saturation to "-15"

Advanced Media Player Classic Homecinema

Boost the Audio

Boosting the audio is useful when the audio level of a media file is low. It provides constant gain throughout the spectrum of audio signal.

To boost the audio signal, do the following:

Select Internal Filters > Audio Switcher.
Slide the slider labelled Boost to the level which user needs.

To set boost to zero gain, do the following:

Select Internal Filters > Audio Switcher.
Slide the slider labelled Boost to the level of 0%.

Set the size of MPC-HC toolbar

MPC-HC toolbar size can be increased or decreased as required by the user.

To set the Toolbar size, do the following:

Select Advanced tab.
Select DefaultToolbarSize.
Set the toolbar size.
Select Apply button.

Modern seek bar height settings

User have option to set the height of modern seek bar when dark theme is used for MPC-HC app.

MPC-HC dark theme can be enabled by selecting View > Dark theme.

To set the Modern seek bar height , do the following:

Select Advanced tab.
Select ModernSeekbarHeight.
Set the seek bar height.
Select Apply button.

Export/Import MPC-HC Settings

User has option to export the settings of MPC-HC in a Windows registry file and save it in the storage device.

To export/save the MPC-HC Settings, do the followings:

Select Miscellaneous tab.
Select Export button.

Select a Folder using Windows OS File Explorer where the setting file will be stored.
Enter the custom Filename for the settings file if required.
Select Save button.

To restore the MPC-HC Settings, do the followings:

Exit MPC-HC app.
Browse the MPC-HC settings file using File Explorer.
Right click on it and select Merge.

Follow the Microsoft OS instructions and allow adding of MPC-HC setting in Windows OS registry.

Reset MPC-HC Settings

If some of the setting done by user is causing playback issues then resetting the setting of MPC-HC app is a good options to resolve the issue.

To Reset the MPC-HC settings, do the following:

Select Miscellaneous tab.
Select Reset button in the group box labeled Settings management.