Serious lag and audio going out of sync on a 1080p MKV file on PotPlayer

[vbase]

As the title says...

Here's some info, although, I understand none of it and don't know if it is sufficient.. Let me know if anything else is needed.

[Used Filter List]
(1) Built-in MKV Source
(2) Built-in Video Codec/Transform
(3) Enhanced Video Renderer(Custom Present)
(4) Built-in Audio Codec/Transform
(5) DirectSound Audio Renderer

[Video Information]
Codec: HVC1 - Built-in FFmpeg Decoder(hevc, Thread Frame)
Input type: HVC1(24 bits)
Input size: 1920 x 1080(1.78:1)
Output type: YV12(12 bits)
Output size: 1920 x 1080(1.78:1)
Frame rate:23.98
BitRate: Unknown

[Audio Information]
Codec: AAC(0xaac0) - FFmpegMininum64.dll(aac)
Sample rate: 48000 -> 48000 samples/sec
Bits per sample: 0 -> 16 bits/sample
Channels: 6 -> 2 channels
Bitrate: 0 kbps

VLC had the same issues.

My system is:
Processor: Intel Core i5-2410M
RAM: 6 GB
GPU: None really. Just Intel HD Graphics 3000.

[sneaker]

HVC1 is HEVC codec.

Try a 64 bit player with software decoding. I recommend MPC-HC/LAV 64 bit. If you don't have a 64 bit OS try Lentoid HEVC decoder.

[vbase]

HVC1 is HEVC codec.

Try a 64 bit player with software decoding. I recommend MPC-HC/LAV 64 bit. If you don't have a 64 bit OS try Lentoid HEVC decoder.

I have the 64-bit PotPlayer. I tried MPC-HC, it is much better, no lag, no audio desync, there is some lag when skipping forward/backward, though.

Is there anyway to get PotPlayer to work? I am used to PotPlayer and MPC-HC kinda feels not home for me.

[sneaker]

1. Install LAV filters.
2. in PotPlayer: preferences -> Filter Control -> Video decoder set "LAV Video .." (or if not available try system default) as decoder for "H.265" and "HEVC". (If you have problems also set "LAV Splitter" as source filter for mkv)

I hope this works. I'm not overly familiar with PotPlayer.

[vbase]

1. Install LAV filters.
2. in PotPlayer: preferences -> Filter Control -> Video decoder set "LAV Video .." (or if not available try system default) as decoder for "H.265" and "HEVC". (If you have problems also set "LAV Splitter" as source filter for mkv)

I hope this works. I'm not overly familiar with PotPlayer.

That's much better. Thanks. There still is some lag and going out of sync when skipping and then the video catches up with the audio.

[AllisOne]

First make sure that at the end of installation of PotPlayer you let it download additional codecs.
As sneaker mentioned, use Strongene Lentoid HEVC decoder : http://www.strongene.com/en/downloads/downloadCenter.jsp - use first link to download
( http://www.xhevc.com/resource/Strongene_Lentoid_HEVC_Decoder_v2.1.0.2_2015_12_02_r4644.zip ). But it is registered as both x32 and x64 filter/decoder, so you can use it with PotPlayer x64 as well.
Create a folder called for example 'HEVC Lentoid decoder' in Program Files (x86) or Program Files, put all the files from the zip there (actually from folder 'decoder'), use files reg.bat and reg64.bat to register all filters (4 for x32 and luckily 1 that you need for HEVC video decoding for x64). Then in PotPlayer's Preferences - Filter Control - Video Decoder - go to the right and click 'Filter management' - then 'Scan' and OK. Then from drop down menu for HEVC choose 'Lentoid HEVC Decoder'. Then 'Apply' and 'OK' (All when you're not playing any video).

What OS exactly do you use? For example I use Windows 7 x64 Pro. What help to reduce CPU usage, etc in my case:
- I set video renderer to Video Mixing Renderer 9 (Renderless) in 'Video'
- in 'Filter Control' in 'Built-in Video processing filter settings' I set 'Conditions' to ' Disable with the following conditions'. 'Fourcc' ticked and at the end I add: HEVC HVC1 H265 HM91 HM10

[vbase]

Finally, I got it to work, thanks to the both of you. I couldn't figure AllisOne's 2nd step (couldn't find the 'Built-in Video processing....' and the conditions etc) and while I scanned for the new filters, I got both LAV Filter and LAV Splitter show up in the drop down menu. Set both splitter and renderer to LAV and it works fabulously. Btw, Lentoid filters didn't even run the video.

So here's what worked:

1. I installed the LAV Filters from the fourth post.
2. PotPlayer -> Preferences -> Filter Control -> Video Decoder -> Filter Management -> Scan -> OK.
3. Set both Video Decoder and Source/Splitter for HEVC to LAV.

