mpv/DOCS/man/en/options.rst

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OPTIONS
=======
``--ad=<[+|-]family1:(*|decoder1),[+|-]family2:(*|decoder2),...[-]>``
Specify a priority list of audio decoders to be used, according to their
family and decoder name. Entries like ``family:*`` prioritize all decoders
of the given family. When determining which decoder to use, the first
decoder that matches the audio format is selected. If that is unavailable,
the next decoder is used. Finally, it tries all other decoders that are not
explicitly selected or rejected by the option.
``-`` at the end of the list suppresses fallback on other available
decoders not on the ``--ad`` list. ``+`` in front of an entry forces the
decoder. Both of these should not normally be used, because they break
normal decoder auto-selection!
``-`` in front of an entry disables selection of the decoder.
.. admonition:: Examples
``--ad=lavc:mp3float``
Prefer the FFmpeg/Libav ``mp3float`` decoder over all other mp3
decoders.
``--ad=spdif:ac3,lavc:*``
Always prefer spdif AC3 over FFmpeg/Libav over anything else.
``--ad=help``
List all available decoders.
``--ad-lavc-ac3drc=<level>``
Select the Dynamic Range Compression level for AC-3 audio streams.
``<level>`` is a float value ranging from 0 to 1, where 0 means no
compression and 1 (which is the default) means full compression (make loud
passages more silent and vice versa). Values up to 2 are also accepted, but
are purely experimental. This option only shows an effect if the AC-3 stream
contains the required range compression information.
``--ad-lavc-downmix=<yes|no>``
Whether to request audio channel downmixing from the decoder (default: yes).
Some decoders, like AC-3, AAC and DTS, can remix audio on decoding. The
requested number of output channels is set with the ``--channels`` option.
Useful for playing surround audio on a stereo system.
``--ad-lavc-threads=<0-16>``
Number of threads to use for decoding. Whether threading is actually
supported depends on codec. As of this writing, it's supported for some
lossless codecs only. 0 means autodetect number of cores on the
machine and use that, up to the maximum of 16 (default: 1).
``--ad-lavc-o=<key>=<value>[,<key>=<value>[,...]]``
Pass AVOptions to libavcodec decoder. Note, a patch to make the o=
unneeded and pass all unknown options through the AVOption system is
welcome. A full list of AVOptions can be found in the FFmpeg manual.
``--ad-spdif-dtshd=<yes|no>``, ``--dtshd``, ``--no-dtshd``
When using DTS passthrough, output any DTS-HD track as-is.
With ``ad-spdif-dtshd=no`` (the default), only the DTS Core parts will be
output.
DTS-HD tracks can be sent over HDMI but not over the original
coax/toslink S/PDIF system.
Note: this feature is broken.
``--dtshd`` and ``--no-dtshd`` are deprecated aliases.
``--af=<filter1[=parameter1:parameter2:...],filter2,...>``
Specify a list of audio filters to apply to the audio stream. See
`AUDIO FILTERS`_ for details and descriptions of the available filters.
The option variants ``--af-add``, ``--af-pre``, ``--af-del`` and
``--af-clr`` exist to modify a previously specified list, but you
should not need these for typical use.
``--aid=<ID|auto|no>``
Select audio channel. ``auto`` selects the default, ``no`` disables audio.
See also ``--alang``.
``--alang=<languagecode[,languagecode,...]>``
Specify a priority list of audio languages to use. Different container
formats employ different language codes. DVDs use ISO 639-1 two-letter
language codes, Matroska, MPEG-TS and NUT use ISO 639-2 three-letter
language codes, while OGM uses a free-form identifier. See also ``--aid``.
.. admonition:: Examples
``mpv dvd://1 --alang=hu,en``
Chooses the Hungarian language track on a DVD and falls back on
English if Hungarian is not available.
``mpv --alang=jpn example.mkv``
Plays a Matroska file in Japanese.
``--ao=<driver1[:suboption1[=value]:...],driver2,...[,]>``
Specify a priority list of audio output drivers to be used. For
interactive use one would normally specify a single one to use, but in
configuration files specifying a list of fallbacks may make sense. See
`AUDIO OUTPUT DRIVERS`_ for details and descriptions of available drivers.
``--ar``, ``--no-ar``
Enable/disable AppleIR remote support. Enabled by default.
``--aspect=<ratio>``
Override movie aspect ratio, in case aspect information is incorrect or
missing in the file being played. See also ``--no-aspect``.
Two values have special meaning:
:0: disable aspect ratio handling, pretend the video has square pixels
:-1: use the video stream or container aspect (default)
But note that handling of these special values might change in the future.
.. admonition:: Examples
- ``--aspect=4:3`` or ``--aspect=1.3333``
- ``--aspect=16:9`` or ``--aspect=1.7777``
``--ass``, ``--no-ass``
Render ASS subtitles natively (enabled by default).
If ``--no-ass`` is specified, all tags and style declarations are stripped
and ignored on display. The subtitle renderer uses the font style as
specified by the ``--sub-text-`` options instead.
.. note::
Using ``--no-ass`` may lead to incorrect or completely broken rendering
of ASS/SSA subtitles. It can sometimes be useful to forcibly override
the styling of ASS subtitles, but should be avoided in general.
``--ass-force-style=<[Style.]Param=Value[,...]>``
Override some style or script info parameters.
.. admonition:: Examples
- ``--ass-force-style=FontName=Arial,Default.Bold=1``
- ``--ass-force-style=PlayResY=768``
.. note::
Using this option may lead to incorrect subtitle rendering.
``--ass-hinting=none|light|normal|native``
Set font hinting type. <type> can be:
:none: no hinting (default)
:light: FreeType autohinter, light mode
:normal: FreeType autohinter, normal mode
:native: font native hinter
.. admonition:: Warning
Enabling hinting can lead to mispositioned text (in situations it's
supposed to match up with video background), or reduce the smoothness
of animations with some badly authored ASS scripts. It is recommended
to not use this option, unless really needed.
``--ass-line-spacing=<value>``
Set line spacing value for SSA/ASS renderer.
``--ass-shaper=simple|complex``
Set the text layout engine used by libass.
:simple: uses Fribidi only, fast, doesn't render some languages correctly
:complex: uses HarfBuzz, slower, wider language support
``complex`` is the default. If libass hasn't been compiled against HarfBuzz,
libass silently reverts to ``simple``.
``--ass-styles=<filename>``
Load all SSA/ASS styles found in the specified file and use them for
rendering text subtitles. The syntax of the file is exactly like the ``[V4
Styles]`` / ``[V4+ Styles]`` section of SSA/ASS.
.. note::
Using this option may lead to incorrect subtitle rendering.
``--ass-style-override=<yes|no|force>``
Control whether user style overrides should be applied.
:yes: Apply all the ``--ass-*`` style override options. Changing the default
for any of these options can lead to incorrect subtitle rendering
(default).
:no: Render subtitles as forced by subtitle scripts.
:force: Like ``yes``, but also override the style named ``Default`` to
make it look like the like text subtitle style implied by the
``--sub-text-...`` option. This won't always work, because the
dialogue style doesn't necessary use this name, and it might break
other advanced uses of the ASS format.
``--ass-use-margins``
Enables placing toptitles and subtitles in black borders when they are
available.
``--ass-vsfilter-aspect-compat=<yes|no>``
Stretch SSA/ASS subtitles when playing anamorphic videos for compatibility
with traditional VSFilter behavior. This switch has no effect when the
video is stored with square pixels.
The renderer historically most commonly used for the SSA/ASS subtitle
formats, VSFilter, had questionable behavior that resulted in subtitles
being stretched too if the video was stored in anamorphic format that
required scaling for display. This behavior is usually undesirable and
newer VSFilter versions may behave differently. However, many existing
scripts compensate for the stretching by modifying things in the opposite
direction. Thus, if such scripts are displayed "correctly", they will not
appear as intended. This switch enables emulation of the old VSFilter
behavior (undesirable but expected by many existing scripts).
Enabled by default.
``--ass-vsfilter-blur-compat=<yes|no>``
Scale ``\blur`` tags by video resolution instead of script resolution
(enabled by default). This is bug in VSFilter, which according to some,
can't be fixed anymore in the name of compatibility.
Note that this uses the actual video resolution for calculating the
offset scale factor, not what the video filter chain or the video output
use.
``--ass-vsfilter-color-compat=<basic|full|force-601|no>``
Mangle colors like (xy-)vsfilter do (default: basic). Historically, VSFilter
was not colorspace aware. This was no problem as long as the colorspace
used for SD video (BT.601) was used. But when everything switched to HD
(BT.709), VSFilter was still converting RGB colors to BT.601, rendered
them into the video frame, and handled the frame to the video output, which
would use BT.709 for conversion to RGB. The result were mangled subtitle
colors. Later on, bad hacks were added on top of the ASS format to control
how colors are to be mangled.
:basic: Handle only BT.601->BT.709 mangling, if the subtitles seem to
indicate that this is required (default).
:full: Handle the full ``YCbCr Matrix`` header with all video colorspaces
supported by libass and mpv. This might lead to bad breakages in
corner cases and is not strictly needed for compatibility
(hopefully), which is why this is not default.
:force-601: Force BT.601->BT.709 mangling, regardless of subtitle headers
or video colorspace.
:no: Disable color mangling completely. All colors are RGB.
Choosing anything other than ``no`` will make the subtitle color depend on
the video colorspace, and it's for example in theory not possible to reuse
a subtitle script with another video file. The ``--ass-style-override``
option doesn't affect how this option is interpreted.
``--audio-demuxer=<[+]name>``
Use this audio demuxer type when using ``--audiofile``. Use a '+' before the
name to force it; this will skip some checks. Give the demuxer name as
printed by ``--audio-demuxer=help``.
``--audio-display=<no|attachment>``
Setting this option to ``attachment`` (default) will display image
attachments when playing audio files. It will display the first image
found, and additional images are available as video tracks.
Setting this option to ``no`` disables display of video entirely when
playing audio files.
This option has no influence on files with normal video tracks.
``--audiofile=<filename>``
Play audio from an external file (WAV, MP3 or Ogg Vorbis) while viewing a
movie.
``--audiofile-cache=<kBytes>``
Enables caching for the stream used by ``--audiofile``, using the
specified amount of memory.
``--autofit=<[W[xH]]>``
Set the initial window size to a maximum size specified by ``WxH``, without
changing the window's aspect ratio. The size is measured in pixels, or if
a number is followed by a percentage sign (``%``), in percents of the
screen size.
This option never changes the aspect ratio of the window. If the aspect
ratio mismatches, the window's size is reduced until it fits into the
specified size.
Window position is not taken into account, nor is it modified by this
option (the window manager still may place the window differently depending
on size). Use ``--geometry`` to change the window position. Its effects
are applied after this option.
See ``--geometry`` for details how this is handled with multi-monitor
setups.
Use ``--autofit-larger`` instead if you just want to limit the maximum size
of the window, rather than always forcing a window size.
Use ``--geometry`` if you want to force both window width and height to a
specific size.
.. note::
Generally only supported by GUI VOs. Ignored for encoding.
.. admonition:: Examples
``70%``
Make the window width 70% of the screen size, keeping aspect ratio.
``1000``
Set the window width to 1000 pixels, keeping aspect ratio.
``70%:60%``
Make the window as large as possible, without being wider than 70%
of the screen width, or higher than 60% of the screen height.
``--autofit-larger=<[W[xH]]>``
This option behaves exactly like ``--autofit``, except the window size is
only changed if the window would be larger than the specified size.
.. admonition:: Example
``90%x80%``
If the video is larger than 90% of the screen width or 80% of the
screen height, make the window smaller until either its width is 90%
of the screen, or its height is 80% of the screen.
``--autosub``, ``--no-autosub``
Load additional subtitle files matching the video filename. Enabled by
default. See also ``--autosub-match``.
``--autosub-match=<exact|fuzzy|all>``
Adjust matching fuzziness when searching for subtitles:
:exact: exact match
:fuzzy: Load all subs containing movie name.
:all: Load all subs in the current and ``--sub-paths`` directories.
(default: exact)
``--autosync=<factor>``
Gradually adjusts the A/V sync based on audio delay measurements.
