MPC-HC
A small, fast Windows video player with a classic interface and DirectShow filter support.
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Run by third parties, not by clsid2 and contributors, continuing the Media Player Classic - Home Cinema project. Prefer the official page above when it works.
About MPC-HC
Media Player Classic - Home Cinema is a Windows player that starts instantly and stays out of the way. The original project stopped in 2017; this fork has been maintained and extended since then and is the build most people mean when they say MPC-HC today.
Because it is a DirectShow player it can use third party filters and splitters installed on the system, which makes it flexible for unusual files and for people who care about specific renderers. The installer is a few megabytes and there is no bundled extra software.
Strengths
- Simple, familiar interface that the maintainer describes as the reason the player is loved
- DirectShow architecture allows third party filters and renderers to extend playback
- Mature and stable, with regular releases since the fork was taken over in 2017
- 32-bit and 64-bit installers, both small downloads
Limitations
- Windows only
- The maintainer states he does not accept new feature requests
- Some exotic formats depend on third party DirectShow filters being installed
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree and open source; no paid version exists.
- License
- GPL-3.0
- Developer
- clsid2 and contributors, continuing the Media Player Classic - Home Cinema project
- Platforms
- Windows
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Works offline
- Yes
- Best suited for
- A lightweight Windows video player that opens instantly
- Categories
- Media players
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Selected from the TechWalrus downloads catalog (Media); facts checked against the developer's own pages, 5 sources on file.
Alternatives to MPC-HC
Compare allSoftware that can replace MPC-HC for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
MPC-BE
A lightweight Windows media player descended from Media Player Classic, with its own independent development.
MPC-BE also descends from Media Player Classic and stays Windows only and GPL-3.0, with more frequent releases, but requires an SSE2 CPU and has mostly Russian documentation.
VLC media player
A free player that opens almost any video or audio file, disc or stream without installing a codec pack.
VLC is free and open source on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS and plays most codecs without extra filters, but buries advanced options in preference dialogs.
mpv
A minimal, scriptable media player with high quality video output and no real interface to get in the way.
mpv is free and open source on Windows, macOS and Linux with high quality output and scripting, but relies on config files instead of a graphical interface.
SMPlayer
A front end for mpv and MPlayer that remembers where you stopped in every file you have ever opened.
SMPlayer is free and open source on Windows, macOS and Linux, using mpv and MPlayer engines and remembering playback position per file, with a dated Qt interface.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
