Best Quality Video Player

[JonNorway]

Hi.
I have been looking to find a good quality video player.
Most of my videos are DVDs which I have ripped with DVDFab and then used an IFO-shortcut to play.
Or if the DVDs have naughty ads I also convert the video to MKV Passthrough.
Also I have downloaded a lot from YouTube with MP4.

For many years I have been using PowerDVD now version 18 (also used VLC when run into problems).
It is a good player, but sometimes it has its problems.
I have searched the Internet and found POT player with lots of good shortcuts, but now I have started to doubt its quality.
So I ask sincerely, which video player do you think has the best quality output never mind the GUI?
Do you recommend one I should try out?

Thanks and have a nice day.
Jon.

[Hoser Rob]

I dolubt there's a definitive answer but I get the best video playback with SMplayer.

[babygdav]

Too many factors involved for specifying the "best" without extensive testing on a single system.

eg. https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/graphics/sb/intelg45mediaopt...tionguide3.pdf
Most graphics cards from Intel etc have automatic detection of media (dvd) playback and automatic optimization of those images.
This is why a low-resolution DVD can look good on Intel machines with high-resolution monitors even if the player doesn't do anything but simple fitting to the screen.
This is in addition to the color settings you can tweak independently of the player settings.

eg. https://www.avforums.com/threads/best-quality-mpeg-2-codec.1193864/
Tons of software players out there, all with their own settings to optimize.

eg. powerdvd has all their trutheater enhancements to improve the audio, picture.

eg. MPHC has shaders for sharpening the image, improving contrast, etc.
eg. the video decoder used by MPHC has additional settings for deinterlacing, etc.

...

Thus, you can tweak any DVD playback all day long to get the image quality you want.

That said, I moved away from paid dvd programs to MPHC over the years because it does a good job, can decode DVDs (need to install the libdvdcss file in the folder) for free, and has adjustable audio and video shaders to do what I want. Usually, adding a Sharpening Complex shader to the video makes the video look better (more bluray like than dvd soft), and the

[JonNorway]

Thanks, Hoser Rob and babygdav for your kind help.

Hoser Rob, I have tried SMPlayer and so far it looks very good.
I have had some problem with DVD Folder and display of Menu, but will have to try it out more.

babygdav, very interesting topics you bring out, very well explained.
Well, I use Intel Core I5-4570 and Radion RX 560-series Graphic so there will still be some years before I can benefit from high definition videos.
PowerDVD does not like my Hardware and warns me about using TrueTheater.
If I understood you correctly, it will be a great improvement if I study different optional parameters.
When it comes to De-interlacing, PowerDVD is set up to use it based on bitstreams flags.
To be honest, I do not know very much yet, but will dig more into it.
Also I will have to look into Sharpening Complex shader to video as you have explained so well.

Thank you both for good suggestions and help.
Jon.

[stax76]

mpc with madvr is most popular, mpv is better though.

[babygdav]

https://community.amd.com/thread/232129
Looks like it's some sort of drivers + players issue.
You'll need to try to update to the latest driver, check CPU vs GPU load on playback of a video to confirm that the video is being pushed to the GPU for decode.

Otherwise, Nvidia card ,)

[JonNorway]

Thanks stax76 and babygdav for good info.
I will try to follow it up.
Jon.