MPC-HC and external filters - need advice.

[AlphaWolf]

Is there any point to using any external filters with MPC-HC these days if processor time is no object? (e.g. computer is fast enough to play all video with the included filters)

Specifically, are there any external mpeg-2, mp3, or h.264 filters that will provide better video or audio quality than the built in ones? Or will they all look pretty much the same? If no then I am guessing there is no reason whatsoever to use coreavc, ffdshow, or powerdvd?

[click2]

All decoders of a given format should give the exact same output.

"Quality" is up to you, though. Some decoders have more bugs than others, and some have different user interfaces. Using external filters could give you a different set of postprocessing filters.

[shiloto]

The think about same quality is true

Still i think the integrated codec as very basic and have NO options, and those like ffdshow are in development for many years and superior in every way.

I think you should choose k-lite codec pack... Its just specialy created using most compatible, best working codecs/settings

[Inspector.Gadget]

Shiloto, you really don't know what you're talking about. The whole point of the MPC-HC fork was to include new features, including updated decoders. Please stop showing up in every thread only to say "HAY GUYS USE K-LITE!"

[AlphaWolf]

I don't think I am going to use any codec packs anymore, in my experience they create more problems than they solve. But thanks anyways.

[AlphaWolf]

One other thing, I remember back in 2003ish I used to always prefer the MAD (not to be confused with madVR) decoder engine for MP3 because it actually did sound better and decode faster than other decoders, and not just a small difference, it was a night and day difference (I used the winamp version of MAD btw.) I don't suppose this is true anymore is it? Do they all decode basically the same these days? I can't really tell the difference, but if anybody knows better I'd like to hear it.

Also I am guessing the only way to improve picture quality in MPC-HC is to use madVR? That particular renderer does cause frame delays for me even on what I still consider to be a somewhat fast system (intel q6700, geforce 8800gtx) I don't suppose there are any ways to speed it up at all? (didn't see any in the thread.)

[chros]

Is there any point to using any external filters with MPC-HC these days if processor time is no object? (e.g. computer is fast enough to play all video with the included filters)
In that case, if you can't do what you want with the built-in filters, and shaders.

Eg, I use external filters for the audio only:
I have a 4.1 speaker system with analogue connection with a 4 channel soundcard on WinXP.
My external filters with the following order:
- AC3 filter (prefer): set to 4 channel output
- PowerDivx DynEQ (prefer): to normalize the output

[AlphaWolf]

In that case, if you can't do what you want with the built-in filters, and shaders.

Eg, I use external filters for the audio only:
I have a 4.1 speaker system with analogue connection with a 4 channel soundcard on WinXP.
My external filters with the following order:
- AC3 filter (prefer): set to 4 channel output
- PowerDivx DynEQ (prefer): to normalize the output

For audio I make it do s/pdif passthrough and let my receiver (Onkyo TX-SR605) handle all of the AC3 and DTS decoding. Unless there's any reason to do it another way?

[shiloto]

Just becouse you had problems doesnt mean you will get such.
It takes ~10 mins to install, see and decide

and im not enforcing my opinion

[clsid]

Shiloto, you really don't know what you're talking about. The whole point of the MPC-HC fork was to include new features, including updated decoders. Please stop showing up in every thread only to say "HAY GUYS USE K-LITE!"
You don't much more either. The decoders in MPC-HC are inferior to ffdshow because they are lacking all the nice options that ffdshow has. They are also updated less often.

[click2]

Codec packs causing problems largely depends on your codec pack and your knowledge of directshow. It's mostly an outdated sentiment, though, as i think both KLite and CCCP will detect and remove other codec packs if necessary.

Some decoders are better optimised than others, and may be faster or more efficient (e.g. un4seen's bass, for mp3). However, the performance difference isn't really noticable on today's systems, and it's easier to stick with a clean codec setup. Just use ffdshow for everything, unless there's a specific problem (e.g. HD h264 -> coreavc, judder -> madvr/reclock/gothsync etc).

[LoRd_MuldeR]

You don't much more either. The decoders in MPC-HC are inferior to ffdshow because they are lacking all the nice options that ffdshow has. They are also updated less often.

That plus: Even if you don't need the post-processing filters of ffdshow, it may be worth using the FFmpeg-MT decoder available through ffdshow to decode H.264 video.

As far as I know, MPC-HC's internal decoder does not use FFmpeg-MT yet. I know it has a DXVA decoder, but not any GPU does support DXVA and not all streams can be decoded via DXVA.

Last but not least the DivX H.264 decoder (available for free) and the CoreAVC Decoder (worth the money) provide even better performance than the FFmpeg-MT decoder...

[allak]

There is one reason I have recently started using ffdshow again for video playback: the very very nice "High Quality YV12 to RGB Conversion" option.

That is processor hungry and do not uses DXVA, but you said that processor time is no object.

IMHO it gives the best results quality wise.

Moreover, it let you bypass all the video card drivers "enhancements" fixes, which (for me) are much more trouble that what they are worth.

That said, the MadVR renderer could be an even better option, when/if development will restart.