GPU Hardware Acceleration Supported Video Drivers

It is natural that all media programs either rely on Software Decoding method for processing and displaying video data, which in Arabic means "software decoding" method, in which the media program relies on the CPU only for processing video data. Or the second method is GPU Hardware Accelerated, in which the media program relies on the GPU to decode video data. Continue reading this article with us to know which one is best for your uses, and we will review a group of the most important and best media programs that rely on GPU Hardware Acceleration technology.

Which one is best for your uses?

So, in short, either the media program depends on the central processor or the graphic processor. But have you ever wondered which one is better? Certainly the best is the second method "Hardware Accelerated" because in this case and with the media program's dependence on the graphics processor, it will leave additional free space for the central processor to do other work that resides in the background.

For example, if you are doing a job such as working on programming programs, montage, designs, installing games, compressing files, or transferring data from one place to another that consumes the power and resources of the central processor, and at the same time you want to enjoy watching a high-quality video or movie. While you are waiting to complete this process, definitely relying on GPU Accelerated media programs will be the best because it will remove a large burden from the central processor and will leave it taking care of the work it is working on in the background with complete freedom.

Recover your deleted files, images, videos etc

But in the event that you are not doing any important or heavy work, at this time you can rely on media programs that rely on decoding video data by the central processor because it is essentially one of the tasks of the central processor. But as soon as you start doing any heavy work, it means that the central processor needs an assistant, and therefore there will be no better than the graphics processor "video card" to help the CPU and complete tasks in faster periods of time without feeling slow performance or delay in Complete the tasks.

Now that we know the prominent differences between both of them,

what do you think of a group of the best media programs that rely on GPU Hardware Acceleration technology?

1- GOM Player

In fact, I have personally relied on GOM Player for years, along with some other media players, but I have never had any problems with it. GOM Player is one of the best free media programs that supports GPU Hardware Acceleration technology, but you will need to activate it manually.

As it is a professional application, it gives you the ability to choose the GPU you want in order to decode the videos. For example, you can choose decoding via NVIDIA CUVID if you have a graphics card from NVIDIA, or you can rely on Intel HEVC Decoder or Intel Quick Sync Decoder if you are working with an integrated Intel graphics processor.

The only downside with GOM Player is that you may notice that CPU resource consumption is still high while playing high-quality videos even after you enable Hardware Accelerated from the settings, but at least it will be better than it was during the default mode and depending on the CPU Central only.

In order to activate GPU Hardware Acceleration technology, right-click at the top, then choose Preferences, then from the left menu choose Filters, and from the Codec tab, click on Advanced and from this window you can customize the hardware accelerator according to the type of your media code.

2- Media Player Classic

The best thing about MPC is that it has an easy graphic interface and you can adjust all settings easily. It has high image quality, great brightness automatically, and most of all, it supports GPU Hardware Acceleration technology. In my personal opinion, this program is superior to many other media programs and is able to activate the hardware accelerator technology via the graphics processor for most video clips in high quality formats such as H.264, MPEG-2, HEVC, UHD 4K, HD, SD, VP9 and others other formats.

In fact, sometimes I also rely on it to play music, as it performs the purpose very well and is very light and does not eat up hardware resources like some other media programs do. To activate the Hardware Accelerated technology, right-click on any empty space above the media and choose from the drop-down menu the Options option, then on the left choose Internal Filters and from the bottom click on Video Decoder and from the new window select the video accelerator option you want.

3- VLC Media Player

This is the world-renowned pioneer in playing all videos in various high-quality formats. Almost there is no computer user on earth who does not know the VLC program, and this is because in fact it is more than just a media player, it contains many wonderful secrets that push you to use it, such as the ability to play YouTube videos, record screen video, convert audio and video to different formats, and play files compressed files and many other great features, including the ability to encode video clips via the graphic processor.

VLC relied on DxVA2 and D3D11 decoding technology and GPU-Zero copy mode in order to play 4K and 8K videos without significantly affecting hardware resources and get 60 frames per second very easily. Certainly this program is indispensable as it is a comprehensive media library and studio. To activate the video accelerator, click on the Tools tab from the top and choose the last option from the Preferences menu, and in the new window click on the Input/Codecs tab from the top and choose from the new window the type of video accelerator that suits you.

4- Media Portal

Media Portal is a great media program that has many advantages including the ability to use it for video recording and the feature of relying on the graphics processor to play high-quality videos. Many reviews about this program are very positive and confirm that it does not eat up hardware resources, is very light, and best of all, it supported video drivers acceleration via NVIDIA graphics cards or AMD cards as well.

6 Best Wifi Hotspot Software to Replace Connect

The only problem is that we were not able to specify the general settings on Media Portal so you have to choose the type of video accelerator based on the type of codec individually. During the installation of the program, you will initially see the configuration settings, from which you need to click on the Codec and Render option, and in the new window click on the properties icon next to the codec type, from which you can choose the video accelerator.

5- 5KPlayer

5KPlayer is not as popular as other media programs that we talked about in the previous paragraphs, but it is sure that it is one of the best media programs that support GPU Hardware Accelerated technology to reduce the burden on the central processor. Whether you want to play 4K, 8K or HDR videos on your Windows PC or Mac, this program is a great alternative to other media programs.

This software is based on four video acceleration technologies including DXVA2, NVIDIA, AMD, and QSV which means you are able to take advantage of whatever graphics processor you are using. To activate one of the video accelerators, right click on any empty space on the media and choose the option before the last Hardware Acceleration and wait for a few moments until the interface loads and choose from the new window the type of video accelerator according to what hardware components in your device support.

6- Pot Player

Although it is not widely known, it has a distinct and simple graphic interface that is easy for any user to handle and enjoy high quality picture and perfect performance thanks to support for the most famous hardware acceleration technologies including Intel Quick Sync, NVIDIA CUVID and DXVA, in order to remove the burden Off the central processor during video decoding. Best of all, it supports the Arabic language, so you won't have any trouble adjusting and customizing its settings to your liking.

All you have to do is to right click on the media and choose Preferences then Filter Control and from the top click on the tab "Video Decoder" and then from the bottom click on the embedded video decoder toolbar and from the new window you can choose the video accelerator according to your desire . You can also choose the type of decoder based on the type of video codec itself.