Fixing VLC Media Player Lag and Shutter while playing .MKV HD x265 VIDEOS
VLC is the most handy media player that is out there. It supports different kind of video and audio compression methods and file formats without any difficulties, as it has the wide range of decoding and encoding libraries. It also supports an operating system like windows and android.
It’s not that there are other media players which support 1080p or other HD formats but since we trust and find the VLC most handy we want to use it as an HD player too. So if you are having some problems or lag on VLC regarding playing HD videos. Here is the solution step by step.
1. Open Preferences.
First Open the VLC, select Tools option in the menu bar and select the Preferences from the drop-down or you can use Ctrl + P directly as a keyboard shortcut.
2. Go to Video Tab.
Once you open the Preferences Menu, click on the Video Option and select the Show Setting option at the bottom of the menu box as in screenshot down below.
3. Go to Input / Codecs.
After clicking the All, on Show Setting option you will go to advanced video options menu. There you can see Input/Codecs Option on the left side of the Menu box. Click in the menu and scroll down to the right part of its section to the down below until you see the File Caching (ms).
4. Change the File Caching to 1000.
After you see File Caching option, if the numbers are below then 1000 then input 1000 in the option. Basically, it is the File Caching timing in milliseconds so increasing it to 1000 will accelerate the File Caching speed which will do the work.
In my case just increasing the File Caching time was enough and the HD videos were smooth without lag and shutter. But in case, if you are still having the problem after increasing File Cache. Follow below.
5. Go to Video Codecs.
In case you are not done yet then go to Video Codecs option under the Input/Codecs. And Click on the FFmpeg, which you can see in the first drop down on Video Codecs.
After clicking FFmpeg go to its right side of the menu, where you will find Hardware Decoding.
6. Change Hardware Decoding to Automatic.
The last thing you need to do is to change the Hardware Decoding to Automatic from Disabled which will do the work. And do not forget to Restart the VLC media player.
In case, the lagging and shutter are not fixed yet. Check Power option of your laptop. It might be on Power saver mode try switching it to Balanced mode. It will help you in smooth video streaming.
