VLC 3.0.1 H.265 Video freeze, audio keeps playing

[MrAqua1]

Same exact problem after updating vlc please help
Has abyone found a solution to this problem?

[MrAqua1]

I just got this problem right now after I updated to the latest version?
Can someone help I am very new to this

[horo]

Hey, this bug persists for me. I'm using VLC 3.1.8 on a Microsoft Surface Book. Hope this helps. Here's the full log https://gist.github.com/itshoro/038494913de799c644f4b8221ed2568f

[Gompf]

Hi,

I have been having this issue with vlc for years actually as I stream HEVC Full HD 24/7.

Basically the last version that worked for me was VLC 2.2.8, which basically decodes HEVC using CPU and not Hardware accelerated.

Problem persists up to the latest nightly build. If you disable Hardware Acceleration in the FFMPEG section of the preferences it will work in newer builds as well, but basically with high CPU usage of course. Interestingly a stand alone FFMPEG decodes the same stream with no issue. So i guess it is somewhere on the way to the screen ourput that this issue happens. This issue seems only with HEVC, others codecs seem to work well with hardware acceleration.

I changed for my daily use to Media Player Classic, which decodes it via HW at nearly 0% CPU usage.


P.S. : When the picture freezes after a few frames (HW acceleration enabled), i can see in the Taskmanager there is no decoding going on the GPU. (Tried various NVIDIA and Intel GPUs)

P.P.S.: Same Stream decodes on VLC for android flawlessly so it is a Windows only Problem.

/Chris

[dankeschoen]

I tried all of this. Nothing seemed to work, but I finally found my answer. (But not for 4k video, it only helped with 1080p h265)

Some back story. When I was seeing this issue, I just figured my computer was too old to handle h265 and put it out of mind until I played a h265 on a crummier computer with integrated graphics and it played fine. So it was time to figure this out. No matter what settings I tried, disabling acceleration, trying different output settings, and basically any other thing I read looking into this. And just to note, neither my cpu nor gpu broke the slightest sweat during any of it. I was just about to try the nightly build when I discovered what turned out to be my issue.

The solution. I was not using 64bit VLC. That's all. So I double-checked that my OS was 64bit, uninstalled 32bit VLC along with its preferences, and then installed 64bit. Once I installed that, everything was golden, no stutter. I had been running the 32bit VLC on that machine for years unaware because everything prior to h265 played fine. Yeah, it's a real dumb solution, but it might just be yours.

[pitape]

I am afraid this is not a solution for all. I had to disable hardware decoding even with 64 bit VLC because a H264 HEVC 10bit video will always freeze after 20-30 seconds and sounds continues.
My specs: i7-6600u, Intel HD 520, 8GB RAM, 256 SSD, VLC 3.0.10 on Win 10 1909

[pitape]

H265 not H264

[pitape]

It seems that developers are not interested in providing hardware decoding support for H265 10bit files. No update on that.

[BasicUser]

Same problem with a mkv video on 3.0.12 and on 4.0.0

I tried :
-to change the settings, such as the cache size
-to convert it into mp4 (using ffflmpeg).


Windows 10
System Model Inspiron 3520
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8,00 GB
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2370M CPU @ 2.40GHz, 2400 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s)
Card name: Intel(R) HD Graphics 3000

I can read it using the mpv reader, and with a more powerful computer.

EDIT:
the only solution I found was to convert the video from 1080p to 780p

[sedlan]

Same problem. Been going on since VLC 3. Videos freeze to various degrees. My Gopro 6 videos don't play back at all except the first ~5 frames or so. That camera is now 3 generations old. Some other videos will play back but glitch out. H265 isn't new.
Some "good" news ("solution") maybe though: It works if I disable hardware decoding completely: "Tools" --> "Prefercences" --> tab "Input/Codecs". Set "Hardware-accelerated decoding" to "Disabled. Yay.

Now if my GPU (980Ti, Windows 10) or drivers don't support the hardware decoding for that video format that's okay. But VLC shoud be able to automatically detect that and just use software rendering from the start for those files.

[Lotesdelere]

Try this:
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=156428

[JRBN]

None of the previous solutions solved the problem for me but I was able to solve it myself.
I´m using a laptop with a dedicated nvidia graphics chip and a processor with a integrated graphics chip. The driver i´m using comes with a option called "Nvidia Optimus" witch automatically switches between those two, depending on demand. Turning this off and permanently using the dedicated graphics chip solved the problem for me.
I specifically made an account to post this answer, so please forgive me if I broke a forum rule, I just want to help.

