mpv
A minimal, scriptable media player with high quality video output and no real interface to get in the way.
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3 more ways to get mpv
Package managers
- Homebrew
brew install mpv - Flathub
flatpak install flathub io.mpv.Mpv - Snap Store
snap install mpv
About mpv
mpv is a command line media player that opens a bare window with a small on-screen controller. It supports a wide range of formats, codecs and subtitle types, and almost everything about it is configured through a text file or passed as a flag when you launch it.
What draws people to it is the video output: an OpenGL, Vulkan and D3D11 pipeline with high quality scaling algorithms, colour management, frame timing, interpolation and HDR. It can also be embedded in other applications through a C API, which is why several other players are built on top of it.
Strengths
- High quality video output through OpenGL, Vulkan and D3D11, with scaling, colour management, frame timing, interpolation and HDR
- Hardware decoding on most platforms, switchable at runtime with --hwdec
- Lua and JavaScript scripting, with a large collection of community user scripts
- A C API designed from the start so mpv can be embedded in other applications
Limitations
- There is no real graphical interface, only a small on-screen controller over the video
- Configuration means editing mpv.conf and input.conf by hand
- Needs Windows 10 1607 or later, macOS 10.15 or later, or a recent Linux release
Details
- Pricing
- Free · Free software with no paid version.
- License
- GPL-2.0-or-later
- Developer
- The mpv project
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Works offline
- Yes
- Best suited for
- A fast, scriptable player for people who prefer keyboard and config files
- 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.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
VLC media player
A free player that opens almost any video or audio file, disc or stream without installing a codec pack.
MPC-HC
A small, fast Windows video player with a classic interface and DirectShow filter support.
