Free DownloadInstructions for using the Pure Codec Settings
Edited on: 2025.2.11
Some concepts
Video files (MP4/MKV…) are generally encapsulated with encoded video (H.264/H.265…) and audio (AAC/MP3…).
To play a video file, the multimedia player usually separates the video and audio of the video file through the corresponding source filter or separator, sends it to the corresponding video decoder and audio decoder, and finally presents it on the display device and audio device through the video and audio renderer.
Perfect Decoding is an integrated software of popular players, source filters/separators, audio and video decoders, renderers, etc., collectively referred to as decoding packages.
Perfect Decoding Settings Center
Perfect Decoding allows different combinations of players, decoders and renderers through the settings center, and different combinations have their own advantages and disadvantages.
The following introduces the corresponding functions of the options:
Basic
Player: (Select a main player)
PotPlayer is a powerful player with a built-in separator decoder and flexible settings.
MPC-HC is an open source player with simple functions, used with LAV Filters separator decoder.
MPC-BE is an open source player with simple functions, with built-in separator decoder.
File association: associate the way to open multimedia files with the player (Note: Windows 10/11 needs to be set in Settings-》Apps-》Default Apps)
Decoder:
Built-in player: use the built-in separator and decoder of the player (only available in PotPlayer and MPC-BE).
LAV Filters: an excellent set of separator and decoder plug-ins, used by MPC-HC by default, more efficient and compatible than the built-in decoder of PotPlayer. (Green call, registered to the player, non-system.)
Lentoid: a HEVC (H265) video decoder, with high software decoding efficiency, but poor compatibility, generally not recommended, unless the computer configuration is backward and the performance is insufficient, you can try to use it.
Hardware acceleration: (The option will take effect only if the graphics card has a video hardware decoder. Graphics card hardware decoding support: AMD Intel NVIDIA)
Do not use: Do not use the video hardware acceleration function of the graphics card, use the CPU for software decoding, which has the best stability, but when encountering high-resolution and high-bitrate videos, the CPU may not have enough performance and cause lag.
DXVA2: Video hardware acceleration method supported by Windows 7, which is efficient, but the image quality of different graphics cards varies greatly, such as: Intel’s early core graphics are particularly yellowish and not ideal.
D3D11: A new video hardware acceleration method supported by Windows 8, which is efficient and has image quality close to software decoding, and is recommended.
Always use: PotPlayer does not accurately detect the hardware decoding capabilities of some GPUs (such as Intel HD Graphics 630/P630), resulting in some high-resolution videos not trying to use hard decoding. After checking, videos of any resolution will always try to use hard decoding unconditionally. Corresponding to PotPlayer parameter options->Filter->Video decoder->Hardware acceleration (DXVA) settings->Resolution limit->Always use unconditionally (if VGA is not supported, it will cause serious problems)
Video renderer: (only a few commonly used ones are introduced)
Direct3D 11: Built-in PotPlayer, very efficient, some GPUs can only use it to smoothly play videos supported by the specifications. Support HDR and Dolby Vision.
MPCVR: The most balanced renderer at present, with strong developer capabilities, the first to support Dolby Vision, support HDR, and medium rendering speed.
madVR: The most colorful renderer, but it consumes more resources and has many adjustable items. If you have a high-performance graphics card, you can render a good picture quality through appropriate settings. Support HDR, but not Dolby Vision.
EVR: Built-in since Windows 7, only supports DXVA2 hardware acceleration, divided into basic version (EVR) and custom version (EVR CP).
The basic version renders very fast, but many functions are not supported, such as shaders, so HDR and Dolby Vision are not supported.
The custom version supports many advanced functions, including HDR and Dolby Vision, but the rendering speed is not as fast as the basic version.
VMR 9: A very early system built-in renderer that does not support mainstream hardware acceleration, but has fast rendering speed and good color.
Audio output: Select according to your audio device.
S/PDIF: Enable digital audio signal transmission, provided that the amplifier supports hardware decoding audio.
Subtitle display:
Player: Use the subtitle function of the player to display external subtitles, which is generally sufficient unless you want to implement dual subtitles or certain special effects.
xy-VSFilter: An early external subtitle plug-in that is compatible with some subtitle special effects.
XySubFilter: An external subtitle plug-in developed for madVR video renderer.
Player: (some function options of the player)
Volume normalization: Automatically adjust the volume, and occasionally a few sources will have popping sounds.
Video filter: Only PotPlayer option, some functions will be unavailable after disabling, but it can improve efficiency, and if you use LAV Filters hardware acceleration, you must disable it.
Audio filter: Only PotPlayer option, some functions will be unavailable after disabling, but it can improve efficiency.
HEVC S/W: After PotPlayer 1.7.19955 version, the built-in decoder no longer supports soft decoding of HEVC (H265), and turning on this option can fix it. But if the graphics card supports HEVC hardware decoding, or Win11 (with built-in HEVC decoder), it does not need to be turned on.
LAV Filters:
Splitter: Call up the configuration page of the LAV Filters splitter.
Video decoder: Call up the configuration page of the LAV Filters video decoder.
Audio decoder: Call up the configuration page of the LAV Filters audio decoder.
Register to the system: (Third-party decoders and renderers must be registered to the system or player before they can be called. Registering to the system is public and can be called by all software. Registering to the player is private, green, and does not affect the system.)
madVR: Register the madVR video renderer to the system for the player to call. (You can also register it to the player, but I didn’t choose it.)
MPCVR: Register the MPCVR video renderer to the system for the player to call. (You can also register it to the player, but I didn’t choose it.)
LAV Filters: Register LAV Filters to the system for other software or games to call. Sometimes it can solve the problem that some video encoding software does not work, or some animations in games do not display, but generally do not register it to the system if it is not needed.
Configuration
Backup: Back up the configuration of the selected player or plug-in to a certain directory, such as some favorite common settings.
Restore: Restore the configuration backup of the selected player or plug-in to the registry, and restore the settings of the player or plug-in at the time of backup.
Association
Open ICO directory: Open the directory of icon files for viewing or replacing icons.
Associate ICO icons: Change the associated multimedia files to icons in the ICO directory.
This satisfies some users who like to use the old icons of perfect decoding or change the icons themselves.
About
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