This thing works great. I am on Windows 7 Ultimate x64. Also noticed the built-in renderer splitter were a CPU hog. I couldn't open Chrome or do anything else while playing the video files else my laptop would lag like hell. It's now much better.

[AllisOne]

Nice. But did you find "- in 'Filter Control' in 'Built-in Video processing filter settings' I set 'Conditions' to ' Disable with the following conditions'. 'Fourcc' ticked and at the end I add: HEVC HVC1 H265 HM91 HM10" in the end? Just in case: Preferences (F5) - 'Filter Control' is in drop down menu on the left, you click it and go to the right h. side window. 'Built-in Video processing filter settings' is underneath 'Information' text.
It's worth to try nightly build of LAV Filters. The stable one is a few month old at the moment.
Official nightly: https://files.1f0.de/lavf/nightly/
Mod: http://tmod.nmm-hd.org/LAVFilters/ Mod explained: https://astrataro.wordpress.com/2014/10/22/lavfilters-tmod/
If anything's wrong just revert to stable or previous version of nightly.

[sheppaul]

Well, I don't think there is much difference between built-in filters and lav as both are using ffmpeg. Probably wrong configuration or check if you're using the latest version of Potplayer.

[sneaker]

LAV author cherry-picked CPU optimizations from OpenHEVC project that could not easily be integrated into mainline ffmpeg. That's why for the longest time LAV HEVC decoding was faster than other ffmpeg based players. This might not be the case anymore so checking out the latest (64 bit) versions of any ffmpeg based player might indeed be worth a try.

[sheppaul]

Really? Thanks for the info. I'll try it.

[vbase]

Nice. But did you find "- in 'Filter Control' in 'Built-in Video processing filter settings' I set 'Conditions' to ' Disable with the following conditions'. 'Fourcc' ticked and at the end I add: HEVC HVC1 H265 HM91 HM10" in the end? Just in case: Preferences (F5) - 'Filter Control' is in drop down menu on the left, you click it and go to the right h. side window. 'Built-in Video processing filter settings' is underneath 'Information' text.
It's worth to try nightly build of LAV Filters. The stable one is a few month old at the moment.
Official nightly: https://files.1f0.de/lavf/nightly/
Mod: http://tmod.nmm-hd.org/LAVFilters/ Mod explained: https://astrataro.wordpress.com/2014/10/22/lavfilters-tmod/
If anything's wrong just revert to stable or previous version of nightly.

Found it and did it. However, is video renderer and video decoder different things? I have LAV set as decoder and VMR9 as video renderer with your options.

[AllisOne]

Yes, video decoder and video renderer are different things and you need both in the filter list during video play. The decoder decodes video stream and the renderer renders it and actually displays in on the screen through a player. This is my crude understanding.
'Built-in Video processing filter' in the filter list (right click on PotPlayer screen when playing video) is called 'Built-in Video Codec/Transform' (it's not a video renderer by the way). When used on its own is PotPlayer internal video decoder (you can choose what actual video decoder it use via 'Preferences' - 'Filter controls' - 'Video Decoder' - go to the bottom right, click 'Built-in codec/DXVA settings' and change them under 'Available Video Decoders'), but if you use for example LAV or Lentoid it becomes an intermediate one and can add up to the CPU usage.
A note: when 'Built-in Video processing filter' is off you can't record/capture video in Potplayer
@sheppaul: I actually noticed that especially UHD videos are better played with MPC-HC (it uses LAV as internal filters) than PotPlayer and LAV - comparing all latest nightly to nightly versions. Of course it might be something wrong with configuration - so many variables and settings involved.
It's worth to try latest dev/nightly x32 version of PotPlayer - it's updated more often (so you quicker get new fixes/functions and new errors sometimes ). In fact it's good to uninstall PotPlayer completely from time to time (from Program Files (x86) or Program Files and C:\Users\[User name]\AppData\Roaming) and configure it anew to solve 'strange' problems.

[sneaker]

It's worth to try latest dev/nightly x32 version of PotPlayer

ffmpeg's 64 bit HEVC decoder is like twice as fast as the 32 bit variant.

[AllisOne]

@ sneaker: I've just mentioned it as a one of methods of problem solving for beginners (including me

Quick check of mkv HEVC sample - unfortunately in my case the CPU usage with LAV and Lentoid 32 and 64 bit are similar. With internal PotPlayer video decoder (both ffmpegs) the usage is much higher. But it's good to know that LAV is now comparable to Lentoid (before Lentoid was the winner). Lentoid develpment seems to be stalled, so with all the ffmpeg and LAV updates the last-mentioned is/will be no. 1.

[sneaker]

Yes, Lentoid 32 bit and 64 bit are similar. But LAV and ffmpeg 32 bit are much much slower than LAV and ffmpeg 64 bit. Lentoid is too buggy/incompatible and like you said they don't release bugfixes anymore, unfortunately. I found it to be faster on older CPUs and esp. on 32 bit OS.