Specifying ``--autosync=0``, the default, will cause frame timing to be
based entirely on audio delay measurements. Specifying ``--autosync=1``
will do the same, but will subtly change the A/V correction algorithm. An
uneven video framerate in a movie which plays fine with ``--no-audio`` can
often be helped by setting this to an integer value greater than 1. The
higher the value, the closer the timing will be to ``--no-audio``. Try
``--autosync=30`` to smooth out problems with sound drivers which do not
implement a perfect audio delay measurement. With this value, if large A/V
sync offsets occur, they will only take about 1 or 2 seconds to settle
out. This delay in reaction time to sudden A/V offsets should be the only
side-effect of turning this option on, for all sound drivers.
``--untimed``
Do not sleep when outputting video frames. Useful for benchmarks when used
with ``--no-audio.``
``--bluray-angle=<ID>``
Some Blu-ray discs contain scenes that can be viewed from multiple angles.
This option tells mpv which angle to use (default: 1).
``--bluray-device=<path>``
(Blu-ray only)
Specify the Blu-ray disc location. Must be a directory with Blu-ray
structure.
.. admonition:: Example
``mpv bd:// --bluray-device=/path/to/bd/``
``--border``, ``--no-border``
Play movie with window border and decorations. Since this is on by
default, use ``--no-border`` to disable the standard window decorations.
``--brightness=<-100-100>``
Adjust the brightness of the video signal (default: 0). Not supported by
all video output drivers.
``--cache=<kBytes|no|auto>``
Set the size of the cache in kilobytes, disable it with ``no``, or
automatically enable it if needed with ``auto`` (default: ``auto``).
With ``auto``, the cache will usually be enabled for network streams,
using the size set by ``--cache-default``.
May be useful when playing files from slow media, but can also have
negative effects, especially with file formats that require a lot of
seeking, such as mp4.
Note that half the cache size will be used to allow fast seeking back. This
is also the reason why a full cache is usually reported as 50% full. The
cache fill display does not include the part of the cache reserved for
seeking back. Likewise, when starting a file the cache will be at 100%,
because no space is reserved for seeking back yet.
``--cache-default=<kBytes|no>``
Set the size of the cache in kilobytes (default: 320 KB). Using ``no``
will not automatically enable the cache e.g. when playing from a network
stream. Note that using ``--cache`` will always override this option.
``--cache-pause=<no|percentage>``
If the cache percentage goes below the specified value, pause and wait
until the percentage set by ``--cache-min`` is reached, then resume
playback (default: 10). If ``no`` is specified, this behavior is disabled.
When the player is paused this way, the status line shows ``Buffering``
instead of ``Paused``, and the OSD uses a clock symbol instead of the
normal paused symbol.
``--cache-min=<percentage>``
Playback will start when the cache has been filled up to ``<percentage>`` of
the total (default: 20).
``--cache-seek-min=<percentage>``
If a seek is to be made to a position within ``<percentage>`` of the cache
size from the current position, mpv will wait for the cache to be
filled to this position rather than performing a stream seek (default:
50).
This matters for small forward seeks. With slow streams (especially http
streams) there is a tradeoff between skipping the data between current
position and seek destination, or performing an actual seek. Depending
on the situation, either of these might be slower than the other method.
This option allows control over this.
``--cdda=<option1:option2>``
This option can be used to tune the CD Audio reading feature of mpv.
Available options are:
``speed=<value>``
Set CD spin speed.
``paranoia=<0-2>``
Set paranoia level. Values other than 0 seem to break playback of
anything but the first track.
:0: disable checking (default)
:1: overlap checking only
:2: full data correction and verification
``generic-dev=<value>``
Use specified generic SCSI device.
``sector-size=<value>``
Set atomic read size.
``overlap=<value>``
Force minimum overlap search during verification to <value> sectors.
``toc-bias``
Assume that the beginning offset of track 1 as reported in the TOC
will be addressed as LBA 0. Some discs need this for getting track
boundaries correctly.
``toc-offset=<value>``
Add ``<value>`` sectors to the values reported when addressing tracks.
May be negative.
``(no-)skip``
(Never) accept imperfect data reconstruction.
``--cdrom-device=<path>``
Specify the CD-ROM device (default: ``/dev/cdrom``).
``--channels=<number|layout>``
Request a channel layout for audio output (default: stereo). This will ask
the AO to open a device with the given channel layout. It's up to the AO
to accept this layout, or to pick a fallback or to error out if the
requested layout is not supported.
The ``--channels`` option either takes a channel number or an explicit
channel layout. Channel numbers refer to default layouts, e.g. 2 channels
refer to stereo, 6 refers to 5.1.
See ``--channels=help`` output for defined default layouts. This also
lists speaker names, which can be used to express arbitrary channel
layouts (e.g. ``fl-fr-lfe`` is 2.1).
You can use ``--channels=empty`` to disable this. In this case, the AO
use the channel layout as the audio filter chain indicates.
This will also request the channel layout from the decoder. If the decoder
does not support the layout, it will fall back to its native channel layout.
(You can use ``--ad-lavc-downmix=no`` to make the decoder always output
its native layout.) Note that only some decoders support remixing audio.
Some that do include AC-3, AAC or DTS audio.
If the channel layout of the media file (i.e. the decoder) and the AO's
channel layout don't match, mpv will attempt to insert a conversion filter.
``--chapter=<start[-end]>``
Specify which chapter to start playing at. Optionally specify which
chapter to end playing at. Also see ``--start``.
``--chapter-merge-threshold=<number>``
Threshold for merging almost consecutive ordered chapter parts in
milliseconds (default: 100). Some Matroska files with ordered chapters
have inaccurate chapter end timestamps, causing a small gap between the
end of one chapter and the start of the next one when they should match.
If the end of one playback part is less than the given threshold away from
the start of the next one then keep playing video normally over the
chapter change instead of doing a seek.
``--chapter-seek-threshold=<seconds>``
Distance in seconds from the beginning of a chapter within which a backward
chapter seek will go to the previous chapter (default: 5.0). Past this
threshold, a backward chapter seek will go to the beginning of the current
chapter instead. A negative value means always go back to the previous
chapter.
``--colormatrix=<colorspace>``
Controls the YUV to RGB color space conversion when playing video. There
are various standards. Normally, BT.601 should be used for SD video, and
BT.709 for HD video. (This is done by default.) Using incorrect color space
results in slightly under or over saturated and shifted colors.
The color space conversion is additionally influenced by the related
options --colormatrix-input-range and --colormatrix-output-range.
These options are not always supported. Different video outputs provide
varying degrees of support. The ``opengl`` and ``vdpau`` video output
drivers usually offer full support. The ``xv`` output can set the color
space if the system video driver supports it, but not input and output
levels. The ``scale`` video filter can configure color space and input
levels, but only if the output format is RGB (if the video output driver
supports RGB output, you can force this with ``-vf scale,format=rgba``).
If this option is set to ``auto`` (which is the default), the video's
color space flag will be used. If that flag is unset, the color space
will be selected automatically. This is done using a simple heuristic that
attempts to distinguish SD and HD video. If the video is larger than
1279x576 pixels, BT.709 (HD) will be used; otherwise BT.601 (SD) is
selected.
Available color spaces are:
:auto: automatic selection (default)
:BT.601: ITU-R BT.601 (SD)
:BT.709: ITU-R BT.709 (HD)
:SMPTE-240M: SMPTE-240M
``--colormatrix-input-range=<color-range>``
YUV color levels used with YUV to RGB conversion. This option is only
necessary when playing broken files which do not follow standard color
levels or which are flagged wrong. If the video does not specify its
color range, it is assumed to be limited range.
The same limitations as with --colormatrix apply.
Available color ranges are:
:auto: automatic selection (normally limited range) (default)
:limited: limited range (16-235 for luma, 16-240 for chroma)
:full: full range (0-255 for both luma and chroma)
``--colormatrix-output-range=<color-range>``
RGB color levels used with YUV to RGB conversion. Normally, output devices
such as PC monitors use full range color levels. However, some TVs and
video monitors expect studio RGB levels. Providing full range output to a
device expecting studio level input results in crushed blacks and whites,
the reverse in dim grey blacks and dim whites.
The same limitations as with ``--colormatrix`` apply.
Available color ranges are:
:auto: automatic selection (equals to full range) (default)
:limited: limited range (16-235 per component), studio levels
:full: full range (0-255 per component), PC levels
.. note::
It is advisable to use your graphics driver's color range option
instead, if available.
``--config-dir=<path>``
Force a different configuration directory. If this is set, the given
directory is used to load configuration files, and all other configuration
directories are ignored. This means the global mpv configuration directory
as well as per-user directories are ignored, and overrides through
environment variables (``MPV_HOME``) are also ignored.
Note that the ``--no-config`` option takes precedence over this option.
``--consolecontrols``, ``--no-consolecontrols``
``--no-consolecontrols`` prevents the player from reading key events from
standard input. Useful when reading data from standard input. This is
automatically enabled when ``-`` is found on the command line. There are
situations where you have to set it manually, e.g. if you open
``/dev/stdin`` (or the equivalent on your system), use stdin in a playlist
or intend to read from stdin later on via the loadfile or loadlist slave
commands.
``--contrast=<-100-100>``
Adjust the contrast of the video signal (default: 0). Not supported by all
video output drivers.
``--cookies``, ``--no-cookies``
(network only)
Support cookies when making HTTP requests. Disabled by default.
``--cookies-file=<filename>``
(network only)
Read HTTP cookies from <filename>. The file is assumed to be in Netscape
format.
``--correct-pts``, ``--no-correct-pts``
``--no-correct-pts`` switches mpv to a mode where video timing is
determined using a fixed framerate value (either using the ``--fps``
option, or using file information). Sometimes, files with very broken
timestamps can be played somewhat well in this mode. Note that video
filters, subtitle rendering and audio synchronization can be completely
broken in this mode.
``--cursor-autohide=<number|no|always>``
Make mouse cursor automatically hide after given number of milliseconds.
``no`` will disable cursor autohide. ``always`` means the cursor will stay
hidden.
``--cursor-autohide-fs-only``
If this option is given, the cursor is always visible in windowed mode. In
fullscreen mode, the cursor is shown or hidden according to
``--cursor-autohide``.
``--audio-delay=<sec>``
Audio delay in seconds (positive or negative float value). Positive values
delay the audio, and negative values delay the video.
``--deinterlace=<yes|no|auto>``
Enable or disable interlacing (default: auto, which usually means no).
Interlaced video shows ugly comb-like artifacts, which are visible on
fast movement. Enabling this typically inserts the yadif video filter in
order to deinterlace the video, or lets the video output apply deinterlacing
if supported.
This behaves exactly like the ``deinterlace`` input property (usually
mapped to ``Shift+D``).
``auto`` is a technicality. Strictly speaking, the default for this option
is deinterlacing disabled, but the ``auto`` case is needed if ``yadif`` was
added to the filter chain manually with ``--vf``. Then the core shouldn't
disable deinterlacing just because the ``--deinterlace`` was not set.
``--demuxer=<[+]name>``
Force demuxer type. Use a '+' before the name to force it; this will skip
some checks. Give the demuxer name as printed by ``--demuxer=help``.
``--demuxer-lavf-analyzeduration=<value>``
Maximum length in seconds to analyze the stream properties.
``--demuxer-lavf-probescore=<1-100>``
Minimum required libavformat probe score. Lower values will require
less data to be loaded (makes streams start faster), but makes file
format detection less reliable. Can be used to force auto-detected
libavformat demuxers, even if libavformat considers the detection not
reliable enough. (Default: 26.)
``--demuxer-lavf-allow-mimetype=<yes|no>``
Allow deriving the format from the HTTP MIME type (default: yes). Set
this to no in case playing things from HTTP mysteriously fails, even
though the same files work from local disk.
This is default in order to reduce latency when opening HTTP streams.
``--demuxer-lavf-format=<name>``
Force a specific libavformat demuxer.
``--demuxer-lavf-genpts-mode=<no|lavf>``
Mode for deriving missing packet PTS values from packet DTS. ``lavf``
enables libavformat's ``genpts`` option. ``no`` disables it. This used
to be enabled by default, but then it was deemed as not needed anymore.
Enabling this might help with timestamp problems, or make them worse.
``--demuxer-lavf-o=<key>=<value>[,<key>=<value>[,...]]``
Pass AVOptions to libavformat demuxer.
Note, a patch to make the *o=* unneeded and pass all unknown options
through the AVOption system is welcome. A full list of AVOptions can
be found in the FFmpeg manual. Note that some options may conflict
with mpv options.
.. admonition:: Example
``--demuxer-lavf-o=fflags=+ignidx``
``--demuxer-lavf-probesize=<value>``
Maximum amount of data to probe during the detection phase. In the
case of MPEG-TS this value identifies the maximum number of TS packets
to scan.
