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Advanced MPC-HC Setup Guide

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#1 · (Edited)
Advanced MPC-HC Setup Guide (6/2015 update)

Introduction
This guide is about getting the best quality and performance out of the MPC-HC video player, allowing it to make the most out of your hardware. The guide has 5 main parts: installation, video decoding, audio, madvr configuration, and reclock(optional). The installation part is really easy, and if you really wanted to keep things simple, you can actually just use the installation section alone and be in decent shape. I’d recommend that for casual users that don’t want to read the whole thing. Also, feel free to add comments and questions in this thread. Two things I don’t cover are SVP and display calibration. I’m not interested in SVP’s functionality. If you want to learn more about display calibration, see http://www.avsforum.com/t/1471169/madvr-argyllcms .

What you need to download
1. MPC-HC x86 installer (http://mpc-hc.org/downloads/ )
- Considered one of the best directshow players for windows. I’m suggesting the 32 bit version since it is compatible with more things.
2. MadVR.zip ( http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=146228 )
- Considered the best video renderer, most of the quality improvements come from madVR.
3. Optional - Reclock ( from the stickied thread here http://forum.slysoft.com/forumdisplay.php?f=85 )
- Advanced software popular among videophiles, its main function is to provide extremely smooth video by better syncing the video with the display. Much more detail in the Reclock section.

Installation
Run the MPC-HC x86 installer. Note that it gives you the option to reset settings if you’ve messed around with other guides or codec packs, and want to start fresh.



Then, to install madVR, extract the zip file and run the install.bat for it. To tell mpc-hc to use madVR, open mpc-hc, press “o” for options, go to ouput, and select madVR under directshow video.



That’s it for installation. I’ll cover reclock in its own section, as you may or may not need to install it.

Video Decoding
To access the video decoding options, open mpc hc, press o for options, go to internal filters, and click Video Decoder at the bottom.



The important things to note here are the hardware acceleration options on the upper right side. In general, dxva copyback is the one to use to decode the video through your gpu. You also can use the “none” option if you want to use your CPU. Hardware acceleration lowers cpu usage on supported formats, such as 8 bit HEVC, 8 bit H264, VC-1, mpeg 2, etc, depending on the GPU and what is ticked in the video decoder options.

Audio
Windows Audio Setup
This subsection doesn’t deal with anything mpc-hc specific, but rather a windows audio setting that people often overlook that affects audio quality in general. Go to control panel, hardware and sound, and then sound. Right click on your sound device, and then go to advanced. My recommendation is 24 bit, 48khz.



Next, go back to the sound window. Right click on your sound device and this time select configure speakers. Set it up to match your speaker setup. If you are using spdif output, you probably don't have this option, and don't have to do this step.



It’s pretty straight forward.

Bitstreaming
This is mostly for people with AV receivers, allowing you to use the audio decoders in them. To access the bitstreaming options of MPC-HC, go to options, internal filters, and click Audio Decoder at the bottom. This opens the audio settings.



For analog, don't check anything. For a receiver connected by SPDIF, you usually can check Dolby Digital and DTS. For a receiver connected by HDMI, you usually can check all the options for bitstreaming.

Mixer
This is mostly for people having volume issues with multichannel audio. The low volume occurs when Windows downmixes your audio, and to avoid this, you can do a downmix within MPC-HC instead. To access the mixing options of MPC-HC, go to options, internal filters, click Audio Decoder at the bottom, then go to the mixing tab.



Select your speaker configuration and check the option in the upper right called “Don’t mix stereo sources” to leave mono and stereo audio untouched by the mixer. Don’t touch any of the sliders.


MadVR Config
To edit the madVR settings, first play any video in MPC-HC. Then right click in the video, go to filters,
then click on madVR, and click edit settings. This is also a great chance to make sure all the right filters are also showing up properly in the filters list.



