Configuring KMPlayer to play H.264 videos using Microsoft’s DirectX Video Acceleration (DXVA) and nVidia’s Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA)

For those who doesn’t want to use Media Player Classic – HomeCinema to play H.264 videos using DXVA or CUDA hardware acceleration, another alternative player that can be used is KMPlayer. This post is intended to be a short guide on how you can use hardware acceleration for H.264 videos using DXVA (using MPC-HC external video decoder) and CUDA (CoreAVC 2.0). You need to use using Windows Vista/7 and have a qualifying ATI/nVidia/Intel/S3 for DXVA method, and a qualifying nVidia card for CUDA method. A list can be seen here. All nVidia cards that can do the DXVA method can also do the CUDA method.

What you need:-

KMPlayer 2.9.4.1435 – download from here.
Media Player Classic – HomeCinema standalone splitters & decoders (32-bit version build 1249) – download from here, OR
CoreAVC 2.0 – available here (my affiliate link). Come integrated with Haali Media Splitter.

Troubleshooting tools:-

DXVA Checker - download from here. Original website.
GPU-Z – download from here.

Test videos that you can use for acceleration tests.

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ED theme – Hare Hare Yukai (H.264 SD video with karaoke subtitles) – Download from here.
Clannad ED theme – Dango Daikazoku (H.264 HD 720p video with karaoke subtitles) – Download from here.
AIR OP – Tori no Uta (H.264 HD 1080p video with karaoke subtitles) – Download from here.
Kanon OP – Last regrets (H.264 HD 1080p with soft-subtitles) – Download here.
Planet Earth: From Pole to Pole (H.264 HD 1080p with subtitles) – Download from here.

REMINDER: THIS GUIDE IS BEST USED WITH WINDOWS VISTA OR WINDOWS 7.

The tutorial is below. If you use DXVA method, follow the blue text. If you use CUDA method, use the green text. Black text are mandatory for both methods.

DXVA method/CUDA method

Step 1:-
Download Haali Media Splitter from the link above and install it using the default options. Then download KMPlayer from the link above and install it with default options. Ask.com toolbar installation is optional.

Download the MPC-HC standalone splitters/decoders from the link above, and extract the file named ‘MPCVideoDec.ax’ and put it in your C:\ drive, using software like 7-zip or WinRAR.

After that, open the Command Prompt with administrative priviledges, and type the command

regsvr32 c:\MPCVideoDec.ax

A pop-up window with the message ‘DLLRegisterServer in c:\MPCVideoDec.ax succeeded’. If the message does not appear, make sure your path to MPCVideoDec.ax is correctly typed and that the command prompt has administrative privileges.

Download and install CoreAVC 2 with default options, without Haali Media Splitter. Set it up according to the picture below.

Step 2:-
Start KMPlayer and then press the F2 button to open the Preferences window, which should look like below.

Step 3:-
Go to Filter Control —> Decoder Usage section, as shown below. Tick the option ‘Only use if it fails to play with system default‘.

Step 4:-
Go to Filter Control —> Decoder Usage —> External Video Decoder section, as shown below.

Click the External Decoder Search button, and the pop-up window below will appear.

Click the Add System Codec button, and another pop-up window will appear.

If you use DXVA method, select ‘MPC Video Decoder‘ from the list and click OK button. The result should look like below.

If you use CUDA method, select ‘CoreAVC Video Decoder‘ from the list and click OK button. The result should look like below.

Then press OK to return to the previous window.

Under H.264 Video drop down menu, select MPC Video Decoder if you want to use DXVA method.

Under H.264 Video drop down menu, select CoreAVC Video Decoder if you want to use CUDA method.

Under AVC1 Video drop down menu, select MPC Video Decoder if you want to use DXVA method.

Under AVC1 Video drop down menu, select CoreAVC Video Decoder if you want to use CUDA method.

Step 5:-
Go to Filter Control —> Custom Filter Manager which will look like below.

Click Add Registered Filter button and a pop-up window like the one below will appear.

If you use DXVA method, select MPC Video Decoder from the list and click OK button. The result should look like below.

Under Priority Settings, select the Use Forcibly option.

If you use CUDA method, selec CoreAVC Video Decoder from the list and click OK button. The result should look like below.

Under Priority Settings, select the Use Forcibly option.

Step 6:-
Go to Video Processing section which will look like below.

Leave everything at default here.

Click the Renderer tab, and from the pulldown menu, select Enhanced Video Renderer (C/A), just like below.

Step 7:-
Go to Subtitle Processing section, which will look like below.

Ensure that the Show Subtitles option is enabled. Under ‘Output Methods of Subtitles’, select the Draw to Image Itself option. Under ‘Font Rendering Method’, select Rasterizer Output.

Go to Subtitle Processing —> Multi-Sub/etc section, which will look like below.

Click the Advanced tab, and under ‘External Subtitle Module’, enable the three options highlighted in the screenshot above.

After doing everything above, click the Close button to close the Preferences window.

Step 8:-
Right click on the video area of the KMPlayer, and select the option Video (Advanced) —> SuperSpeed Mode. This is applicable for DXVA method only, for those who use CUDA method, this step is optional.