``--demuxer-lavf-buffersize=<value>``
Size of the stream read buffer allocated for libavformat in bytes
(default: 32768). Lowering the size could lower latency. Note that
libavformat might reallocate the buffer internally, or not fully use all
of it.
``--demuxer-lavf-cryptokey=<hexstring>``
Encryption key the demuxer should use. This is the raw binary data of
the key converted to a hexadecimal string.
``--demuxer-mkv-subtitle-preroll``, ``--mkv-subtitle-preroll``
Try harder to show embedded soft subtitles when seeking somewhere. Normally,
it can happen that the subtitle at the seek target is not shown due to how
some container file formats are designed. The subtitles appear only if
seeking before or exactly to the position a subtitle first appears. To
make this worse, subtitles are often timed to appear a very small amount
before the associated video frame, so that seeking to the video frame
typically does not demux the subtitle at that position.
Enabling this option makes the demuxer start reading data a bit before the
seek target, so that subtitles appear correctly. Note that this makes
seeking slower, and is not guaranteed to always work. It only works if the
subtitle is close enough to the seek target.
Works with the internal Matroska demuxer only. Always enabled for absolute
and hr-seeks, and this option changes behavior with relative or imprecise
seeks only.
See also ``--hr-seek-demuxer-offset`` option. This option can achieve a
similar effect, but only if hr-seek is active. It works with any demuxer,
but makes seeking much slower, as it has to decode audio and video data
instead of just skipping over it.
``--mkv-subtitle-preroll`` is a deprecated alias.
``--demuxer-rawaudio-channels=<value>``
Number of channels (or channel layout) if ``--demuxer=rawaudio`` is used
(default: stereo).
``--demuxer-rawaudio-format=<value>``
Sample format for ``--demuxer=rawaudio`` (default: s16le).
``--demuxer-rawaudio-rate=<value>``
Sample rate for ``--demuxer=rawaudio`` (default: 44KHz).
``--demuxer-rawvideo-fps=<value>``
Rate in frames per second for ``--demuxer=rawvideo`` (default: 25.0).
``--demuxer-rawvideo-w=<value>``, ``--demuxer-rawvideo-h=<value>``
Image dimension in pixels for ``--demuxer=rawvideo``.
.. admonition:: Example
Play a raw YUV sample::
mpv sample-720x576.yuv --demuxer=rawvideo \
--demuxer-rawvideo=w=720:h=576
``--demuxer-rawvideo-format=<value>``
Colorspace (fourcc) in hex or string for ``--demuxer=rawvideo``
(default: ``YV12``).
``--demuxer-rawvideo-mp-format=<value>``
Colorspace by internal video format for ``--demuxer=rawvideo``. Use
``--demuxer-rawvideo-mp-format=help`` for a list of possible formats.
``--demuxer-rawvideo-codec=<value>``
Set the video codec instead of selecting the rawvideo codec when using
``--demuxer=rawvideo``. This uses the same values as codec names in
``--vd`` (but it does not accept decoder names).
``--demuxer-rawvideo-size=<value>``
Frame size in bytes when using ``--demuxer=rawvideo``.
``--doubleclick-time=<milliseconds>``
Time in milliseconds to recognize two consecutive button presses as a
double-click (default: 300).
``--dvbin=<options>``
Pass the following parameters to the DVB input module, in order to
override the default ones:
:card=<1-4>: Specifies using card number 1-4 (default: 1).
:file=<filename>: Instructs mpv to read the channels list from
``<filename>``. Default is
``~/.mpv/channels.conf.{sat,ter,cbl,atsc}`` (based
on your card type) or ``~/.mpv/channels.conf`` as a
last resort.
:timeout=<1-30>: Maximum number of seconds to wait when trying to tune a
frequency before giving up (default: 30).
``--dvd-device=<path>``
Specify the DVD device or .iso filename (default: ``/dev/dvd``). You can
also specify a directory that contains files previously copied directly
from a DVD (with e.g. vobcopy).
.. admonition:: Example
``mpv dvd:// --dvd-device=/path/to/dvd/``
``--dvd-speed=<speed>``
Try to limit DVD speed (default: 0, no change). DVD base speed is 1385
kB/s, so an 8x drive can read at speeds up to 11080 kB/s. Slower speeds
make the drive more quiet. For watching DVDs, 2700 kB/s should be quiet and
fast enough. mpv resets the speed to the drive default value on close.
Values of at least 100 mean speed in kB/s. Values less than 100 mean
multiples of 1385 kB/s, i.e. ``--dvd-speed=8`` selects 11080 kB/s.
.. note::
You need write access to the DVD device to change the speed.
``--dvdangle=<ID>``
Some DVDs contain scenes that can be viewed from multiple angles.
This option tells mpv which angle to use (default: 1).
``--edition=<ID|auto>``
(Matroska files only)
Specify the edition (set of chapters) to use, where 0 is the first. If set
to ``auto`` (the default), mpv will choose the first edition declared as a
default, or if there is no default, the first edition defined.
``--embeddedfonts``, ``--no-embeddedfonts``
Use fonts embedded in Matroska container files and ASS scripts (default:
enabled). These fonts can be used for SSA/ASS subtitle rendering
(``--ass`` option).
``--end=<time>``
Stop at given absolute time. Use ``--length`` if the time should be relative
to ``--start``. See ``--start`` for valid option values and examples.
``--field-dominance=<auto|top|bottom>``
Set first field for interlaced content. Useful for deinterlacers that
double the framerate: ``--vf=yadif=field`` and ``--vo=vdpau:deint``.
:auto: (default) If the decoder does not export the appropriate
information, it falls back on ``top`` (top field first).
:top: top field first
:bottom: bottom field first
``--no-fixed-vo``, ``--fixed-vo``
``--no-fixed-vo`` enforces closing and reopening the video window for
multiple files (one (un)initialization for each file).
``--force-rgba-osd-rendering``
Change how some video outputs render the OSD and text subtitles. This
does not change appearance of the subtitles and only has performance
implications. For VOs which support native ASS rendering (like ``vdpau``,
``opengl``, ``direct3d``), this can be slightly faster or slower,
depending on GPU drivers and hardware. For other VOs, this just makes
rendering slower.
``--force-window``
Create a video output window even if there is no video. This can be useful
when pretending that mpv is a GUI application. Currently, the window
always has the size 640x480, and is subject to ``--geometry``,
``--autofit``, and similar options.
.. warning::
The window is created only after initialization (to make sure default
window placement still works if the video size is different from the
``--force-window`` default window size). This can be a problem if
initialization doesn't work perfectly, such as when opening URLs with
bad network connection, or opening broken video files.
``--force-window-position``
Forcefully move mpv's video output window to default location whenever
there is a change in video parameters, video stream or file. This used to
be the default behavior. Currently only affects X11 VOs.
``--sub-forced-only``
Display only forced subtitles for the DVD subtitle stream selected by e.g.
``--slang``.
``--forceidx``
Force index rebuilding. Useful for files with broken index (A/V desync,
etc). This will enable seeking in files where seeking was not possible.
.. note::
This option only works if the underlying media supports seeking
(i.e. not with stdin, pipe, etc).
``--format=<format>``
Select the sample format used for output from the audio filter layer to
the sound card. The values that ``<format>`` can adopt are listed below in
the description of the ``format`` audio filter.
``--fps=<float>``
Override video framerate. Useful if the original value is wrong or missing.
.. note::
Works in ``--no-correct-pts`` mode only.
``--framedrop=<no|yes|hard>``
Skip displaying some frames to maintain A/V sync on slow systems. Video
filters are not applied to such frames. For B-frames even decoding is
skipped completely. May produce unwatchably choppy output. With ``hard``,
decoding and output of any frame can be skipped, and will lead to an even
worse playback experience.
.. note::
Practical use of this feature is questionable. Disabled by default.
``--frames=<number>``
Play/convert only first ``<number>`` video frames, then quit. For audio
only, run ``<number>`` iteration of the playback loop, which is most likely
not what you want. (This behavior also applies to the corner case when there
are fewer video frames than ``<number>``, and audio is longer than the
video.)
``--fullscreen``, ``--fs``
Fullscreen playback.
``--fs-screen=<all|current|0-32>``
In multi-monitor configurations (i.e. a single desktop that spans across
multiple displays), this option tells mpv which screen to go fullscreen to.
If ``default`` is provided mpv will fallback on using the behaviour
depending on what the user provided with the ``screen`` option.
.. admonition:: Note (X11)
This option does not work properly with all window managers.
``all`` in particular will usually only work with
``--fstype=-fullscreen`` or ``--fstype=none``, and even then only with
some window managers.
.. admonition:: Note (OS X)
``all`` does not work on OSX and will behave like ``current``.
See also ``--screen``.
``--fsmode-dontuse=<0-31>``
*OBSOLETE*, use the ``--fs`` option.
Try this option if you still experience fullscreen problems.
``--fstype=<type1,type2,...>``
(X11 only)
Specify a priority list of fullscreen modes to be used. You can negate the
modes by prefixing them with '-'. If you experience problems like the
fullscreen window being covered by other windows, try using a different
order.
.. note::
See ``--fstype=help`` for a full list of available modes.
The available types are:
above
Use the ``_NETWM_STATE_ABOVE`` hint if available.
below
Use the ``_NETWM_STATE_BELOW`` hint if available.
fullscreen
Use the ``_NETWM_STATE_FULLSCREEN`` hint if available.
layer
Use the ``_WIN_LAYER`` hint with the default layer.
layer=<0...15>
Use the ``_WIN_LAYER`` hint with the given layer number.
netwm
Force NETWM style.
none
Clear the list of modes; you can add modes to enable afterward.
stays_on_top
Use ``_NETWM_STATE_STAYS_ON_TOP`` hint if available.
.. admonition:: Examples
``--fstype=layer,stays_on_top,above,fullscreen``
Default order, will be used as a fallback if incorrect or
unsupported modes are specified.
``--fstype=fullscreen``
Fixes fullscreen switching on OpenBox 1.x.
``--native-fs``
(OS X only)
Use OS X Mission Control's fullscreen feature instead of the custom one
provided by mpv. This can potentially break a lot of stuff like
``--geometry`` and is disabled by default. On the other hand it provides
a more 'OS X-like' user experience.
``--gamma=<-100-100>``
Adjust the gamma of the video signal (default: 0). Not supported by all
video output drivers.
``--gapless-audio``
Try to play consecutive audio files with no silence or disruption at the
point of file change. This feature is implemented in a simple manner and
relies on audio output device buffering to continue playback while moving
from one file to another. If playback of the new file starts slowly, for
example because it is played from a remote network location or because you
have specified cache settings that require time for the initial cache
fill, then the buffered audio may run out before playback of the new file
can start.
.. note::
The audio device is opened using parameters chosen according to the
first file played and is then kept open for gapless playback. This means
that if the first file for example has a low sample rate, then the
following files may get resampled to the same low sample rate, resulting
in reduced sound quality. If you play files with different parameters,
consider using options such as ``--srate`` and ``--format`` to
explicitly select what the shared output format will be.
``--geometry=<[W[xH]][+-x+-y]>``, ``--geometry=<x:y>``
Adjust the initial window position or size. ``W`` and ``H`` set the window
size in pixels. ``x`` and ``y`` set the window position, measured in pixels
from the top-left corner of the screen to the top-left corner of the image
being displayed. If a percentage sign (``%``) is given after the argument,
it turns the value into a percentage of the screen size in that direction.
Positions are specified similar to the standard X11 ``--geometry`` option
format, in which e.g. +10-50 means "place 10 pixels from the left border and
50 pixels from the lower border" and "--20+-10" means "place 20 pixels
beyond the right and 10 pixels beyond the top border".
If an external window is specified using the ``--wid`` option, this
option is ignored.
The coordinates are relative to the screen given with ``--screen`` for the
video output drivers that fully support ``--screen``.
.. note::
Generally only supported by GUI VOs. Ignored for encoding.
.. admonition: Note (OS X)
On Mac OSX the origin of the screen coordinate system is located on the
bottom-left corner. For instance, ``0:0`` will place the window at the
bottom-left of the screen.
.. admonition:: Note (X11)
This option does not work properly with all window managers.
.. admonition:: Examples
``50:40``
Places the window at x=50, y=40.
``50%:50%``
Places the window in the middle of the screen.
``100%:100%``
Places the window at the bottom right corner of the screen.