[verbal_666]

After 2 years about, there is no clean solution, still, to HEVC FREEZE with only audio output!!!
Disabling HW Acceleration IS NOT A SOLUTION, IT'A A WORKAROUND!!!
I usually send my donation to VLC every year, it was the last time this year, sorry
We can't have a Multimedia App, like VLC (one of the most popular app!!!) that still persists with a bug for 2+ years

[Aeneas]

The only time I see video-freeze while audio continues, is when I am
speeding through playback of recorded tv on a slower laptop,
using the "faster" button, which maxes out at 31.25x currently.
Of course, speeding up playback increases the workload on the cpu,
and the higher the multiple can reach the point where the playback engine
seems to drop updates to video and video-freeze, while audio
and the progress-bar continue.

Most modern cpu/gpu combos can handle 31.25x video,
but this continues to be a problem for the older cpus needed
to run /Windows 7 64/Windows Media Center/
(Intel i7-3000, Intel i7-4000 , or earlier/slower)
which contains a super-powered DVR.

The workaround I use to reset video is to cycle
/video/video-track/disable/ then
/video/video-track/track 1/ again.
This is tedious to do and it would be preferable for the playback engine
to recognize when playback has been stopped or paused, or
when "slower" button is clicked, and have it restart the video-playback itself.

Another solution would be to put a "video-reset" button on the window
or allow /tools/Customize window.../ to place a "video-reset" button
on the window, to perform this video off-on cycling.

[verbal_666]

As you can read, for me, as for many other users, a simple h.265 HEVC video is enough to freeze the playing.
Play video, do pause, resume the play... video freezes and audio keeps playing
VLC updated, drivers A/V updated (Realtek A, Nvidia V), both W10 and W11
The only workaround is disabling HW ACCELERATION. As i said, that's only a workaround, not a fix
All other players (SM, MPC-BE ...) plays HEVC perfectly.

[Aeneas]

Where are you finding these HEVC h.265 videos ?
I remember a few years back when h.265 was supposed to be the next big thing,
but have not seen one yet.

[nasruddin]

I have this problem too. I'd like to play these things on VLC since there are more things I can do with the video in VLC, but it's just not functioning on Windows 10.
Curiously - VLC does play them on Windows 11 just fine, looks great. But my primary work machine is still running Windows 10 (& is stuck there).
I have the HEVC extensions from M$ installed, so Media Player can play them on Windows 10. Not VLC.
This suggests to me that VLC is misusing some system resource resulting in this error.

As to where they come from? GoPro is a good source of these!

It doesn't seem to be a problem with every HEVC file. GoPro records at 4k (or that's how I shoot for the application I'm using it for). It seems VLC can play some other HEVC.

GoPro:

Format : HEVC
Format/Info : High Efficiency Video Coding
Codec ID : hvc1
Bit rate : 87.4 Mb/s
Width : 3 840 pixels
Height : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate mode : Constant
Frame rate : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.352
Stream size : 97.0 MiB (99%)
Title : GoPro H.265
Color range : Full
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709
Codec configuration box : hvcC

One VLC can play:

