How to Use LAV Filters on Windows, and What They Do
Some media players come with them since their creators realize there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel. But you can also download them as a standalone solution and install them yourself.
The result will be broader and better compatibility with most major video and audio formats, increased control over the playback process, and an improved audiovisual experience.
They’re known as “LAV filters” and are a popular and free way to improve your computer’s media playback capabilities. Here’s a quick guide on how to use them.
What Are LAV Filters?
LAV Filters are DirectShow filters that act as alternative decoders of audio and video streams for media players like MediaPlayer Classic Home Cinema (MPC-HC).
Compatible with many formats, from MP4 to MKV and AAC to FLAC, they are highly configurable and come with various options for adjusting output to better match your equipment.
The best part is that these open-source filters are regularly updated, making them problem-free, ever-evolving, and quick to adopt new features.
How to Install LAV Filters for Use With Your Media Player
Most modern media players come with options to replace their default decoding with LAV filters. MPC-HC has the LAV filters built-in. Other players can “collaborate” with LAV filters if you install them manually.
If you’re using a newer version of MPC-HC, you can skip this section and proceed to configure LAV Filters. For other media players, install LAV Filters like this:
Although MPC-HC already comes with LAV filters, we’re also using it in the following example to keep things simple. However, we made the steps “generic enough” to show you how to add LAV filter functionality to any media player that supports external filters, like PotPlayer.
How to Configure LAV Filters for Your Media & Hardware
You can configure the LAV filters from their entries in the Start menu. Click on theStartbutton or press theWindows Keyon your keyboard. Then, type “LAV Filters” to locate them, and “run” each filter’s configuration panel.
In the last versions of MPC-HC, where the LAV filters are “baked-in”, you could move to the app’sOptionsand, from there, to theInternal Filterssection. At the bottom of the page, you’ll see three entries underInternal LAV Filters settings.
Click on each to access the settings panel for theSplitter,Video decoder, andAudio decoderLAV filters, respectively.
Although your videos will play perfectly with LAV filters, if you try to grab some screenshots of your favorite scenes, they might appear blurry. Thankfully, we have a guide onhow to save frame-perfect video screenshots on Windows using a media playerthat can help you solve this problem, too.
Achieve Optimal Playback With LAV Filters
After making sure to close and re-run your media player, LAV Filters should be installed, configured, and ready to go. Try playing some media as usual, and you should see the LAV Filters' icons pop up on the Windows tray.
More importantly, you should see an improvement compared to your media player’s native decoding, smoother playback, and possibly lower CPU utilization!
GPU acceleration helps with high-quality, fluid video playback. Here are the best free GPU-accelerated media players.
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