``50%``
Sets the window width to half the screen width. Window height is set
so that the window has the video aspect ratio.
``50%x50%``
Forces the window width and height to half the screen width and
height. Will show black borders to compensate for the video aspect
ration (with most VOs and without ``--no-keepaspect``).
``50%+10+10``
Sets the window to half the screen widths, and positions it 10
pixels below/left of the top left corner of the screen.
See also ``--autofit`` and ``--autofit-larger`` for fitting the window into
a given size without changing aspect ratio.
``--heartbeat-cmd=<command>``
Command that is executed every 30 seconds during playback via *system()* -
i.e. using the shell. The time between the commands can be customized with
the ``--heartbeat-interval`` option. The command is not run while playback
is paused.
.. note::
mpv uses this command without any checking. It is your responsibility to
ensure it does not cause security problems (e.g. make sure to use full
paths if "." is in your path like on Windows). It also only works when
playing video (i.e. not with ``--no-video`` but works with
``-vo=null``).
This can be "misused" to disable screensavers that do not support the
proper X API (see also ``--stop-screensaver``). If you think this is too
complicated, ask the author of the screensaver program to support the
proper X APIs. Note that the ``--stop-screensaver`` does not influence the
heartbeat code at all.
.. admonition:: Example for xscreensaver
``mpv --heartbeat-cmd="xscreensaver-command -deactivate" file``
.. admonition:: Example for GNOME screensaver
``mpv --heartbeat-cmd="gnome-screensaver-command -p" file``
``--heartbeat-interval=<sec>``
Time between ``--heartbeat-cmd`` invocations in seconds (default: 30).
.. note::
This does not affect the normal screensaver operation in any way.
``--help``
Show short summary of options.
``--hr-seek=<no|absolute|yes>``
Select when to use precise seeks that are not limited to keyframes. Such
seeks require decoding video from the previous keyframe up to the target
position and so can take some time depending on decoding performance. For
some video formats, precise seeks are disabled. This option selects the
default choice to use for seeks; it is possible to explicitly override that
default in the definition of key bindings and in slave mode commands.
:no: Never use precise seeks.
:absolute: Use precise seeks if the seek is to an absolute position in the
file, such as a chapter seek, but not for relative seeks like
the default behavior of arrow keys (default).
:yes: Use precise seeks whenever possible.
``--hr-seek-demuxer-offset=<seconds>``
This option exists to work around failures to do precise seeks (as in
``--hr-seek``) caused by bugs or limitations in the demuxers for some file
formats. Some demuxers fail to seek to a keyframe before the given target
position, going to a later position instead. The value of this option is
subtracted from the time stamp given to the demuxer. Thus, if you set this
option to 1.5 and try to do a precise seek to 60 seconds, the demuxer is
told to seek to time 58.5, which hopefully reduces the chance that it
erroneously goes to some time later than 60 seconds. The downside of
setting this option is that precise seeks become slower, as video between
the earlier demuxer position and the real target may be unnecessarily
decoded.
``--http-header-fields=<field1,field2>``
Set custom HTTP fields when accessing HTTP stream.
.. admonition:: Example
::
mpv --http-header-fields='Field1: value1','Field2: value2' \
http://localhost:1234
Will generate HTTP request::
GET / HTTP/1.0
Host: localhost:1234
User-Agent: MPlayer
Icy-MetaData: 1
Field1: value1
Field2: value2
Connection: close
``--hue=<-100-100>``
Adjust the hue of the video signal (default: 0). You can get a colored
negative of the image with this option. Not supported by all video output
drivers.
``--hwdec=<api>``
Specify the hardware video decoding API that should be used if possible.
Whether hardware decoding is actually done depends on the video codec. If
hardware decoding is not possible, mpv will fall back on software decoding.
``<api>`` can be one of the following:
:no: always use software decoding (default)
:auto: see below
:vdpau: requires ``--vo=vdpau`` or ``--vo=opengl`` (Linux only)
:vaapi: requires ``--vo=opengl`` or ``--vo=vaapi`` (Linux with Intel GPUs only)
:vaapi-copy: copies video back into system RAM (Linux with Intel GPUs only)
:vda: requires ``--vo=opengl`` or ``--vo=corevideo`` (OSX only)
``auto`` tries to automatically enable hardware decoding using the first
available method. This still depends what VO you are using. For example,
if you are not using ``--vo=vdpau``, vdpau decoding will never be enabled.
Also note that if the first found method doesn't actually work, it will
always fall back to software decoding, instead of trying the next method.
The ``vaapi-copy`` function allows you to use vaapi with any VO. Because
this copies the decoded video back to system RAM, it's quite inefficient.
.. note::
When using this switch, hardware decoding is still only done for some
codecs. See ``--hwdec-codecs`` to enable hardware decoding for more
codecs.
``--hwdec-codecs=<codec1,codec2,...|all>``
Allow hardware decoding for a given list of codecs only. The special value
``all`` always allows all codecs.
You can get the list of allowed codecs with ``mpv --vd=help``. Remove the
prefix, e.g. instead of ``lavc:h264`` use ``h264``.
By default this is set to ``h264,vc1,wmv3``.
This is usually only needed with broken GPUs, where a codec is reported
as supported, but decoding causes more problems than it solves.
.. admonition:: Example
``mpv --hwdec=vdpau --vo=vdpau --hwdec-codecs=h264,mpeg2video``
Enable vdpau decoding for h264 and mpeg2 only.
``--identify``
Deprecated. Use ``TOOLS/mpv_identify.sh``.
``--idle``
Makes mpv wait idly instead of quitting when there is no file to play.
Mostly useful in slave mode, where mpv can be controlled through input
commands (see also ``--slave-broken``).
``--idx``
Rebuilds index of files if no index was found, allowing seeking. Useful
with broken/incomplete downloads or badly created files. Now this is done
automatically by the demuxers used for most video formats, meaning that
this switch has no effect in the typical case. See also ``--forceidx``.
.. note::
This option only works if the underlying media supports seeking
(i.e. not with stdin, pipe, etc).
``--include=<configuration-file>``
Specify configuration file to be parsed after the default ones.
``--initial-audio-sync``, ``--no-initial-audio-sync``
When starting a video file or after events such as seeking, mpv will by
default modify the audio stream to make it start from the same timestamp
as video, by either inserting silence at the start or cutting away the
first samples. Disabling this option makes the player behave like older
mpv versions did: video and audio are both started immediately even if
their start timestamps differ, and then video timing is gradually adjusted
if necessary to reach correct synchronization later.
``--input-conf=<filename>``
Specify input configuration file other than the default
``~/.mpv/input.conf``.
``--input-ar-delay``
Delay in milliseconds before we start to autorepeat a key (0 to disable).
``--input-ar-rate``
Number of key presses to generate per second on autorepeat.
``--no-input-default-bindings``
Disable mpv default (builtin) key bindings.
``--input-keylist``
Prints all keys that can be bound to commands.
``--input-cmdlist``
Prints all commands that can be bound to keys.
``--input-js-dev``
Specifies the joystick device to use (default: ``/dev/input/js0``).
``--input-file=<filename>``
Read commands from the given file. Mostly useful with a FIFO.
See also ``--slave-broken``.
.. note::
When the given file is a FIFO mpv opens both ends, so you can do several
`echo "seek 10" > mp_pipe` and the pipe will stay valid.
``--input-test``
Input test mode. Instead of executing commands on key presses, mpv
will show the keys and the bound commands on the OSD. Has to be used
with a dummy video, and the normal ways to quit the player will not
work (key bindings that normally quit will be shown on OSD only, just
like any other binding). See `INPUT.CONF`_.
``--joystick``, ``--no-joystick``
Enable/disable joystick support. Disabled by default.
``--no-keepaspect``, ``--keepaspect``
``--no-keepaspect`` will always stretch the video to window size, and will
disable the window manager hints that force the window aspect ratio.
(Ignored in fullscreen mode.)
``--keep-open``
Do not terminate when playing or seeking beyond the end of the file.
Instead, pause the player. When trying to seek beyond end of the file, the
player will pause at an arbitrary playback position (or, in corner cases,
not redraw the window at all).
.. note::
This option is not respected when using ``--frames``, ``--end``,
``--length``, or when passing a chapter range to ``--chapter``.
Explicitly skipping to the next file or skipping beyond the last
chapter will terminate playback as well, even if ``--keep-open`` is
given.
``--key-fifo-size=<2-65000>``
Specify the size of the FIFO that buffers key events (default: 7). If it
is too small some events may be lost. The main disadvantage of setting it
to a very large value is that if you hold down a key triggering some
particularly slow command then the player may be unresponsive while it
processes all the queued commands.
``--length=<relative time>``
Stop after a given time relative to the start time.
See ``--start`` for valid option values and examples.
``--lirc``, ``--no-lirc``
Enable/disable LIRC support. Enabled by default.
``--lircconf=<filename>``
(LIRC only)
Specifies a configuration file for LIRC (default: ``~/.lircrc``).
``--list-options``
Prints all available options.
``--list-properties``
Print a list of the available properties.
``--load-scripts=<yes|no>``
If set to ``no``, don't auto-load scripts from ``~/.mpv/lua/``.
(Default: ``yes``)
``--load-unsafe-playlists``
Normally, something like ``mpv playlist.m3u`` won't load the playlist. This
is because the playlist code is unsafe. (This is the same in all other
variations of MPlayer.)
See ``--playlist`` for details.
Note: this option will allow opening playlists using the ``playlist``
special demuxer. The ``--playlist`` uses different code, and supports more
playlist formats than the playlist demuxer. This means that for now, the
``--playlist`` option should always be used if you intend to open playlists.
Background: the special demuxer contains newly written code, while the
``--playlist`` option uses the old MPlayer code. Adding support for more
playlist formats to the special demuxer is work in progress, and eventually
the old code should disappear.
``--loop=<N|inf|no>``
Loops playback ``N`` times. A value of ``1`` plays it one time (default),
``2`` two times, etc. ``inf`` means forever. ``no`` is the same as ``1`` and
disables looping. If several files are specified on command line, the
entire playlist is looped.
``--lua=<filename>``
Load a Lua script. You can load multiple scripts by separating them with
commas (``,``).
``--lua-opts=key1=value1,key2=value2,...``
Set options for scripts. A Lua script can query an option by key. If an
option is used and what semantics the option value has depends entirely on
the loaded Lua scripts. Values not claimed by any scripts are ignored.
``--mc=<seconds/frame>``
Maximum A-V sync correction per frame (in seconds)
``--media-keys``, ``--no-media-keys``
OSX only: Enabled by default. Enables/disable media keys support.
``--merge-files``
Pretend that all files passed to mpv are concatenated into a single, big
file. This uses timeline/EDL support internally. Note that this won't work
for ordered chapter files or quvi-resolved URLs (such as youtube links).
This option is interpreted at program start, and doesn't affect for
example files or playlists loaded with the ``loadfile`` or ``loadlist``
commands.
``--mf=<option1:option2:...>``
Used when decoding from multiple PNG or JPEG files with ``mf://``.
Available options are:
:fps=<value>: output fps (default: 1)
:type=<value>: input file type (available: jpeg, png, tga, sgi)
``--monitoraspect=<ratio>``
Set the aspect ratio of your monitor or TV screen. A value of 0 disables a
previous setting (e.g. in the config file). Overrides the
``--monitorpixelaspect`` setting if enabled.
See also ``--monitorpixelaspect`` and ``--aspect``.
.. admonition:: Examples
- ``--monitoraspect=4:3`` or ``--monitoraspect=1.3333``
- ``--monitoraspect=16:9`` or ``--monitoraspect=1.7777``
``--monitorpixelaspect=<ratio>``
Set the aspect of a single pixel of your monitor or TV screen (default:
1). A value of 1 means square pixels (correct for (almost?) all LCDs). See
also ``--monitoraspect`` and ``--aspect``.
``--mouse-movements``, ``--no-mouse-movements``
Permit mpv to receive pointer events reported by the video output
driver. Necessary to select the buttons in DVD menus. Supported for
X11-based VOs (x11, xv, etc) and the gl, direct3d and corevideo VOs.
``--no-msgcolor``
Disable colorful console output on terminals.
``--msglevel=<module1=level1:module2=level2:...>``
Control verbosity directly for each module. The ``all`` module changes the
verbosity of all the modules not explicitly specified on the command line.
Run mpv with ``--msglevel=all=trace`` to see all messages mpv outputs. You
can use the module names printed in the output (prefixed to each line in
``[...]``) to limit the output to interesting modules.