Scaling
For image downscaling, catmull rom is the way to go. For chroma and image upscaling, Jinc with the antiringing filter is considered great quality, but requires a fast GPU. Similiarly, lanczos 3 taps with antiringing is considered good, but doesn’t require as much GPU performance. For modern intel GPU’s specifically, the dxva scaling options provide good quality with a very small performance hit.



Image Doubling
Image doubling gives higher quality than upscaling alone. Currently, the option with good performance and quality is the super xbr option, so I recommend that. Image doubling in general requires a fast gpu.


Display Modes
This subsection is basically for televisions that have a 23.976hz mode. MadVR can make the display switch refresh rates when needed. The default 60hz usually isn’t ideal for movies. To see what refresh rates your display supports, right click on your desktop wallpaper and go to screen resolution. Choose the display you watch videos on and go to advanced. Then go to the monitor tab and look at the listed refresh rates.



To have madVR automatically switch to the proper refresh rate, go to the devices section in madVR settings and choose the display that you watch videos on. Expand it, and then choose display modes. Check the option to change to matching display modes, and then list the important refresh rates your device supports in the box. The important refresh rates are 23.976, 24, 50, 59.94, 60, or multiples of these. The names of the non-integer refresh rates are shortened, so 23.976=23. Make sure you only enter refresh rates for the native resolution of the display (eg, don’t put in 720p values for a 1080p display). You can see the display’s refresh rate and the video frame rate while watching a video by pressing ctrl+j.



Smooth Motion
This is basically for 60hz computer displays and televisions that don’t support a 23.976hz mode. It is an alternative to setting a matching refresh rate through the display modes section. Enabling both doesn’t hurt anyway, since Smooth Motion is only used when needed by default. It causes a small performance hit, but on the bright side, you don’t get the screen going blank from a refresh rate change. It is listed under rendering.



Film Deinterlacing
This is mostly for DVD video and HDTV broadcasts. There are 2 types of deinterlacing available through madVR. Video deinterlacing for video sources and film deinterlacing for film sources. Film deinterlacing is also known as inverse telecine. Film mode is probably more appropriate for your DVDs and HDTV shows. Deinterlacing options are in the processing section. You have to disable automatic source detection and force film mode. Automatic source detection doesn’t work atm, it just defaults to video mode all the time. Film deinterlacing is not compatible with DXVA2 (native) video decoding atm.



How To Judge Performance
Press ctrl+j while a video is playing. You want the all the queues to be full or near full, with a low average rendering time. The rendering time has to be comfortably lower than the movie frame interval. Rendering performance varies depending on the resolution of the video, the resolution of the display, and the frame rate and bit depth of the video. You also want to make sure the dropped frame counter isn’t rising, though some dropped frames are inevitable at the start of playback. You can press ctrl+r to reset the counter after playback has stabilized.

Optional - Reclock
Who should use it?
This is mostly for people with 120hz/144hz computer displays or televisions with 23.976hz mode. Without reclock, you will have slight frame drops/repeats once in a while due to the frame rate not quite matching the refresh rate. Reclock will make them sync up exactly.



Reclock Requirements:
1. You shouldn’t bitstream with reclock. Reclock needs uncompressed audio to work.
2. You have to have set up display mode switching in madvr or have a 120hz/144hz computer display. Your video’s frame rate (or an integer multiple of the frame rate) has to be roughly near your refresh rate for reclock to be effective. So, for a 23.976 fps video, the display can be 23-24hz (multiple of 1), 119-120hz (multiple of 5), 143-144hz (multiple of 6).

If you meet this criteria, and you’re intrigued by the idea of even smoother video (since you aren’t limited to 60hz, you’re already smoother than most), continue reading this section.

Setting up Reclock
Install reclock using the installer. Note that you don’t need PowerDVD support, dsound support, Arcsoft TMT support, etc, just the program files. Then, go into lav audio and disable bitstreaming for all formats.



