FFDSHOW for HEVC

[Zee530]

Hey everyone.

I want to play my HEVC/H.265 videos using ffdshow video as my preferred decoder, but when i go to mpc codec tweak tool and select preferred splitters i don't even see ffdshow there anywhere, but it does come up when playing normal mp4 videos, how can i get it back. I know LAV seems to be the more advanced decoder but the options given for tweaking ffdshow makes it the best option for me. Right now i just got a new 1080p display but most of my videos are 720p, what i'm doing with ffdshow is using upscaling to render my 720p vids in 1080p and they look much better than before, but LAV doesn't seem to have this option. Can someone pls tell me how i can use ffdshow with HEVC or how i can use upscaling with LAV decoder, thanks.

[Marsia Mariner]

ffdshow does not include an HEVC decoder, and it never will, since it became "abandonware".
As you already discovered, you still can use it as a processor for decoded (uncompressed) video.
The author of LAV has no plans to make the decoding filters (LAV Audio & LAV Video) even more complex than they already are.

[Zee530]

Thats's disappointing cause LAV has so very few features compared to ffdshow, for example whenever i install the codec pack the first thing i always do is go to ffdshow audio and enable volume normalization and equalizer for crystal clear audio which LAV doesn't have, then i go to ffdshow video and enable sharpen mask for a much clearer video which LAV doesn't have, it's a shame its abandoned, i hope LAV's author can reconsider and maybe add some of these features in the near future.

[sneaker]

For video filters many people combine LAV Video with madvr renderer. In madvr you have filters including sharpening (and sharp scalers).

[Zee530]

Good, but does it do HEVC as well? not sure you can combine LAV with MadVR for that.

[sneaker]

You can. You have to, actually. LAV cannot render, madvr cannot decode. They are designed to work hand in hand.

[Zee530]

Are you sure about that, cause when you play a video the decoders being used are put in the system tray, when playing HEVC videos all i see there are LAV splitter, LAV video decoder & ffdshow video decoder.

EDIT: Okay, went into MPC's output settings and set the direct video to MadVR, now it shows up in system tray, still having a bit of trouble identifying how to upscale, i want all 720p vids to be upscaled to 1080p, but unlike ffdshow, the settings aren't straightforward, can you give me a hand?

[sneaker]

madvr scales the video to the size you are watching the video at. If you go fullscreen it is scaled to your display resolution. So if you go full screen on a 1080p monitor (with Windows/GPU driver set to 1080p) madvr will scale to 1080p. Every renderer works like this. If you want even more sharpening than the upscaling algo provides go "processing">"image enhancements" and play a bit with the sharpeners.

https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=171787

[Zee530]

Wouldn't that be resizing rather than upscaling, not sure they're the same thing. Anyways you're right, MadVR does seem to upscale at fullscreen, there is a noticeable half second fade to black whenever you switch to fullscreen, i don't see other decoders doing this so i'm gonna say they are resizing, not upscaling.

Anyways thanks for all the help, looks like it's LAV+MadVR for me from now on, bye bye ffdshow video decoder.

We could actually have a second conversation about this regarding audio XD Cause ffdshow audio decoder has a built in equalizer, mixer and volume booster, whereas LAV audio does not, any justification to switch to LAV audio and abandon ffdshow audio? XD

[sneaker]

Wouldn't that be resizing rather than upscaling, not sure they're the same thing.

In this context they are the same thing. (well, "resizing" can mean down- or up while "upscaling" is up, obviously...)
The half-second black when switching to fullscreen is only because of madvr switching to "fullscreen exclusive mode". It's mainly done to avoid tearing or enable features like >8 bit output, HDR or 3D. Has nothing to do with whether or not scaling is involved.

Think about this: if your video is 720p and your display is 1080p and you watch fullscreen - how would it work without scaling? Every video player/renderer whatever must upscale to 1080p. There is no other way unless you want to have huge black bars all around your video.

We could actually have a second conversation about this regarding audio XD Cause ffdshow audio decoder has a built in equalizer, mixer and volume booster, whereas LAV audio does not, any justification to switch to LAV audio and abandon ffdshow audio? XD

If you are happy with ffdshow audio: probably not. Main addition might be decoders for things like DTS-HD MA and bug fixes. But you can combine LAV audio with ffdshow audio or AC3filter.

[Zee530]

Quite happy with it actually but lets leave that conversation for another day. Thanks for all the help