---
title: Playback
description: Playback controls, filters, and features
---

import Callout from "blume/components/content/Callout.astro";
import Badge from "blume/components/content/Badge.astro";
import Card from "blume/components/content/Card.astro";
import CardGroup from "blume/components/content/CardGroup.astro";
import Tabs from "blume/components/content/Tabs.astro";
import Tab from "blume/components/content/Tab.astro";

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.

<Badge variant="accent">libmpv</Badge>
<Badge variant="accent">FFmpeg</Badge>
<Badge variant="accent">DXVA2</Badge>
<Badge variant="accent">D3D11VA</Badge>

## Supported 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:SS) |

## 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 `deband` filter with optimized defaults.

> **Tip**
>
> Filter adjustments are per-session and reset when CineWindows restarts. To make them permanent, configure the desired values in Settings > Video and enable **Apply on startup**.

## Video Adjustments

### Zoom and Pan

| Shortcut | Action |
|---|---|
| **F** | Cycle zoom modes: Fit to Window → Fill Window → 1:1 → 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 → 16:9 → 4:3 → 2.35:1 → 1.85:1 → 1:1 |
| **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.

> **Warning**
>
> Hardware acceleration may cause visual artifacts with some high-bitrate 4K H.265 files on older GPUs. If you encounter artifacts, switch to software decoding in Settings > Video > Hardware Decoder > None.

## 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 0:05")
- 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.

> **Tip**
>
> You can mute all OSD notifications by pressing **Ctrl + O** (while playing) — this cycles through OSD modes: On → On (reduced) → Off. "Reduced" mode shows only seek and speed indicators.