.. note::
Some messages are printed before the command line is parsed and are
therefore not affected by ``--msglevel``. To control these messages,
you have to use the ``MPV_VERBOSE`` environment variable; see
`ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES`_ for details.
Available levels:
:no: complete silence
:fatal: fatal messages only
:error: error messages
:warn: warning messages
:info: informational messages
:status: status messages (default)
:v: verbose messages
:debug: debug messages
:trace: very noisy debug messages
One special case is the ``identify`` module name. This is silenced by
default, and can be enabled with the ``-identify`` option.
``--msgmodule``
Prepend module name in front of each console message.
``--mute=<auto|yes|no>``
Set startup audio mute status. ``auto`` (default) will not change the mute
status. Also see ``--volume``.
``--name``
Set the window class name for X11-based video output methods.
``--native-keyrepeat``
Use system settings for keyrepeat delay and rate, instead of
``--input-ar-delay`` and ``--input-ar-rate``. (Whether this applies
depends on the VO backend and how it handles keyboard input. Does not
apply to terminal input.)
``--no-aspect``
Ignore aspect ratio information from video file and assume the video has
square pixels. See also ``--aspect``.
``--no-cache``
Turn off input stream caching. See ``--cache``.
``--no-config``
Do not load default configuration files. This prevents loading of
``~/.mpv/config`` and ``~/.mpv/input.conf``, as well as loading the
same files from system wide configuration directories. Other configuration
files are blocked as well, such as resume playback files.
.. note::
Files explicitly requested by command line options, like
``--include`` or ``--use-filedir-conf``, will still be loaded.
Also see ``--config-dir``.
``--no-idx``
Do not use index present in the file even if one is present.
``--no-audio``
Do not play sound. With some demuxers this may not work. In those cases
you can try ``--ao=null`` instead.
``--no-resume-playback``
Do not restore playback position from ``~/.mpv/watch_later/``.
See ``quit_watch_later`` input command.
``--no-sub``
Do not select any subtitle when the file is loaded.
``--sub-visibility``, ``--no-sub-visibility``
Can be used to disable display of subtitles, but still select and decode
them.
``--no-video``
Do not play video. With some demuxers this may not work. In those cases
you can try ``--vo=null`` instead.
``--ontop``
Makes the player window stay on top of other windows. Supported by video
output drivers which use X11, as well as corevideo.
``--ordered-chapters``, ``--no-ordered-chapters``
Enabled by default.
Disable support for Matroska ordered chapters. mpv will not load or
search for video segments from other files, and will also ignore any
chapter order specified for the main file.
``--ordered-chapters-files=<playlist-file>``
Loads the given file as playlist, and tries to use the files contained in
it as reference files when opening a Matroska file that uses ordered
chapters. This overrides the normal mechanism for loading referenced
files by scanning the same directory the main file is located in.
Useful for loading ordered chapter files that are not located on the local
filesystem, or if the referenced files are in different directories.
Note: a playlist can be as simple as a text file containing filenames
separated by newlines.
``--osc``, ``--no-osc``
Whether to load the on-screen-controller (default: yes).
``--no-osd-bar``, ``--osd-bar``
Disable display of the OSD bar. This will make some things (like seeking)
use OSD text messages instead of the bar.
You can configure this on a per-command basis in input.conf using ``osd-``
prefixes, see ``Input command prefixes``. If you want to disable the OSD
completely, use ``--osd-level=0``.
``--osd-bar-align-x=<-1-1>``
Position of the OSD bar. -1 is far left, 0 is centered, 1 is far right.
Fractional values (like 0.5) are allowed.
``--osd-bar-align-y=<-1-1>``
Position of the OSD bar. -1 is top, 0 is centered, 1 is bottom.
Fractional values (like 0.5) are allowed.
``--osd-bar-w=<1-100>``
Width of the OSD bar, in percentage of the screen width (default: 75).
A value of 50 means the bar is half the screen wide.
``--osd-bar-h=<0.1-50>``
Height of the OSD bar, in percentage of the screen height (default: 3.125).
``--osd-back-color=<color>``, ``--sub-text-back-color=<color>``
See ``--osd-color``. Color used for OSD/sub text background.
``--osd-blur=<0..20.0>``, ``--sub-text-blur=<0..20.0>``
Gaussian blur factor. 0 means no blur applied (default).
``--osd-border-color=<color>``, ``--sub-text-border-color=<color>``
See ``--osd-color``. Color used for the OSD/sub font border.
.. note::
ignored when ``--osd-back-color``/``--sub-text-back-color`` is
specified (or more exactly: when that option is not set to completely
transparent).
``--osd-border-size=<size>``, ``--sub-text-border-size=<size>``
Size of the OSD/sub font border in scaled pixels (see ``--osd-font-size``
for details). A value of 0 disables borders.
Default: 2.5.
``--osd-color=<color>``, ``--sub-text-color=<color>``
Specify the color used for OSD/unstyled text subtitles.
The color is specified in the form ``r/g/b``, where each color component
is specified as number in the range 0.0 to 1.0. It's also possible to
specify the transparency by using ``r/g/b/a``, where the alpha value 0
means fully transparent, and 1.0 means opaque. If the alpha component is
not given, the color is 100% opaque.
Passing a single number to the option sets the OSD to gray, and the form
``gray/a`` lets you specify alpha additionally.
.. admonition:: Examples
- ``--osd-color=1.0/0.0/0.0`` set OSD to opaque red
- ``--osd-color=1.0/0.0/0.0/0.75`` set OSD to opaque red with 75% alpha
- ``--osd-color=0.5/0.75`` set OSD to 50% gray with 75% alpha
Alternatively, the color can be specified as a RGB hex triplet in the form
``#RRGGBB``, where each 2-digit group expresses a color value in the
range 0 (``00``) to 255 (``FF``). For example, ``#FF0000`` is red.
This is similar to web colors.
.. admonition:: Examples
- ``--osd-color='#FF0000'`` set OSD to opaque red
- ``--osd-color='#C0808080'`` set OSD to 50% gray with 75% alpha
``--osd-duration=<time>``
Set the duration of the OSD messages in ms (default: 1000).
``--osd-font=<pattern>``, ``--sub-text-font=<pattern>``
Specify font to use for OSD and for subtitles that do not themselves
specify a particular font. The default is ``sans-serif``.
.. admonition:: Examples
- ``--osd-font='Bitstream Vera Sans'``
- ``--osd-font='Bitstream Vera Sans:style=Bold'`` (fontconfig pattern)
.. note::
The ``--sub-text-font`` option (and most other ``--sub-text-``
options) are ignored when ASS-subtitles are rendered, unless the
``--no-ass`` option is specified.
``--osd-font-size=<size>``, ``--sub-text-font-size=<size>``
Specify the OSD/sub font size. The unit is the size in scaled pixels at a
window height of 720. The actual pixel size is scaled with the window
height: if the window height is larger or smaller than 720, the actual size
of the text increases or decreases as well.
Default: 45.
``--osd-fractions``
Show OSD times with fractions of seconds.
``--osd-level=<0-3>``
Specifies which mode the OSD should start in.
:0: subtitles only
:1: volume + seek (default)
:2: volume + seek + timer + percentage
:3: volume + seek + timer + percentage + total time
``--osd-margin-x=<size>, --sub-text-margin-x=<size>``
Left and right screen margin for the OSD/subs in scaled pixels (see
``--osd-font-size`` for details).
This option specifies the distance of the OSD to the left, as well as at
which distance from the right border long OSD text will be broken.
Default: 25.
``--osd-margin-y=<size>, --sub-text-margin-y=<size>``
Top and bottom screen margin for the OSD/subs in scaled pixels (see
``--osd-font-size`` for details).
This option specifies the vertical margins of the OSD. This is also used
for unstyled text subtitles. If you just want to raise the vertical
subtitle position, use ``--sub-pos``.
Default: 10.
``--osd-scale=<factor>``
OSD font size multiplicator, multiplied with ``--osd-font-size`` value.
``--osd-scale-by-window=yes|no``
Whether to scale the OSD with the window size (default: yes). If this is
disabled, ``--osd-font-size`` and other OSD options that use scaled pixels
are always in actual pixels. The effect is that changing the window size
won't change the OSD font size.
``--osd-shadow-color=<color>, --sub-text-shadow-color=<color>``
See ``--osd-color``. Color used for OSD/sub text shadow.
``--osd-shadow-offset=<size>, --sub-text-shadow-offset=<size>``
Displacement of the OSD/sub text shadow in scaled pixels (see
``--osd-font-size`` for details). A value of 0 disables shadows.
Default: 0.
``--osd-spacing=<size>, --sub-text-spacing=<size>``
Horizontal OSD/sub font spacing in scaled pixels (see ``--osd-font-size``
for details). This value is added to the normal letter spacing. Negative
values are allowed.
Default: 0.
``--osd-status-msg=<string>``
Show a custom string during playback instead of the standard status text.
This overrides the status text used for ``--osd-level=3``, when using the
``show_progress`` command (by default mapped to ``P``), or in some
non-default cases when seeking. Expands properties. See
`Property Expansion`_.
``--panscan=<0.0-1.0>``
Enables pan-and-scan functionality (cropping the sides of e.g. a 16:9
movie to make it fit a 4:3 display without black bands). The range
controls how much of the image is cropped. May not work with all video
output drivers.
``--pause``
Start the player in paused state.
``--playing-msg=<string>``
Print out a string after starting playback. The string is expanded for
properties, e.g. ``--playing-msg='file: ${filename}'`` will print the string
``file:`` followed by a space and the currently played filename.
See `Property Expansion`_.
``--status-msg=<string>``
Print out a custom string during playback instead of the standard status
line. Expands properties. See `Property Expansion`_.
``--stream-capture=<filename>``
Allows capturing the primary stream (not additional audio tracks or other
kind of streams) into the given file. Capturing can also be started and
stopped by changing the filename with the ``stream-capture`` slave property.
Generally this will not produce usable results for anything else than MPEG
or raw streams, unless capturing includes the file headers and is not
interrupted. Note that, due to cache latencies, captured data may begin and
end somewhat delayed compared to what you see displayed.
``--stream-dump=<filename>``
Same as ``--stream-capture``, but do not start playback. Instead, the entire
file is dumped.
``--playlist=<filename>``
Play files according to a playlist file (ASX, Winamp, SMIL, or
one-file-per-line format).
.. warning::
The way mpv parses and uses playlist files is not safe against
maliciously constructed files. Such files may trigger harmful actions.
This has been the case for all mpv and MPlayer versions, but
unfortunately this fact was not well documented earlier, and some people
have even misguidedly recommended use of ``--playlist`` with untrusted
sources. Do NOT use ``--playlist`` with random internet sources or files
you do not trust!
FIXME: This needs to be clarified and documented thoroughly.
``--priority=<prio>``
(Windows only.)
Set process priority for mpv according to the predefined priorities
available under Windows.
Possible values of ``<prio>``:
idle|belownormal|normal|abovenormal|high|realtime
.. warning:: Using realtime priority can cause system lockup.
``--profile=<profile1,profile2,...>``
Use the given profile(s), ``--profile=help`` displays a list of the
defined profiles.
``--pts-association-mode=<decode|sort|auto>``
Select the method used to determine which container packet timestamp
corresponds to a particular output frame from the video decoder. Normally
you should not need to change this option.
:decoder: Use decoder reordering functionality. Unlike in classic MPlayer
and mplayer2, this includes a dTS fallback. (Default.)
:sort: Maintain a buffer of unused pts values and use the lowest value
for the frame.
:auto: Try to pick a working mode from the ones above automatically.
You can also try to use ``--no-correct-pts`` for files with completely
broken timestamps.
``--pvr=<option1:option2:...>``
This option tunes various encoding properties of the PVR capture module.
It has to be used with any hardware MPEG encoder based card supported by
the V4L2 driver. The Hauppauge WinTV PVR-150/250/350/500 and all IVTV
based cards are known as PVR capture cards. Be aware that only Linux
2.6.18 kernel and above is able to handle MPEG stream through V4L2 layer.
For hardware capture of an MPEG stream and watching it with mpv, use
``pvr://`` as a movie URL.
Available options are:
``aspect=<0-3>``
Specify input aspect ratio:
:0: 1:1
:1: 4:3 (default)
:2: 16:9
:3: 2.21:1
``arate=<32000-48000>``
Specify encoding audio rate (default: 48000 Hz, available: 32000,
44100 and 48000 Hz).