While in the audio settings, note the mixing tab. With reclock, we will use wasapi exclusive mode, which bypasses the Windows’ mixer (the one you saw in control panel>audio>configure speakers). This may cause issues if you are using integrated audio, so you will have to use lav audio to mix to your speaker configuration. Check "Don't mix stereo sources" to keep mono and stereo streams untouched. Don’t touch the sliders. If you have a dedicated sound card or an hdmi multichannel receiver, you can likely skip mixing here – specify speaker config through the sound card or receiver instead.



Configure MPC-HC to use reclock as the audio renderer by going to options, output and selecting reclock as the audio renderer.


Open the configure reclock shortcut from the start menu. Choose Wasapi for PCM, choose best sinc interpolation for quality, choose 24 bit padded to 32 for format, and uncheck “output mono to front channels” if you have a center speaker (5.1 configs, etc). You may also have to set a 48khz sampling rate here, depending on if you run into weird videos that don’t use the standard 48khz and your hardware isn’t tolerant of the sampling rates.


And that’s all. You’ll should see the green reclock icon in the taskbar while videos are playing, indicating that reclock is doing its thing.

Updating Software
You can update MPC HC by just running a newer installer. Your settings will carry over. For madVR, run the uninstall.bat, delete the old madVR folder, put the new one in its place and run the install.bat. For reclock, run the uninstaller, and then the new installer.
 
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#27 ·
Or you could just use JR Media Center with an Nvidia card and most of this is worked out for you.


I want to congratulate the original poster. I think your guide is tremendous!


I am using JRiver for the most part these days but I have several HTPCs and for two of them in particular there is much in this guide that will help me get the most out of their admittedly modest hardware. For the rest of the HTPCs I have i3s with discrete Nvidai GPUs.


JR Rvier is supplying LAV CUVID and madVR at the latest patch leve. JR Rvier is taking care of keeping my video playback at the 99 percent point without me doing much tinkering.


Again Kudos to guide author. I give it five stars!
 
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#28 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Qaq /forum/post/20888175


I see difference between madVR and EVR on 37" from 2,5m. And its not simple EVR, its EVR CP with 32fp processing, dithering and HQ chroma sub-sampling. And I wonder why... Yes, I'm the one who likes to fine-tune favorite apps.

I use a 37" display at my desktop so the distance is more like 1.2m for me. Throwing all the tricks you described above definitely won't match madVR and madVR is dead simple to use if you have the horsepower.


It is not like a Sandy Bridge and a mid-level Nvidia GPU is a big expensive platform. I built my latest desktop with GT 545 i3 Sandy Bridge, 80 plus PSU and intel media series main board for a little over $500. I could have gotten it under $500 with more careful shopping. Had I been willing to give up the 35 watt idle, a GTS 450 could have been had for less than a $100 and I could have spent much less on my main board. I think one can put together with careful shopping all the hardware to LAV CUVID and madVR for a little over $400. It might use 75 -80 watts at idle but if you don't HTPCs all over the house than the who cares about the extra 40 watts.


I saw a very decent HP AMD quad core minitower on Woot two nights ago for $299. Just add a GT 550Ti from newegg and you have a $420 HTPC with OS that can play anything you can throw at it. Install the Nvidia GPU, install JR Media Center and set it to ROHQ and your video playback is pretty much state of the art and a no brainer all at once.
 
#29 ·
On that point, I'd like to mention that the minimum cpu requirements shouldn't really intimidate anyone. I recommend a cpu that can score around a 1.4 in cinebench r11.5, and for reference an entry level pentium g620 scores about a 2, so even that is a good deal more cpu power (almost 50% more) than I recommend for decoding, and should be enough for the advanced software deinterlacing as well.


If you are wondering how the more expensive processors fare, a core i7 2600k at stock scores a 6.8.
 
#30 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nevcairiel /forum/post/20887982


Constant tinkering?

Sure, setting up the advanced components does take a bit longer, and may require reading an additional guide, readme, forum thread, or something - BUT, once you're done, it works the same as any other setup. You click play, a movie plays.


Maybe some people believe they have to constantly tinker with the system to get the last 0.1% out of it because they read some suggestion somewhere - but thats not true.


