MPC-HC upgrade a mistake?

[Monarch1st]

I just upgraded media player classic - home cinema from 1.4something to 1.6something.
I mostly don't like it.

issue #1:
The main reason is it crashes when loading another file when there is a program using full screen on the main monitor
(to explain: i often have a game going on the main monitor, and a movie or some show on the second monitor. if the game is full screen on the main monitor i have to make sure to alt-tab out of the game before the new file starts, otherwise mpc crashes)
The old version did not do this.

(other things I don't like about the new one is it seems to take up more resources than the old one did. Don't have stats to back that up so its subjective at the moment, but seems like it has more trouble running when other things are running.
And it doesn't seem as 'snappy' as the first one, i.e. there is sometimes a delay when clicking a command button and that command being carried out, e.g. sometimes I hit pause and it takes up to a second for it to comply. The older version did not have that problem.)

issue #2:
It steals focus when starting a new file. (to be fair, the old one did too. but it didnt crash)
Is there a way to prevent focus from switching when starting a new file? (this may also solve the other problem)

[Baldrick]

Try latest "stable" 1.6.0, https://www.videohelp.com/download/mplayerc_homecinema.1.6.0.4014.x86.exe instead of the 1.6.1 betas first.

[leghorn]

@OP: Where did you get the latest? I usually update to the latest build thru http://www.xvidvideo.ru/media-player-classic-home-cinema-x86-x64/. Never had any issues with it.

[Hoser Rob]

I haven't tried the new version but I generally agree about betas. I don't want them and I wish these people would always tell you if a new version is beta or not.

I also don't usually upgrade application software unless there's a security concern or it isn't working right.

Did you uninstall the old version first? That's a good idea in general.

I have to say, though, I just looked at the new version in the tools section and wasn't 100% impressed. It's nice to have quicktime and real video support but I don't want to have to install quicktime and real player to do it. They use non Windows standard codecs, which Microsoft specifically says in their tech support not to do with win7.

Plus it's not necessary. That sort of thing should be done using internal codecs which don't cause conflicts with the rest of the system. SMplayer wiil play rmvb (real media) files just fine (a lot better than VLC) without needing any other codecs. It's my usual go to player, though its DVD menu support is, shall we say, provisional.

I still use mpc-hc, but I don't think I'll be upgrading any time soon from what I just saw in the tools section. I use it for playing DVDs or the ones of mine I've ripped to DVD9 on my HD or just high quality video in general.

Mpc-hc has a really good basic interface and is quite good with good sources like DVD or HD. The thing is, if I'm playing less than DVD quality video on my HD monitor it shows up all the faults in excruciating detail. And many of those files are not just lower bit rate. They're crappy encodes too. I need something a bit more forgiving. VLC used to be my choice but SMplayer is much better for that.

What you need with less than great video is a good set of filters that may not make it technically more accurate but make it a lot more watchable. Adding noise is especially useful, and smplayer actually lets you do this among other things in filters, which no other player I've used does. I do this in avstodvd too through the AQ setting. It looks a hell of a lot better than pixelation.

If mpc-hc would do this I'd use it a lot more. Trouble is, in the video filters menu it's one of those programs, good as it is otherwise, that dumps you straight from the pretty menu into serious video geek stuff like pixel shading that I don't want to bother learning about.

So I guess my answer is to use mpchc (which I don't think I'll be upgrading) plus smplayer for bad video (it also plays some files properly that VLC won't). I've found you often want more than one program to do the same job.

[Monarch1st]

I got it thru the k-lite codec pack at codecguide.com, so it never occurred to me that it was beta.
I did uninstall the previous version (it makes you do that, I think), but I'll drop back to 1.6.0 and see if that fixes anything.

Any way to prevent it from stealing focus?

[Monarch1st]

Well, foot. I tried several versions and they all crashed. I couldn't find the 1.4.1something that I had before.
Looks like I'm stuck with 1.6.1xxxx and put up with it's inconveniences.

Got a couple other issues, but will save them for other threads.

Thanks for they help!

[dragonkeeper]

Well, foot. I tried several versions and they all crashed. I couldn't find the 1.4.1something that I had before.
Looks like I'm stuck with 1.6.1xxxx and put up with it's inconveniences.

Got a couple other issues, but will save them for other threads.

Thanks for they help!

If you're just looking for older versions of MPC-HC, you can find them here.
https://www.videohelp.com/tools/Media-Player-Classic-Home-Cinema/old-versions#download

Looks like you've encountered another reason not to use codec packs.

[Monarch1st]

I used to use mpc-hc 1.4.1.xxxx, but it's not in that list nor on the sourceforge site.

The codec pack is a possibility, but it would seem they would be more stable since they're applied more than built-in codecs.

Another possibility is there is an option somewhere in there that tweaks it just right. I remember having an epiphany when I was tweaking it last time. But its long gone. That was several years ago.

[jagabo]

You have graphics driver problems.

[Monarch1st]

Looks like it was cause by hardware acceleration. I reduced the hardware acceleration to just a couple clicks above 'none' and it no longer crashes.
It is a little slower to transition and a bigger burden on the cpu, but I'll take that over crashing.

[gOdiSOnyOuRsIDe]

You should use the versions on sourceforge's page. I haven't had a problem with their releases so far. Their latest version is v1.6.0.4014

I run music videos while playing BF3 and don't exhibit problems with transition. You should also check your codecs and make sure mpc-hc Transform Filters are not conflicting with your other codecs. Two filters trying to do the same thing at the same time is never good.

If I enable DXVA in CoreAVC and enable H264/AVC (DXVA) in mpc-hc I will get a blue screen. Something you should look out for. My 2cents.