A look at mpv.net, a mpv frontend with Everything integration

Mpv.net is a frontend for the popular cross-platform media player mpv that features the same great media format support and adds unique features and improvements on top of that.

Interested users may download the media player from the GitHub repository. It is available as source code and as binaries for 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system. A portable version and setup version is provided; if you download the portal version, all you have to do is extract the archive that it is provided in to the local system. You can start the media player right from the directory without installation.

Note: You may get a Windows protected your PC prompt when you run the application for the first time on the system.

mpv.net First Look

The media player opens a more or less blank interface on launch. You may associate it with media files to load them with a double-click, or load files using the interface.

The player supports the same wide-range of media formats that mpv supports. Basically, any multimedia file that you throw at the player should play just fine.

One of the unique features of mpv.net is its integration of the search tool Everything. Everything is a blazing fast search program for Windows, and mpv.net uses it to find media files on the system. All you need to do is use F3 to open the search interface and start typing to find matching media files.

The media player hides all interface elements and controls while media is playing. A bottom toolbar with playback controls is displayed when you move the mouse cursor on the player interface. Users who prefer to use the keyboard may use it to control playback as well. In fact, most options and features of the program are mapped to keyboard shortcuts.

Tip: Check out SMPlayer, another popular media player that supports any media format out of the box.

Mpv.net comes with an input editor to change the mapping of shortcuts. If you prefer Stop to be mapped to a different key than S or Play/Pause to Space, then you may use it to make these changes easily.

A handy feature is mapped to F1, press the key to display a list of available commands. You may run the commands right from the interface; useful if you forgot the mapped keyboard shortcut or prefer to use an interface for certain things.

First-time users may want to check out the Config Editor on first start.  There you may select video and audio settings, e.g. the default video decoder or scaling, and configure other options, e.g. dark mode support (Windows 10 automatic dark mode is supported), or screen behavior.

Mpv.net features a command line interface to start the application from a Terminal application. The media player supports scripting, and comes with config files to make other configuration changes.

Support for DXVA2 video decoding acceleration is built-in, and OpenGL video output ensures support for features such as HDR, interpolation, or color management.

Chrome users may install a browser extension next to that to start the application directly from the browser.

Closing Words

Mpv.net is a powerful media player for Windows that supports all major and many minor media formats. It is highly configurable and can be controlled using the keyboard exclusively.

One downside is that it is not the lightest of applications when it comes to RAM usage but your mileage may vary depending on the media files you load into the player.

All in all, a good media player for Windows.

Now You: Which media player do you use?

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