``alayer=<1-3>``
Specify MPEG audio layer encoding (default: 2).
``abitrate=<32-448>``
Specify audio encoding bitrate in kbps (default: 384).
``amode=<value>``
Specify audio encoding mode. Available preset values are 'stereo',
'joint_stereo', 'dual' and 'mono' (default: stereo).
``vbitrate=<value>``
Specify average video bitrate encoding in Mbps (default: 6).
``vmode=<value>``
Specify video encoding mode:
:vbr: Variable BitRate (default)
:cbr: Constant BitRate
``vpeak=<value>``
Specify peak video bitrate encoding in Mbps (only useful for VBR
encoding, default: 9.6).
``fmt=<value>``
Choose an MPEG format for encoding:
:ps: MPEG-2 Program Stream (default)
:ts: MPEG-2 Transport Stream
:mpeg1: MPEG-1 System Stream
:vcd: Video CD compatible stream
:svcd: Super Video CD compatible stream
:dvd: DVD compatible stream
``--quiet``
Make console output less verbose; in particular, prevents the status line
(i.e. AV: 3.4 (00:00:03.37) / 5320.6 ...) from being displayed.
Particularly useful on slow terminals or broken ones which do not properly
handle carriage return (i.e. ``\r``).
Also see ``--really-quiet`` and ``--msglevel``.
``--quvi-fetch-subtitles=<yes|no>``
Toggles fetching of subtitles from streaming sites with libquvi. Disabled
by default, because it's unreliable and slow. Note that when enabled,
subtitles will always be fetched, even if subtitles are explicitly
disabled with ``--no-sub`` (because you might want to enable subtitles
at runtime).
Supported when using libquvi 0.9.x.
``--quvi-format=<best|default|...>``
Video format/quality that is directly passed to libquvi (default: ``best``).
This is used when opening links to streaming sites like YouTube. The
interpretation of this value is highly specific to the streaming site and
the video.
libquvi 0.4.x:
The only well-defined values that work on all sites are ``best``
(best quality/highest bandwidth, default), and ``default`` (lowest
quality).
The quvi command line tool can be used to find out which formats are
supported for a given URL: ``quvi --query-formats URL``.
libquvi 0.9.x:
The following explanations are relevant:
`<http://quvi.sourceforge.net/doc/0.9/glossary_termino.html#m_stream_id>`_
The ``quvi-format`` property can be used at runtime to cycle through the
list of formats. Unfortunately, this is slow. On libquvi 0.4.x, this
functionality is limited to switching between ``best`` and ``default`` if
the ``cycle`` input command is used.
``--radio=<option1:option2:...>``
These options set various parameters of the radio capture module. For
listening to radio with mpv, use ``radio://<frequency>`` (if channels
option is not given) or ``radio://<channel_number>`` (if channels option
is given) as a movie URL. You can see allowed frequency range by running
mpv with ``-v``. To start the grabbing subsystem, use
``radio://<frequency or channel>/capture``. If the capture keyword is not
given, you can listen to radio using the line-in cable only. Using capture
to listen is not recommended due to synchronization problems, which makes
this process uncomfortable.
Available options are:
``device=<value>``
Radio device to use (default: ``/dev/radio0`` for Linux and
``/dev/tuner0`` for \*BSD).
``driver=<value>``
Radio driver to use (default: v4l2 if available, otherwise v4l).
Currently, v4l and v4l2 drivers are supported.
``volume=<0..100>``
Sound volume for radio device (default 100).
``channels=<frequency>-<name>,<frequency>-<name>,...``
Set channel list. Use _ for spaces in names (or play with quoting ;-) ).
The channel names will then be written using OSD, and the slave
commands ``radio_step_channel`` and ``radio_set_channel`` will be usable
for a remote control (see LIRC). If given, number in movie URL will be
treated as channel position in channel list.
.. admonition:: Example
``radio://1``, ``radio://104.4``, ``radio_set_channel 1``
``adevice=<value>`` (radio capture only)
Name of device to capture sound from. Without such a name, capture will
be disabled, even if the ``capture`` keyword appears in the URL.
For ALSA devices, use it in the form ``hw=<card>.<device>``. If the
device name contains a '=', the module will use ALSA to capture,
otherwise OSS.
``arate=<value>`` (radio capture only)
Rate in samples per second (default: 44100).
.. note::
When using audio capture set also ``--rawaudio=rate=<value>`` option
with the same value as arate. If you have problems with sound speed
(runs too quickly), try to play with different rate values (e.g.
48000, 44100, 32000,...).
``achannels=<value>`` (radio capture only)
Number of audio channels to capture.
``--really-quiet``
Display even less output and status messages than with ``--quiet``.
``--referrer=<string>``
Specify a referrer path or URL for HTTP requests.
``--reset-on-next-file=<all|option1,option2,...>``
Normally, mpv will try to keep all settings when playing the next file on
the playlist, even if they were changed by the user during playback. (This
behavior is the opposite of MPlayer's, which tries to reset all settings
when starting next file.)
Default: Do not reset anything.
This can be changed with this option. It accepts a list of options, and
mpv will reset the value of these options on playback start to the initial
value. The initial value is either the default value, or as set by the
config file or command line.
In some cases, this might not work as expected. For example, ``--volume``
will only be reset if it is explicitly set in the config file or the
command line.
The special name ``all`` resets as many options as possible.
.. admonition:: Examples
- ``--reset-on-next-file=pause``
Reset pause mode when switching to the next file.
- ``--reset-on-next-file=fullscreen,speed``
Reset fullscreen and playback speed settings if they were changed
during playback.
- ``--reset-on-next-file=all``
Try to reset all settings that were changed during playback.
``--right-alt-gr``, ``--no-right-alt-gr``
(Cocoa and Windows only)
Use the right Alt key as Alt Gr to produce special characters. If disabled,
count the right Alt as an Alt modifier key. Enabled by default.
``--rtsp-transport=<lavf|udp|tcp|http>``
Select RTSP transport method (default: tcp). This selects the underlying
network transport when playing ``rtsp://...`` URLs. The value ``lavf``
leaves the decision to libavformat.
``--saturation=<-100-100>``
Adjust the saturation of the video signal (default: 0). You can get
grayscale output with this option. Not supported by all video output
drivers.
``--save-position-on-quit``
Always save the current playback position on quit. When this file is
played again later, the player will seek to the old playback position on
start. This does not happen if playback of a file is stopped in any other
way than quitting. For example, going to the next file in the playlist
will not save the position, and start playback at beginning the next time
the file is played.
This behavior is disabled by default, but is always available when quitting
the player with Shift+Q.
``--sb=<n>``
Seek to byte position. Useful for playback from CD-ROM images or VOB files
with junk at the beginning. See also ``--start``.
``--screen=<default|0-32>``
In multi-monitor configurations (i.e. a single desktop that spans across
multiple displays), this option tells mpv which screen to display the
movie on.
.. admonition:: Note (X11)
This option does not work properly with all window managers. In these
cases, you can try to use ``--geometry`` to position the window
explicitly. It's also possible that the window manager provides native
features to control which screens application windows should use.
See also ``--fs-screen``.
``--screenshot-format=<type>``
Set the image file type used for saving screenshots.
Available choices:
:png: PNG
:ppm: PPM
:pgm: PGM
:pgmyuv: PGM with YV12 pixel format
:tga: TARGA
:jpg: JPEG (default)
:jpeg: JPEG (same as jpg, but with .jpeg file ending)
``--screenshot-jpeg-quality=<0-100>``
Set the JPEG quality level. Higher means better quality. The default is 90.
``--screenshot-png-compression=<0-9>``
Set the PNG compression level. Higher means better compression. This will
affect the file size of the written screenshot file and the time it takes
to write a screenshot. Too high compression might occupy enough CPU time to
interrupt playback. The default is 7.
``--screenshot-png-filter=<0-5>``
Set the filter applied prior to PNG compression. 0 is none, 1 is "sub", 2 is
"up", 3 is "average", 4 is "Paeth", and 5 is "mixed". This affects the level
of compression that can be achieved. For most images, "mixed" achieves the
best compression ratio, hence it is the default.
``--screenshot-template=<template>``
Specify the filename template used to save screenshots. The template
specifies the filename without file extension, and can contain format
specifiers, which will be substituted when taking a screeshot.
By default the template is ``shot%n``, which results in filenames like
``shot0012.png`` for example.
The template can start with a relative or absolute path, in order to
specify a directory location where screenshots should be saved.
If the final screenshot filename points to an already existing file, the
file will not be overwritten. The screenshot will either not be saved, or if
the template contains ``%n``, saved using different, newly generated
filename.
Allowed format specifiers:
``%[#][0X]n``
A sequence number, padded with zeros to length X (default: 04). E.g.
passing the format ``%04n`` will yield ``0012`` on the 12th screenshot.
The number is incremented every time a screenshot is taken or if the
file already exists. The length ``X`` must be in the range 0-9. With
the optional # sign, mpv will use the lowest available number. For
example, if you take three screenshots--0001, 0002, 0003--and delete
the first two, the next two screenshots will not be 0004 and 0005, but
0001 and 0002 again.
``%f``
Filename of the currently played video.
``%F``
Same as ``%f``, but strip the file extension, including the dot.
``%x``
Directory path of the currently played video. If the video is not on
the filesystem (but e.g. ``http://``), this expand to an empty string.
``%X{fallback}``
Same as ``%x``, but if the video file is not on the filesystem, return
the fallback string inside the ``{...}``.
``%p``
Current playback time, in the same format as used in the OSD. The
result is a string of the form "HH:MM:SS". For example, if the video is
at the time position 5 minutes and 34 seconds, ``%p`` will be replaced
with "00:05:34".
``%P``
Similar to ``%p``, but extended with the playback time in milliseconds.
It is formatted as "HH:MM:SS.mmm", with "mmm" being the millisecond
part of the playback time.
.. note::
This is a simple way for getting unique per-frame timestamps. Frame
numbers would be more intuitive, but are not easily implementable
because container formats usually use time stamps for identifying
frames.)
``%wX``
Specify the current playback time using the format string ``X``.
``%p`` is like ``%wH:%wM:%wS``, and ``%P`` is like ``%wH:%wM:%wS.%wT``.
Valid format specifiers:
``%wH``
hour (padded with 0 to two digits)
``%wh``
hour (not padded)
``%wM``
minutes (00-59)
``%wm``
total minutes (includes hours, unlike ``%wM``)
``%wS``
seconds (00-59)
``%ws``
total seconds (includes hours and minutes)
``%wf``
like ``%ws``, but as float
``%wT``
milliseconds (000-999)
``%tX``
Specify the current local date/time using the format ``X``. This format
specifier uses the UNIX ``strftime()`` function internally, and inserts
the result of passing "%X" to ``strftime``. For example, ``%tm`` will
insert the number of the current month as number. You have to use
multiple ``%tX`` specifiers to build a full date/time string.
``%{prop[:fallback text]}``
Insert the value of the slave property 'prop'. E.g. ``%{filename}`` is
the same as ``%f``. If the property does not exist or is not available,
an error text is inserted, unless a fallback is specified.
``%%``
Replaced with the ``%`` character itself.
``--secondary-sid=<ID|auto|no>``
Select a secondary subtitle stream. This is similar to ``--sid``. If a
secondary subtitle is selected, it will be rendered as toptitle (i.e. on
the top of the screen) alongside the normal subtitle, and provides a way
to render two subtitles at once.
there are some caveats associated with this feature. For example, bitmap
subtitles will always be rendered in their usual position, so selecting a
bitmap subtitle as secondary subtitle will result in overlapping subtitles.
Secondary subtitles are never shown on the terminal if video is disabled.
.. note::
Styling and interpretation of any formatting tags is disabled for the
secondary subtitle. Internally, the same mechanism as ``--no-ass`` is
used to strip the styling.
.. note::
If the main subtitle stream contains formatting tags which display the
subtitle at the top of the screen, it will overlap with the secondary
subtitle. To prevent this, you could use ``--no-ass`` to disable
styling in the main subtitle stream.
``--show-profile=<profile>``
Show the description and content of a profile.
``--shuffle``
Play files in random order.
``--sid=<ID|auto|no>``
Display the subtitle stream specified by ``<ID>``. ``auto`` selects
the default, ``no`` disables subtitles.
See also ``--slang``, ``--no-sub``.
