Playback
Playback controls, filters, and features
CineWindows uses libmpv under the hood — a fork of MPlayer/mplayer2 — for all playback operations. The engine is initialized in the C++ backend and exposed to QML through property bindings and signal handlers.
libmpv FFmpeg DXVA2 D3D11VASupported Formats
| Category | Formats |
|---|---|
| Video containers | MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, WebM, FLV, WMV, TS, MTS, MPEG-PS, OGV, 3GP, DivX |
| Video codecs | H.264/AVC, H.265/HEVC, VP9, AV1, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, VC-1, VP8, Motion JPEG |
| Audio containers | MP3, FLAC, AAC, OGG, WAV, M4A, WMA, Opus, AIFF, DSD |
| Audio codecs | AAC, MP3, FLAC, Vorbis, Opus, PCM, DTS, AC3/E-AC3, TrueHD, WMA |
| Subtitles | SRT, ASS, SSA, WebVTT, PGS (embedded), VobSub (embedded), MOV text |
| Playlists | M3U, M3U8 |
| Streaming | HTTP, HTTPS, HLS, RTMP, RTSP, UDP, YouTube-DL (via ytdl-hook) |
Playback Controls
Play / Pause
Seeking
Speed Control
Frame Stepping
A-B Loop
Chapter Navigation
Seek Precision
| Method | Increment |
|---|---|
| Left / Right Arrow | 5 seconds |
| Ctrl + Left / Ctrl + Right | 30 seconds |
| Shift + Left / Shift + Right | 1 minute |
| Seek bar click | Precise to frame |
| Seek bar drag | Precise to frame |
| Ctrl + G (Go to) | Enter exact time (HH:MM) |
Video Filters
CineWindows exposes mpv’s video filter pipeline through the Settings > Video panel and keyboard shortcuts. All adjustments are applied in real time with immediate visual feedback on the video area.
Filter Controls
| Filter | Default | Range | Shortcut |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contrast | 0 | −100 to +100 | 1 / Shift+1 |
| Brightness | 0 | −100 to +100 | 2 / Shift+2 |
| Gamma | 0 | −100 to +100 | 3 / Shift+3 |
| Saturation | 0 | −100 to +100 | 4 / Shift+4 |
| Hue | 0 | −180 to +180 | 5 / Shift+5 |
Each filter resets to its default value when you press the corresponding number key without Shift (e.g., pressing 1 resets contrast to 0).
Advanced Filters
- Deinterlace — toggle with D. Applies the yadif video filter for interlaced content. Best used with 25/29.97 fps interlaced video from TV broadcasts or DVDs.
- Deband — toggle with B. Reduces banding artifacts in gradient-heavy scenes (sky, shadows, fog). Uses mpv’s
debandfilter with optimized defaults.
Video Adjustments
Zoom and Pan
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| F | Cycle zoom modes: Fit to Window → Fill Window → 1 → Fit to Width |
| Ctrl + Mouse Wheel | Zoom in / out |
| Mouse Drag (middle button) | Pan the zoomed frame |
| Shift + F | Reset zoom and pan to default |
Aspect Ratio
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| A | Cycle aspect ratios: Auto → 16 → 4 → 2.35 → 1.85 → 1 |
| Shift + A | Reset to Auto (source aspect ratio) |
The aspect ratio setting scales the video within the window while preserving the chosen proportion. Black bars are added as needed.
Audio Controls
| Control | Action |
|---|---|
| Up / Down | Volume ±5% |
| M | Mute / unmute |
| Ctrl + Up / Ctrl + Down | Audio delay ±50ms |
| J | Cycle audio track (if multiple available) |
Audio tracks are detected from the container and listed in Audio > Track menu. The active track is shown on the OSD when changed. CineWindows supports multi-channel audio up to 7.1 and will downmix to stereo if your output device lacks sufficient channels.
Hardware Acceleration
Hardware decoding is enabled by default and automatically selects the best available backend:
| Backend | API | GPU Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| D3D11VA | Direct3D 11 Video API | GPU with Direct3D 11 Feature Level 11.0 or higher |
| DXVA2 | DirectX Video Acceleration 2 | GPU with DXVA2 support (most GPUs from 2010 onward) |
| None | Software decoding (FFmpeg) | CPU-based, no GPU required |
D3D11VA is preferred when available because it offers better driver stability, lower peak memory usage, and proper support for 10-bit and HDR content. CineWindows falls back to DXVA2 on systems without D3D11VA support.
Screenshots
| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| S | Save screenshot (PNG) to the screenshots folder |
| Ctrl + S (when no A-B loop active) | Save screenshot (PNG) |
Screenshots are saved to Pictures\CineWindows\Screenshots by default. The output format, quality, and destination folder can be changed in Settings > Video > Screenshots. Screenshots capture the exact decoded frame without HUD elements or overlays.
OSD Indicators
The on-screen display briefly shows the following notifications:
- Seek direction and delta (“Forward 0”)
- Playback speed when not 1.0× (“1.5×”)
- Audio track change (“Audio: English 5.1”)
- Subtitle track change (“Subtitles: English (ASS)”)
- Filter value change (“Contrast: +15”)
- Chapter jump (“Chapter 3: Opening Credits”)
- Loop state (“Loop A → B set” / “Loop cleared”)
All OSD notifications respect the OSD visibility setting in Settings > General > OSD, where you can disable them entirely or extend the display duration.