Video
ID : 1
Format : HEVC
Format/Info : High Efficiency Video Coding
Format profile : Main@L3.1@Main
Codec ID : hvc1
Bit rate : 1 176 kb/s
Width : 720 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 0.563
Original display aspect ratio : 0.562
Frame rate mode : Variable
Frame rate : 30.000 FPS
Minimum frame rate : 29.970 FPS
Maximum frame rate : 30.000 FPS
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0 (Type 0)
Bit depth : 8 bits
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.050
Stream size : 1.85 MiB (100%)
Writing library : x265 3.5+1-f0c1022b6:[Windows][GCC 13.2.0][64 bit] 8bit+10bit+12bit
Encoding settings : cpuid=1049071 / frame-threads=3 / numa-pools=12 / wpp / no-pmode / no-pme / no-psnr / no-ssim / log-level=2 / input-csp=1 / input-res=720x1080 / interlace=0 / total-frames=0 / level-idc=0 / high-tier=1 / uhd-bd=0 / ref=3 / no-allow-non-conformance / no-repeat-headers / annexb / no-aud / no-eob / no-eos / no-hrd / info / hash=0 / temporal-layers=0 / open-gop / min-keyint=30 / keyint=300 / gop-lookahead=0 / bframes=4 / b-adapt=0 / b-pyramid / bframe-bias=0 / rc-lookahead=15 / lookahead-slices=6 / scenecut=40 / no-hist-scenecut / radl=0 / no-splice / no-intra-refresh / ctu=64 / min-cu-size=8 / no-rect / no-amp / max-tu-size=32 / tu-inter-depth=1 / tu-intra-depth=1 / limit-tu=0 / rdoq-level=0 / dynamic-rd=0.00 / no-ssim-rd / signhide / no-tskip / nr-intra=0 / nr-inter=0 / no-constrained-intra / strong-intra-smoothing / max-merge=2 / limit-refs=3 / no-limit-modes / me=1 / subme=2 / merange=57 / temporal-mvp / no-frame-dup / no-hme / weightp / no-weightb / no-analyze-src-pics / deblock=0:0 / sao / no-sao-non-deblock / rd=2 / selective-sao=4 / no-early-skip / rskip / fast-intra / no-tskip-fast / no-cu-lossless / no-b-intra / no-splitrd-skip / rdpenalty=0 / psy-rd=2.00 / psy-rdoq=0.00 / no-rd-refine / no-lossless / cbqpoffs=0 / crqpoffs=0 / rc=crf / crf=22.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpstep=4 / stats-write=0 / stats-read=0 / ipratio=1.40 / pbratio=1.30 / aq-mode=2 / aq-strength=1.00 / cutree / zone-count=0 / no-strict-cbr / qg-size=32 / no-rc-grain / qpmax=69 / qpmin=0 / no-const-vbv / sar=255 / sar-width / : / sar-height=27:32 / overscan=0 / videoformat=5 / range=0 / colorprim=1 / transfer=1 / colormatrix=1 / chromaloc=1 / chromaloc-top=0 / chromaloc-bottom=0 / display-window=0 / cll=0,0 / min-luma=0 / max-luma=255 / log2-max-poc-lsb=8 / vui-timing-info / vui-hrd-info / slices=1 / no-opt-qp-pps / no-opt-ref-list-length-pps / no-multi-pass-opt-rps / scenecut-bias=0.05 / no-opt-cu-delta-qp / no-aq-motion / no-hdr10 / no-hdr10-opt / no-dhdr10-opt / no-idr-recovery-sei / analysis-reuse-level=0 / analysis-save-reuse-level=0 / analysis-load-reuse-level=0 / scale-factor=0 / refine-intra=0 / refine-inter=0 / refine-mv=1 / refine-ctu-distortion=0 / no-limit-sao / ctu-info=0 / no-lowpass-dct / refine-analysis-type=0 / copy-pic=1 / max-ausize-factor=1.0 / no-dynamic-refine / no-single-sei / no-hevc-aq / no-svt / no-field / qp-adaptation-range=1.00 / scenecut-aware-qp=0conformance-window-offsets / right=0 / bottom=0 / decoder-max-rate=0 / no-vbv-live-multi-pass / no-mcstf / no-sbrc
Color range : Limited
Color primaries : BT.709
Transfer characteristics : BT.709
Matrix coefficients : BT.709
mdhd_Duration : 13202
Codec configuration box : hvcC

[Lotesdelere]

As to where they come from? GoPro is a good source of these!
It doesn't seem to be a problem with every HEVC file. GoPro records at 4k (or that's how I shoot for the application I'm using it for). It seems VLC can play some other HEVC.

Other reports about GoPro videos:
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=163001
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=163000
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=160825
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=159952
https://forum.videolan.org/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=158288

So yes, it looks like it's a known issue still awaiting for a fix.

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

Err, if VLC plays but struggles with performance, then it's most probably not a VLC bug per se. It just means that you don't have hardware acceleration for the resolution and/or codex profile, and your CPU is not good enough for software decoding. If so, I wouldn't be waiting for a "fix" that's probably never going to happen.

It could be something else, and that something else could be a VLC bug, but if there is no open issue in code.videolan.org, it is unlikely that it will ever be noticed and fixed.

[nasruddin]

VLC plays but struggles with performance, then it's most probably not a VLC bug per se. It just means that you don't have hardware acceleration for the resolution and/or codex profile, and your CPU is not good enough for software decoding.

I covered that - see my post above.
Once the HEVC MS extensions are in place, other players on this host can play these videos just fine. They couldn't before (in fact they couldn't play any H.265 properly).
On the other hand, the same VLC binary running on Windows 11 runs these videos just fine.

It's pretty hard to argue your way out of a VLC bug (or misuse of system resources in some way).
I don't have any idea how to point to an issue in the VLC code that would explain this - alas someone else who actually understands that and this issue at the same time is needed.

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

If it works with a different OS version, and disabling hardware acceleration works around the bug, it's a display driver problem with near certainty. (And if then, VLC is unable to keep up, it's because hardware acceleration is disabled and the CPU is just too slow.)

It could be a VLC bug, but the argument for that is not very convincing. But VLC is open-source and patches are welcome anyway.

[Lotesdelere]

As we can see in many of these reports for years, people are saying that the same files are playing fine on the same machine with other players.
So it's obviously not a driver or hardware issue.

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

Blah blah blah. Patches welcome.

[Lotesdelere]

So you are saying that reporting bugs on this forum is useless because the devs will not address them and users are supposed to fix VLC by themselves ?

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

First, most devs won't even see problem reports here. And second, devs are either hobbyists doing whatever they want, or pros doing whatever their employer wants; neither group are likely to care about an unclear problem report like this one here.

So yes, there is no better service than one's own, as the French proverb goes.