win7 cannot play hevc files

luv2liv

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2001
3,491
92
91
i have a 4k video file encoded with HEVC. my win7 simply refuses to play it.
i got the latest VLC, even k-lite mega pack as seen in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X69kG8yxyoA. after that mega pack, i tried using media player classic and win media player and still nothing. the video would look like garbled up distortion. i tried using Handbrake to convert to something else but the result is a bigger file size with same distortion.
the strange thing is....my 1.5 years old Samsung 4k TV has no problem playing the video file! wow.

pc spec:
nvidia gtx 960 4gig ram
16 gig ram
i7 6800k cpu
 

luv2liv

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2001
3,491
92
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What does codec info in vlc say it is?

stream 2
type: video
codec: mpeg-h part2/hevc (h.265) (hevc)
language: english
resolution: 3840x2176
display resolution: 3840x2160
frame rate: 30.000300
decoded format: planar 4:2:0 YUV 10-bit LE
 

luv2liv

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2001
3,491
92
91
playing local, direct from int sata hard drive, VLC just shows distortion.
at first, i thought the file was corrupt.
so i copied the file over to usb. inserted into TV and it works fine.
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
94,964
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playing local, direct from int sata hard drive, VLC just shows distortion.
at first, i thought the file was corrupt.
so i copied the file over to usb. inserted into TV and it works fine.


As far as I can tell, VLC doesn't use external codec at all. I'll try it on my win7 machine once I get home and put a 4k mkv on usb drive and test.
 

Elixer

Lifer
May 7, 2002
10,376
762
126
Yeah, VLC don't use external decoders, it is all baked in.

Once you have the file opened in VLC, go to the menu option "Tools" then "Codec information" and see what it tells you there. If possible, post a screenshot of that dialog.
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
94,964
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Yeah, VLC don't use external decoders, it is all baked in.

Once you have the file opened in VLC, go to the menu option "Tools" then "Codec information" and see what it tells you there. If possible, post a screenshot of that dialog.

see post #3

looks ordinary enough for me
 

luv2liv

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2001
3,491
92
91
did you get a chance to see if your VLC can play HEVC encoded 4k movies in win7?
 

JeffMD

Platinum Member
Feb 15, 2002
2,026
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You are asking the wrong question, your VLC "IS" decoding hevc, otherwise you would get NO video window. Sounds more like the video output selected is incompatible (video driver is probably telling VLC it is a valid video mode but is infact broken).
 

sdifox

No Lifer
Sep 30, 2005
94,964
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I tried it and the message window is saying my machine is too slow to decode hevc 4k without lag. hevc is cpu intensive.
tried on two systems.
 
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luv2liv

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2001
3,491
92
91
well, im happy to say i encode a 1080p HEVC file and VLC was able to play it without any issues.
guess the problem was with those 4k HEVC files :(