``--slang=<languagecode[,languagecode,...]>``
Specify a priority list of subtitle languages to use. Different container
formats employ different language codes. DVDs use ISO 639-1 two letter
language codes, Matroska uses ISO 639-2 three letter language codes while
OGM uses a free-form identifier. See also ``--sid``.
.. admonition:: Examples
- ``mpv dvd://1 --slang=hu,en`` chooses the Hungarian subtitle track on
a DVD and falls back on English if Hungarian is not available.
- ``mpv --slang=jpn example.mkv`` plays a Matroska file with Japanese
subtitles.
``--slave-broken``
Switches on the old slave mode. This is for testing only, and incompatible
to the removed ``--slave`` switch.
.. attention::
Changes incompatible to slave mode applications have been made. In
particular, the status line output was changed, which is used by some
applications to determine the current playback position. This switch
has been renamed to prevent these applications from working with this
version of mpv, because it would lead to buggy and confusing behavior
only. Moreover, the slave mode protocol is so horribly bad that it
should not be used for new programs, nor should existing programs
attempt to adapt to the changed output and use the ``--slave-broken``
switch. Instead, a new, saner protocol should be developed (and will be,
if there is enough interest).
This affects most third-party GUI frontends.
``--softsleep``
Time frames by repeatedly checking the current time instead of asking
the kernel to wake up mpv at the correct time. Useful if your kernel
timing is imprecise and you cannot use the RTC either. Comes at the
price of higher CPU consumption.
``--softvol=<mode>``
Control whether to use the volume controls of the audio output driver or
the internal mpv volume filter.
:no: prefer audio driver controls, use the volume filter only if
absolutely needed
:yes: always use the volume filter
:auto: prefer the volume filter if the audio driver uses the system mixer
(default)
The intention of ``auto`` is to avoid changing system mixer settings from
within mpv with default settings. mpv is a video player, not a mixer panel.
On the other hand, mixer controls are enabled for sound servers like
PulseAudio, which provide per-application volume.
``--softvol-max=<10.0-10000.0>``
Set the maximum amplification level in percent (default: 200). A value of
200 will allow you to adjust the volume up to a maximum of double the
current level. With values below 100 the initial volume (which is 100%)
will be above the maximum, which e.g. the OSD cannot display correctly.
.. admonition:: Note
The maximum value of ``--volume`` as well as the ``volume`` property
is always 100. Likewise, the volume OSD bar always goes from 0 to 100.
This means that with ``--softvol-max=200``, ``--volume=100`` sets
maximum amplification, i.e. amplify by 200%. The default volume (no
change in volume) will be ``50`` in this case.
``--speed=<0.01-100>``
Slow down or speed up playback by the factor given as parameter.
``--srate=<Hz>``
Select the output sample rate to be used (of course sound cards have
limits on this). If the sample frequency selected is different from that
of the current media, the lavrresample audio filter will be
inserted into the audio filter layer to compensate for the difference.
``--start=<relative time>``
Seek to given time position.
The general format for absolute times is ``[[hh:]mm:]ss[.ms]``. If the time
is negated with ``-``, the seek is relative from the end of the file.
``pp%`` seeks to percent position pp (0-100).
``#c`` seeks to chapter number c. (Chapters start from 1.)
.. admonition:: Examples
``--start=56``
Seeks to 56 seconds.
``--start=01:10:00``
Seeks to 1 hour 10 min.
``--start=50%``
Seeks to the middle of the file.
``--start=30 --end=40``
Seeks to 30 seconds, plays 10 seconds, and exits.
``--start=-3:20 --length=10``
Seeks to 3 minutes and 20 seconds before the end of the file, plays
10 seconds, and exits.
``--start='#2' --end='#4'``
Plays chapters 2 and 3, and exits.
``--stretch-dvd-subs=<yes|no>``
Stretch DVD subtitles when playing anamorphic videos for better looking
fonts on badly mastered DVDs. This switch has no effect when the
video is stored with square pixels - which for DVD input cannot be the case
though.
Many studios tend to use bitmap fonts designed for square pixels when
authoring DVDs, causing the fonts to look stretched on playback on DVD
players. This option fixes them, however at the price of possibly
misaligning sume subtitles (e.g. sign translations).
Disabled by default.
``--ssf=<mode>``
Specifies software scaler parameters.
:lgb=<0-100>: gaussian blur filter (luma)
:cgb=<0-100>: gaussian blur filter (chroma)
:ls=<-100-100>: sharpen filter (luma)
:cs=<-100-100>: sharpen filter (chroma)
:chs=<h>: chroma horizontal shifting
:cvs=<v>: chroma vertical shifting
.. admonition:: Example
``--vf=scale --ssf=lgb=3.0``
``--sstep=<sec>``
Skip <sec> seconds after every frame.
.. note::
Without ``--hr-seek``, skipping will snap to keyframes.
``--stop-screensaver``, ``--no-stop-screensaver``
Turns off the screensaver (or screen blanker and similar mechanisms) at
startup and turns it on again on exit (default: yes). The screensaver is
always re-enabled when the player is paused.
This is not supported on all video outputs or platforms. Sometimes it is
implemented, but does not work (happens often on GNOME). You might be able
to to work this around using ``--heartbeat-cmd`` instead.
``--sub=<subtitlefile1,subtitlefile2,...>``
Use/display these subtitle files. Only one file can be displayed at the
same time.
``--sub-fix-timing``, ``--no-sub-fix-timing``
By default, external text subtitles are preprocessed to remove minor gaps
or overlaps between subtitles (if the difference is smaller than 200 ms,
the gap or overlap is removed). This does not affect image subtitles,
subtitles muxed with audio/video, or subtitles in the ASS format.
``--sub-demuxer=<[+]name>``
Force subtitle demuxer type for ``--sub``. Give the demuxer name as
printed by ``--sub-demuxer=help``.
``--sub-paths=<path1:path2:...>``
Specify extra directories to search for subtitles matching the video.
Multiple directories can be separated by ":" (";" on Windows).
Paths can be relative or absolute. Relative paths are interpreted relative
to video file directory.
.. admonition:: Example
Assuming that ``/path/to/movie/movie.avi`` is played and
``--sub-paths=sub:subtitles:/tmp/subs`` is specified, mpv searches for
subtitle files in these directories:
- ``/path/to/movie/``
- ``/path/to/movie/sub/``
- ``/path/to/movie/subtitles/``
- ``/tmp/subs/``
- ``~/.mpv/sub/``
``--subcp=<codepage>``
If your system supports ``iconv(3)``, you can use this option to specify
the subtitle codepage. By default, ENCA will be used to guess the charset.
If mpv is not compiled with ENCA, ``UTF-8:UTF-8-BROKEN`` is the default,
which means it will try to use UTF-8, otherwise the ``UTF-8-BROKEN``
pseudo codepage (see below).
.. admonition:: Warning
If you force the charset, even subtitles that are known to be
UTF-8 will be recoded, which is perhaps not what you expect. Prefix
codepages with ``utf8:`` if you want the codepage to be used only if the
input is not valid UTF-8.
.. admonition:: Examples
- ``--subcp=utf8:latin2`` Use Latin 2 if input is not UTF-8.
- ``--subcp=utf8:cp1250`` Use CP1250 if input is not UTF-8.
- ``--subcp=cp1250`` Always force recoding to cp1250.
The pseudo codepage ``UTF-8-BROKEN`` is used internally. If this is used
as codepage, the subtitle will be interpreted as UTF-8, but with "Latin 1"
as fallback for bytes which are not valid UTF-8 sequences. iconv is never
involved in this mode.
If the player was compiled with ENCA support, you can control it with the
following syntax::
``--subcp=enca:<language>:<fallback codepage>``
You can specify your language using a two letter language code to make
ENCA detect the codepage automatically. If unsure, enter anything (if the
language is invalid, mpv will complain and list valid languages).
Fallback codepage specifies the codepage to use if autodetection fails.
If no fallback is specified, ``UTF-8-BROKEN`` is used.
.. admonition:: Examples
- ``--subcp=enca:cs:latin2`` guess the encoding, assuming the subtitles
are Czech, fall back on latin 2, if the detection fails.
- ``--subcp=enca:pl:cp1250`` guess the encoding for Polish, fall back on
cp1250.
- ``--subcp=enca:pl`` guess the encoding for Polish, fall back on UTF-8.
- ``--subcp=enca`` try universal detection, fall back on UTF-8.
If the player was compiled with libguess support, you can use it with:
``--subcp=guess:<language>:<fallback codepage>``
Note that libguess always needs a language. There is no universal detection
mode. Use ``--subcp=guess:help`` to get a list of languages (like with ENCA,
it will be printed only if the conversion code is somehow called, for
example when loading an external subtitle).
``--sub-delay=<sec>``
Delays subtitles by ``<sec>`` seconds. Can be negative.
``--subfps=<rate>``
Specify the framerate of the subtitle file (default: movie fps).
.. note::
``<rate>`` > movie fps speeds the subtitles up for frame-based
subtitle files and slows them down for time-based ones.
Also see ``--sub-speed`` option.
``--sub-gauss=<0.0-3.0>``
Apply gaussian blur to image subtitles (default: 0). This can help making
pixelated DVD/Vobsubs look nicer. A value other than 0 also switches to
software subtitle scaling. Might be slow.
.. note::
Never applied to text subtitles.
``--sub-gray``
Convert image subtitles to grayscale. Can help making yellow DVD/Vobsubs
look nicer.
.. note::
Never applied to text subtitles.
``--sub-pos=<0-100>``
Specify the position of subtitles on the screen. The value is the vertical
position of the subtitle in % of the screen height.
.. note::
This affects ASS subtitles as well, and may lead to incorrect subtitle
rendering. Use with care, or use ``--sub-text-margin-y`` instead.
``--sub-scale=<0-100>``
Factor for the text subtitle font size (default: 1).
.. note::
This affects ASS subtitles as well, and may lead to incorrect subtitle
rendering. Use with care, or use ``--sub-text-font-size`` instead.
``--sub-speed=<0.1-10.0>``
Multiply the subtitle event timestamps with the given value. Can be used
to fix the playback speed for frame-based subtitle formats. Works for
external text subtitles only.
.. admonition:: Example
`--sub-speed=25/23.976`` plays frame based subtitles which have been
loaded assuming a framerate of 23.976 at 25 FPS.
``--sws=<n>``
Specify the software scaler algorithm to be used with ``--vf=scale``. This
also affects video output drivers which lack hardware acceleration,
e.g. ``x11``. See also ``--vf=scale``.
Available types are:
:0: fast bilinear
:1: bilinear
:2: bicubic (good quality) (default)
:3: experimental
:4: nearest neighbor (bad quality)
:5: area
:6: luma bicubic / chroma bilinear
:7: gauss
:8: sincR
:9: lanczos
:10: natural bicubic spline
.. note::
Some ``--sws`` options are tunable. The description of the ``scale``
video filter has further information.
``--term-osd, --no-term-osd``, ``--term-osd=force``
Display OSD messages on the console when no video output is available.
Enabled by default.
``force`` enables terminal OSD even if a video window is created.
``--term-osd-bar``, ``--no-term-osd-bar``
Enable printing a progress bar under the status line on the terminal.
(Disabled by default.)
``--term-osd-bar-chars=<string>``
Customize the ``--term-osd-bar`` feature. The string is expected to
consist of 5 characters (start, left space, position indicator,
right space, end). You can use unicode characters, but note that double-
width characters will not be treated correctly.
Default: ``[-+-]``.
``--no-terminal``, ``--terminal``
Disable any use of the terminal and stdin/stdout/stderr. This completely
silences any message output.
Unlike ``--really-quiet``, this disables input and terminal initialization
as well.
``--title=<string>``
Set the window title. Properties are expanded on playback start.
(See `Property Expansion`_.)
.. warning::
There is a danger of this causing significant CPU usage, depending on
the properties used and the window manager. Changing the window title
is often a slow operation, and if the title changes every frame,
playback can be ruined.
``--tls-ca-file=<filename>``
Certificate authority database file for use with TLS. (Silently fails with
older ffmpeg or libav versions.)
``--tls-verify``
Verify peer certificates when using TLS (e.g. with ``https://...``).
(Silently fails with older ffmpeg or libav versions.)
``--tv=<option1:option2:...>``
This option tunes various properties of the TV capture module. For
watching TV with mpv, use ``tv://`` or ``tv://<channel_number>`` or
even ``tv://<channel_name>`` (see option ``channels`` for ``channel_name``
below) as a movie URL. You can also use ``tv:///<input_id>`` to start
watching a movie from a composite or S-Video input (see option ``input`` for
details).
