# mpv

mpv is a versatile and lightweight media player with extensive customizability. It is used and recommended by most enthusiasts as it supports a wide range of video, audio, and subtitle formats. Additionally, it offers many advanced features and is available on multiple platforms.

brew install mpv

apt install mpv

By default, mpv's config can be found under %APPDATA%/mpv/. However, a folder named portable_config next to where mpv.exe is stored can override this location as the config folder.

.
└── mpv/
    ├── fonts/
    ├── script-opts/
    ├── scripts/
    ├── shaders/
    ├── input.conf
    └── mpv.conf

.
├── mpv.exe
└── portable_config/
    ├── fonts/
    ├── script-opts/
    ├── scripts/
    ├── shaders/
    ├── input.conf
    └── mpv.conf

Some folders may not be present by default and will need to be created.

For more details, see mpv's documentation on files.

mpv is a great player out-of-the-box which can be extensively customized to your liking.

We recommend taking your time to create your own config. If you want to get up and running quickly, we suggest using the generic mpv.conf config below:

## Video
profile=high-quality
vo=gpu-next
gpu-api=vulkan
scale-antiring=0.5
deband=no

# Dither
# This must be set to match your monitor's bit depth
dither-depth = 8

## Behavior (personal preference)
keep-open=yes
save-position-on-quit

## Screenshots
screenshot-format=png
screenshot-directory="~/Pictures/mpv"
screenshot-template="%F-%p"

## Language Priority
# Sub
# Add enm before eng for honorifics
slang=eng,en
alang=jpn,ja

# Dub
# Uncomment this section to prefer English dub with subtitles for English dub
#slang=zxx,eng,en
#alang=eng,en
#subs-with-matching-audio=no

mpv can be fine-tuned to meet your specific needs, from tweaking playback behavior to customizing video, audio, and subtitle settings. This section outlines the common options that can improve your experience.

Color banding is a visual artifact that is typically seen in gradients, where the colors can be easily differentiated by the human eye. See Tom Scott's video explaining color banding.

Banding (left) vs. No banding (right)

To enable debanding in mpv, apply the following changes to your config:

## Deband
# Set deband to "no" as we only need to enable it for specific cases
deband=no
deband-iterations=4
deband-grain=48

D cycle deband

After applying your changes, debanding can be applied at any time by pressing Shift + D.

Scaling is the process of taking content that does not match your screen resolution and resizing it to fit your display. See the Playback Guide for more information.

mpv has a built-in profile called high-quality which enables better upscaling using ewa_lanczossharp. By default, mpv uses lanczos and hermite. This option is necessary to enable even if you use an external shader, as it can act as a fallback.

Scalers only work when the resolution of your video does not match your display. They do not activate if the content resolution already matches your display resolution.

glsl-shaders="~~/shaders/nnedi3-nns256-win8x4.hook"

G change-list glsl-shaders toggle "~~/shaders/nnedi3-nns256-win8x4.hook"

## Video
profile=high-quality
vo=gpu-next
gpu-api=vulkan
scale-antiring=0.5
deband=no

# Dither
# This must be set to match your monitor's bit depth
dither-depth = 8

profile=fast

Most releases will use their own font for .ass subtitles. These can be manually overridden by mpv, which can help improve readability or match personal preferences.

Below are a couple of commonly used styles:

Download this font here or use the button below:

Gandhi Sans

Run the .otf font file to install it system-wide or put it in your fonts folder. Add the following to your mpv.conf:

## Restyle Subtitles
# Set sub-ass-override to "no" as we only need to enable it for specific cases
sub-ass-override=no
sub-ass-force-style=playresx=1920,playresy=1080
sub-font="Gandhi Sans"
sub-font-size=50
sub-color="#FFFFFF"
sub-border-size=2.4
sub-border-color="#FF000000"
sub-shadow-color="#A0000000"
sub-shadow-offset=0.75
sub-bold=yes
sub-ass-force-style=Kerning=yes

Download this font here or use the button below:

Cabin

Run the .ttf font file to install it system-wide or put it in your fonts folder. Add the following to your mpv.conf:

## Restyle Subtitles

# Set sub-ass-override to "no" as we only need to enable it for specific cases
sub-ass-override=no
sub-ass-force-style=playresx=1920,playresy=1080
sub-font="Cabin"
sub-font-size=50
sub-color="#FFFFFFFF"
sub-border-size=2.4
sub-border-color="#FF000000"
sub-shadow-color="#A0000000"
sub-shadow-offset=0.8
sub-ass-force-style=Kerning=yes

To activate it with a key, add the following to your input.conf, replacing k with the bind of your choice, if necessary (case-sensitive):

k cycle_values sub-ass-override "force" "no"

Auto profiles allow users to automate actions based on certain conditions. Tasks such as debanding and subtitle restyling can be applied automatically when these conditions are met, such as file names.

For instance, some seasonal releases may exhibit banding issues and use subjectively less-appealing subtitle fonts. To address this, we can create a simulcast auto profile, which automatically applies debanding and subtitle restyling when playing releases uploaded by SubsPlease, Erai-raws, Tsundere-Raws, VARYG, or HorribleSubs.

Add the following to the end of your mpv.conf:

## Auto profiles

[simulcast]
profile-cond=string.match(p.filename, "SubsPlease") or string.match(p.filename, "Erai%-raws") or string.match(p.filename, "Tsundere%-Raws") or string.match(p.filename, "%-VARYG") or string.match(p.filename, "HorribleSubs")
profile-restore=copy
sub-fix-timing=yes
sub-ass-override=force
deband=yes

mpv supports loading custom scripts, allowing you to further expand the player's functionality.

Below is a list of some popular scripts:

• autocrop - Automatically crop the video by using lavfi's cropdetect filter to detect black bars
• autoload - Automatically adds all files present in the folder to a playlist
• mpv-playlistmanager - Script to create and manage playlists
• mpv-webm - WebM maker for mpv
• pause-when-minimize - Pauses playback when minimizing the window, and resumes playback when brought back
• thumbfast - Display thumbnails when scrubbing video (may be needed for some Skins)
• trackselect - Select tracks based on their title

You can customize how mpv looks using skins. These are subject to personal preference, so find what works best for you.

Below is a list of some popular skins:

• mfpbar
• ModernX
• mpv-osc-modern
• mpv-osc-tethys
• mpv-progressbar
• oscc
• uosc