I setup my stuff on the HTPC once, and about once a month i update the software on it, well at least my own filters and madVR (if there was an update). That takes maybe half an hour per month, and really doesn't require much tinkering. You could even go without the updating - once it works, it'll continue working.


If there was a scale of how much of your HTPCs potential you're using, i would probably rate it somewhat like this.

(Only rated PQ and the ability to actually play media - GUI needs, usability, and all that are ignored)


60% - Use WMC/WMP with all stock components - install windows and go.

90% - Use WMC/WMP with "common" 3rd party filters or a codec pack

90% - Use MPC-HC with only its internal filters.

95% - Use MPC-HC with 3rd party filters/codec pack

99% - Use MPC-HC with specifically selected and carefully setup filters

99.9% - See above, with constant tweaking and obsessive testing for the "best"


PS:

There are other players that allow the same or even more flexibility as MPC-HC, this was just an example.


I would rate this guide close to the 99% group, i do however believe that you can achieve more if you actually care to understand what you're doing rather then blindly following a guide. However, i do not see the need for constant tinkering, unless you want to do it.

Well this is coming from the developer (Nevcairiel) of LAV and CUVID. Obviously you know what settings do what, what to check, what's not important or is important, etc. So you know with what to tinker and not to tinker with. Perhaps its possible that your average HTPC user doesn't have your level of expertise.


And I agree with WMC alone being limited. But I think that with WMC+LAV you can get to about 95% of perfect. With Madvr and other renderers you can get to maybe 96-98% of perfect.


So is that 2-3% noticeable? Many don't see the difference. Some can see it on huge (100+ inch) screens which may magnify its effect.


So to buy a more powerful CPU, discrete GPU, have added heat, added noise for a 2-3% subjective gain may not be wanted or even needed.


But if you are a tinkerer and simply have to have the "best of the best" (or at least think that you have this to be 100% happy) then go for it. As I stated this guide is great.
 
#31 ·
You missed the main point:


Yes, initial setup might be challenging. But thats why some guides come along.

However, if its running properly, it doesn't require any more tinkering then your "easy" setup.


I sit down every day and watch a movie or some tv series. I don't tinker with it in between.
 
#32 ·
I had a 4670, a blu-ray drive that sometimes would not play a disk, an older non bitstreaming AVR, MPC-HC, PowerDVD 9 and a 4 year old 58 inch panasonic plasma.


I kept the plasma TV.


I replaced the 4670 with an Asus 440. I started using MadVR, LAV splitter, LAV audio, Cuvid and the latest version of MPC-HC. I also upgraded PowerDVD 9 to PowerDVD 11. My video quality using MPC-HC or PowerDVD improved dramatically.


I replaced the AVR with a Pioneer vsx-31. This is a HDMI 1.4a AVR. Pioneer was in the TV business and includes a video converter. My video looks like film now even for TV using 7MC with no pixel look. Also I started bitstreaming.


Then I replaced the Blu-ray drive and discs no longer will not play.


For those on a restricted budget, $300 for a new AVR may be too much.


But all the changes I made were money well spent in my opinion.
 
#34 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nevcairiel
You missed the main point:
Not at all. We will just have to agree to disagree.


I do like it "simple". I like cool and efficient. I like quiet. I like inexpensive. I like "best bang for your buck".


So to change all of that for a subjective 2-3% gain in quality just doesn't make sense to me when I can use your LAV +/- MPC-HC or WMC.


But that's just my approach. I am not saying that it is vastly better. Just different.
 
#35 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by StardogChampion
^ what, no new speakers?



I need new speakers, my left front has a buzzing sound.
My mains are 30 year old Vanderstein 2Cs. I replaced the acoustic couplers in the Vandersteins a couple years ago. My center, surrounds and back speakers are an eclectic mix of Klipsch speakers.


I am happy with the sound I am getting but I would not give advice on speakers...other than replace your front speakers if the buzz is not a speaker wire problem.
 