Available options are:
``noaudio``
no sound
``automute=<0-255> (v4l and v4l2 only)``
If signal strength reported by device is less than this value, audio
and video will be muted. In most cases automute=100 will be enough.
Default is 0 (automute disabled).
``driver=<value>``
See ``--tv=driver=help`` for a list of compiled-in TV input drivers.
available: dummy, v4l2 (default: autodetect)
``device=<value>``
Specify TV device (default: ``/dev/video0``).
``input=<value>``
Specify input (default: 0 (TV), see console output for available
inputs).
``freq=<value>``
Specify the frequency to set the tuner to (e.g. 511.250). Not
compatible with the channels parameter.
``outfmt=<value>``
Specify the output format of the tuner with a preset value supported
by the V4L driver (YV12, UYVY, YUY2, I420) or an arbitrary format given
as hex value.
``width=<value>``
output window width
``height=<value>``
output window height
``fps=<value>``
framerate at which to capture video (frames per second)
``buffersize=<value>``
maximum size of the capture buffer in megabytes (default: dynamical)
``norm=<value>``
See the console output for a list of all available norms, also see the
``normid`` option below.
``normid=<value> (v4l2 only)``
Sets the TV norm to the given numeric ID. The TV norm depends on the
capture card. See the console output for a list of available TV norms.
``channel=<value>``
Set tuner to <value> channel.
``chanlist=<value>``
available: argentina, australia, china-bcast, europe-east,
europe-west, france, ireland, italy, japan-bcast, japan-cable,
newzealand, russia, southafrica, us-bcast, us-cable, us-cable-hrc
``channels=<chan>-<name>[=<norm>],<chan>-<name>[=<norm>],...``
Set names for channels.
.. note::
If <chan> is an integer greater than 1000, it will be treated as
frequency (in kHz) rather than channel name from frequency table.
Use _ for spaces in names (or play with quoting ;-) ). The channel
names will then be written using OSD, and the slave commands
``tv_step_channel``, ``tv_set_channel`` and ``tv_last_channel``
will be usable for a remote control (see LIRC). Not compatible with
the ``frequency`` parameter.
.. note::
The channel number will then be the position in the 'channels'
list, beginning with 1.
.. admonition:: Examples
``tv://1``, ``tv://TV1``, ``tv_set_channel 1``,
``tv_set_channel TV1``
``[brightness|contrast|hue|saturation]=<-100-100>``
Set the image equalizer on the card.
``audiorate=<value>``
Set input audio sample rate.
``forceaudio``
Capture audio even if there are no audio sources reported by v4l.
``alsa``
Capture from ALSA.
``amode=<0-3>``
Choose an audio mode:
:0: mono
:1: stereo
:2: language 1
:3: language 2
``forcechan=<1-2>``
By default, the count of recorded audio channels is determined
automatically by querying the audio mode from the TV card. This option
allows forcing stereo/mono recording regardless of the amode option
and the values returned by v4l. This can be used for troubleshooting
when the TV card is unable to report the current audio mode.
``adevice=<value>``
Set an audio device. <value> should be ``/dev/xxx`` for OSS and a
hardware ID for ALSA. You must replace any ':' by a '.' in the
hardware ID for ALSA.
``audioid=<value>``
Choose an audio output of the capture card, if it has more than one.
``[volume|bass|treble|balance]=<0-100>``
These options set parameters of the mixer on the video capture card.
They will have no effect, if your card does not have one. For v4l2 50
maps to the default value of the control, as reported by the driver.
``gain=<0-100>``
Set gain control for video devices (usually webcams) to the desired
value and switch off automatic control. A value of 0 enables automatic
control. If this option is omitted, gain control will not be modified.
``immediatemode=<bool>``
A value of 0 means capture and buffer audio and video together. A
value of 1 (default) means to do video capture only and let the audio
go through a loopback cable from the TV card to the sound card.
``mjpeg``
Use hardware MJPEG compression (if the card supports it). When using
this option, you do not need to specify the width and height of the
output window, because mpv will determine it automatically from
the decimation value (see below).
``decimation=<1|2|4>``
choose the size of the picture that will be compressed by hardware
MJPEG compression:
:1: full size
- 704x576 PAL
- 704x480 NTSC
:2: medium size
- 352x288 PAL
- 352x240 NTSC
:4: small size
- 176x144 PAL
- 176x120 NTSC
``quality=<0-100>``
Choose the quality of the JPEG compression (< 60 recommended for full
size).
``--tvscan=<option1:option2:...>``
Tune the TV channel scanner. mpv will also print value for
``--tv=channels=`` option, including existing and just found channels.
Available suboptions are:
``autostart``
Begin channel scanning immediately after startup (default: disabled).
``period=<0.1-2.0>``
Specify delay in seconds before switching to next channel (default:
0.5). Lower values will cause faster scanning, but can detect inactive
TV channels as active.
``threshold=<1-100>``
Threshold value for the signal strength (in percent), as reported by
the device (default: 50). A signal strength higher than this value will
indicate that the currently scanning channel is active.
``--use-filedir-conf``
Look for a file-specific configuration file in the same directory as the
file that is being played. See `File-specific Configuration Files`_.
.. warning::
May be dangerous if playing from untrusted media.
``--user-agent=<string>``
Use ``<string>`` as user agent for HTTP streaming.
``-v``
Increment verbosity level, one level for each ``-v`` found on the command
line.
``--vd=<[+|-]family1:(*|decoder1),[+|-]family2:(*|decoder2),...[-]>``
Specify a priority list of video decoders to be used, according to their
family and name. See ``--ad`` for further details. Both of these options
use the same syntax and semantics; the only difference is that they
operate on different codec lists.
.. note::
See ``--vd=help`` for a full list of available decoders.
``--vd-lavc-check-hw-profile=<yes|no>``
Check hardware decoder profile (default: yes). If ``no`` is set, the
highest profile of the hardware decoder is unconditionally selected, and
decoding is forced even if the profile of the video is higher than that.
The result is most likely broken decoding, but may also help if the
detected or reported profiles are somehow incorrect.
``--vd-lavc-bitexact``
Only use bit-exact algorithms in all decoding steps (for codec testing).
``--vd-lavc-fast`` (MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and H.264 only)
Enable optimizations which do not comply with the format specification and
potentially cause problems, like simpler dequantization, simpler motion
compensation, assuming use of the default quantization matrix, assuming YUV
4:2:0 and skipping a few checks to detect damaged bitstreams.
``--vd-lavc-o=<key>=<value>[,<key>=<value>[,...]]``
Pass AVOptions to libavcodec decoder. Note, a patch to make the ``o=``
unneeded and pass all unknown options through the AVOption system is
welcome. A full list of AVOptions can be found in the FFmpeg manual.
Some options which used to be direct options can be set with this
mechanism, like ``bug``, ``gray``, ``idct``, ``ec``, ``vismv``,
``skip_top`` (was ``st``), ``skip_bottom`` (was ``sb``), ``debug``.
.. admonition:: Example
``--vd--lavc-o=debug=pict``
``--vd-lavc-show-all=<yes|no>``
Show even broken/corrupt frames (default: yes). If this option is set to
no, libavcodec won't output frames that were either decoded before an
initial keyframe was decoded, or frames that are recognized as corrupted.
``--vd-lavc-skiploopfilter=<skipvalue> (H.264 only)``
Skips the loop filter (AKA deblocking) during H.264 decoding. Since
the filtered frame is supposed to be used as reference for decoding
dependent frames, this has a worse effect on quality than not doing
deblocking on e.g. MPEG-2 video. But at least for high bitrate HDTV,
this provides a big speedup with little visible quality loss.
``<skipvalue>`` can be one of the following:
:none: Never skip.
:default: Skip useless processing steps (e.g. 0 size packets in AVI).
:nonref: Skip frames that are not referenced (i.e. not used for
decoding other frames, the error cannot "build up").
:bidir: Skip B-Frames.
:nonkey: Skip all frames except keyframes.
:all: Skip all frames.
``--vd-lavc-skipidct=<skipvalue> (MPEG-1/2 only)``
Skips the IDCT step. This degrades quality a lot in almost all cases
(see skiploopfilter for available skip values).
``--vd-lavc-skipframe=<skipvalue>``
Skips decoding of frames completely. Big speedup, but jerky motion and
sometimes bad artifacts (see skiploopfilter for available skip values).
``--vd-lavc-threads=<0-16>``
Number of threads to use for decoding. Whether threading is actually
supported depends on codec. 0 means autodetect number of cores on the
machine and use that, up to the maximum of 16 (default: 0).
``--version, -V``
Print version string and exit.
``--vf=<filter1[=parameter1:parameter2:...],filter2,...>``
Specify a list of video filters to apply to the video stream. See
`VIDEO FILTERS`_ for details and descriptions of the available filters.
The option variants ``--vf-add``, ``--vf-pre``, ``--vf-del`` and
``--vf-clr`` exist to modify a previously specified list, but you
should not need these for typical use.
``--vid=<ID|auto|no>``
Select video channel. ``auto`` selects the default, ``no`` disables video.
``--video-align-x=<-1-1>``, ``--video-align-y=<-1-1>``
Moves the video rectangle within the black borders, which are usually added
to pad the video to screen if video and screen aspect ratios are different.
``--video-align-y=-1`` would move the video to the top of the screen
(leaving a border only on the bottom), a value of ``0`` centers it
(default), and a value of ``1`` would put the video at the bottom of the
screen.
If video and screen aspect match perfectly, these options do nothing.
This option is disabled if the ``--no-keepaspect`` option is used.
``--video-pan-x=<value>``, ``--video-pan-y=<value>``
Moves the displayed video rectangle by the given value in the X or Y
direction. The unit is in fractions of the size of the scaled video (the
full size, even if parts of the video are not visible due to panscan or
other options).
For example, displaying a 1280x720 video fullscreen on a 1680x1050 screen
with ``--video-pan-x=-0.1`` would move the video 168 pixels to the left
(making 128 pixels of the source video invisible).
This option is disabled if the ``--no-keepaspect`` option is used.
``--video-unscaled``
Disable scaling of the video. If the window is larger than the video,
black bars are added. Otherwise, the video is cropped. The video still
can be influenced by the other ``--video-...`` options. (If the
``--video-zoom`` option is set to a value other than ``1``, scaling is
enabled, but the video isn't automatically scaled to the window size.)
The video and monitor aspects aspect will be ignored. Aspect correction
would require to scale the video in the X or Y direction, but this option
disables scaling, disabling all aspect correction.
Note that the scaler algorithm may still be used, even if the video isn't
scaled. For example, this can influence chroma conversion.
This option is disabled if the ``--no-keepaspect`` option is used.
``--video-zoom=<value>``
Adjust the video display scale factor by the given value. The unit is in
fractions of the (scaled) window video size.
For example, given a 1280x720 video shown in a 1280x720 window,
``--video-zoom=-0.1`` would make the video by 128 pixels smaller in
X direction, and 72 pixels in Y direction.
This option is disabled if the ``--no-keepaspect`` option is used.
``--vo=<driver1[:suboption1[=value]:...],driver2,...[,]>``
Specify a priority list of video output drivers to be used. For
interactive use, one would normally specify a single one to use, but in
configuration files, specifying a list of fallbacks may make sense. See
`VIDEO OUTPUT DRIVERS`_ for details and descriptions of available drivers.
``--volstep=<0-100>``
Set the step size of mixer volume changes in percent of the full range
(default: 3).
``--volume=<-1-100>``
Set the startup volume. A value of -1 (the default) will not change the
volume. See also ``--softvol``.
``--volume-restore-data=<string>``
Used internally for use by playback resume (e.g. with ``quit_watch_later``).
Restoring value has to be done carefully, because different AOs as well as
softvol can have different value ranges, and we don't want to restore
volume if setting the volume changes it system wide. The normal options
(like ``--volume``) would always set the volume. This option was added for
restoring volume in a safer way (by storing the method used to set the
volume), and is not generally useful. Its semantics are considered private
to mpv.
Do not use.
``--wid=<ID>``
(X11 and Windows only)
This tells mpv to attach to an existing window. The ID is interpreted as
"Window" on X11, and as HWND on Windows. If a VO is selected that supports
this option, a new window will be created and the given window will be set
as parent. The window will always be resized to cover the parent window
fully, and will add black bars to compensate for the video aspect ratio.
See also ``--slave-broken``.