#37 ·
I can't say it was complex but then again I skipped a lot of the stuff I didn't need like MadFlac and ffdshow. I found it very simple to get MPC-HC + LAV + MadVR running on my new system. A few downloads, some installs, press this and that. Done. It just worked. It took maybe 15-20 minutes?


Now, I've got full bitstreaming working through my AVR and I think the video looks better than on my old system (MPC-HC + Shark007) for the MKV H.264 1080p content I tried. Maybe the i3-2100 graphics just plain look better than my HD5670 did but I am happy with the results and that's what counts. My only complaint would be dropped frames in windowed mode. It looked smooth as butter in fullscreen. I noticed a big difference there too, especially panning shots.


Thanks very much for the guide.
 
#38 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Postmoderndesign /forum/post/20889153


I am happy with the sound I am getting but I would not give advice on speakers...other than replace your front speakers if the buzz is not a speaker wire problem.

Mine are the not-so-great speakers (but that look nice) that came with my Onkyo HTIB from three-to-four years ago. They're relatively long and flat so they look great on the wall around my flat panel.


I am think of replacing the mains with Polk OWM5s. Other contenders are BA P430 and Cambridge Soundworks Newton HD. Each one is about $50 more than the other. My budget is VERY limited. This isn't my dream home theater space so I just need something decent and even the not-so-great Onkyo speakers that came with my HTIB have been good enough.


Someday when I build my man-cave THEN I'll do it seriously right.
 
#39 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by StardogChampion /forum/post/20894837


My only complaint would be dropped frames in windowed mode. It looked smooth as butter in fullscreen. I noticed a big difference there too, especially panning shots.


Thanks very much for the guide.

Firstly, your welcome



secondly, i think if you play around with the luma downscaling options in madvr, you can maybe fix those dropped frames in windowed mode. Try bilinear and see if your problem goes away.
 
#40 ·
As long as the thread started as an advanced guide i would like to make you a couple of A-B-C questions.


What means h264 10

bit processing?


Btw Why you deleted the

Madvr & ffdshow screenshots?

Why madvr stats shows h264 4:2:0 8bit?

Is something wrong with my setup?


In madvr settings what are these post processing options?

Should i check or uncheck these boxes?(h264/mpeg-2)


Why you use wmvideo decoder and ffdshow,too?


You write something about interlaced vc1 .Does ffdshow (yadif) can de-interlace vc-1?



Can an intel iGPU like hd2000 play properly h264 1080p using madvr and software decoding?



Thanks in advance.
 
#41 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tony_Montana /forum/post/20895166


As long as the thread started as an advanced guide i would like to make you a couple of A-B-C questions.


What means h264 10

bit processing?


Btw Why you deleted the

Madvr & ffdshow screenshots?

Why madvr stats shows h264 4:2:0 8bit?

Is something wrong with my setup?


In madvr settings what are these post processing options?

Should i check or uncheck these boxes?(h264/mpeg-2)


Why you use wmvideo decoder and ffdshow,too?


You write something about interlaced vc1 .Does ffdshow (yadif) can de-interlace vc-1?



Can an intel iGPU like hd2000 play properly h264 1080p using madvr and software decoding?



Thanks in advance.

well, I'll assume you mean 10 bit H264 decoding. If you want to, for example, encode something with x264 in 10 bit mode, you can be confident that it will play.


The pics I removed were of reclock and ffdshow audio processor. They aren't that important, but they made the guide lengthy and intimidating, so i removed them.


It doesn't look like madvr is doing anything wrong. Most videos are 8 bit 4 2 0.


Madvr has decoders too, but the video will already be decoded by lav video by the time it reaches madvr, so it shouldn't matter if you check or uncheck them. Maybe if you want to be on the safe side, uncheck them.


wmvideo decoder is a really good vc-1 decoder. Alot of free players can't decode interlaced vc-1, but the use of this decoder allows us to.


I use ffdshow raw video filter for deinterlacing in general.


I have heard an hd3000 definitely does work. If you have an hd2000, try it out and report back on how it goes. Your best bet is to configure madvr to scale luma and chroma with bilinear.
 
#42 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by assassin /forum/post/20887086


Well to play devil's advocate....


Because it can be a royal pita if you are not a "Type A" tinkerer. I think to go through all of these settings, codec changes, software changes, etc to get at most a "subtle" improvement for many may not be warranted. Or even wanted.


But I have been on AVS long enough to know that there will be a parade of people that shout from the mountaintops that a HTPC isn't worth a damn unless you have everything setup to the max such as "X" discrete video card, "perfect 24p" (if that even exists), Madvr or whatever the flavor of the quarter is, etc.


I used to be like this. Now I just want to sit down on my couch and enjoy my HTPC. I don't care anymore about the constant tinkering. I think that the whole point of a HTPC is to enjoy high quality high definition media at your fingertips. Not to spend weeks/months/years constantly tinkering to find some subtle difference that may or may not even be there (or may just be in your mind).


So for those people your guide is great. And for those of you who want to tinker this should help out immensely.


And for those who want to just use their HTPC without the constant headache of introducing all of these variables as potential problems/conflicts/issues with their HTPC I would think twice about opening pandora's box.


Trust me. I have been there. Multiple times.

I should have responded to this earlier.... my god....


Hear hear
I'm thrilled with my current setup and I haven't spent any more time other than changing a few settings to enable bitstreaming with the Shark codec pack (works now in WMC!).


For me will be the holy grail of a button in Shark's installer, or the config panels, to automatically make the few changes to enable bitstreaming. Other than that I am finally feeling like we've pretty much reached the holy grail of a fully functional HTPC for pretty much any content... especially if you are ripping your blu-rays to disk as pass through MKV. Even then playing ISO and Folders aren't too too bad with TMT (but I'm about to x that out of the equation except for playing Blu-ray disks themselves.)


Btw, no offense to your guide Mindbomb. It's very helpful for those who want to go that route.
 
#43 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by StardogChampion /forum/post/20894849


Mine are the not-so-great speakers (but that look nice) that came with my Onkyo HTIB from three-to-four years ago. They're relatively long and flat so they look great on the wall around my flat panel.


I am think of replacing the mains with Polk OWM5s. Other contenders are BA P430 and Cambridge Soundworks Newton HD. Each one is about $50 more than the other. My budget is VERY limited. This isn't my dream home theater space so I just need something decent and even the not-so-great Onkyo speakers that came with my HTIB have been good enough.


Someday when I build my man-cave THEN I'll do it seriously right.

I meant to mention that you might want to switch you main speakers just to make sure the buzz continues to come from the same speaker. If the buzz comes from the same speaker you have confirmed that the problem is with that speaker.


Also libraries carry consumer reports. Usually they do an annual report on speakers and you may get some guidance from their last speaker recommendations. Addi tonally, you may want to check out the speaker area of this forum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=89


Finally, if you can try out speakers at home and return them if you do not like the sound, previewing speakers is a good idea because you can get what you like.
 
#46 ·
Yes! Yadif does great job.

It's the only free software de-interlace filter that has the same and maybe better results than commercial ones( arcsoft & cyberlink).


Just to remind you that dxva works only with EVR.


Lav cuvid+ madvr is the best solution for interlaced material but this combination is only for nvidia users.


Renethx has some very interesting screenshots on his sticky thread .
 
#47 ·
OT, this thread has me second guessing myself. I have always used FFDshow to bitstream all my hd audio to my AVR and since the avr showed the right format I assumed all was good. Is that not right?
 
#49 ·
dont worry about it too much calgarycowboy, there are many different ways to go about setting up mpc hc.


this guide actually does cover bitstreaming through lav audio.


I think lav audio does a better job than ffdshow for bitstreaming though, as i believe ffdshow has problems with a few formats that lav audio does not. Also, lav audio handles the non bitstreamable formats better, such as LPCM or AAC or MP3 audio.
 
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