See ``--vo=help`` for a list of compiled-in video output drivers.

The recommended output driver is ``--vo=gpu-next``, which is the default.
All other drivers are for compatibility or special purposes. If the default
does not work, it will fallback to other drivers (in the same order as
listed by ``--vo=help``).

Note that the default video output driver is subject to change, and must
not be relied upon. If a certain VO needs to be used (e.g. for ``libmpv``
rendering API), it must be explicitly specified.

Should generally be faster and higher quality, while also implementing some
features specific to ``gpu-next``, but some features may be intentionally
omitted or there may be functional differences to ``--vo=gpu``.
See here for a list of known differences:

https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/wiki/GPU-Next-vs-GPU

See `GPU renderer options`_ for options specific to this VO.

By default, mpv utilizes settings that balance quality and performance.
Additionally, two predefined profiles are available: ``fast`` for maximum
performance and ``high-quality`` for superior rendering quality. You can
apply a specific profile using the ``--profile=<name>`` option and inspect
its contents using ``--show-profile=<name>``.

This VO abstracts over several possible graphics APIs and windowing
contexts, which can be influenced using the ``--gpu-api`` and
``--gpu-context`` options.

Hardware decoding over OpenGL-interop is supported to some degree. Note
that in this mode, some corner case might not be gracefully handled, and
color space conversion and chroma upsampling is generally in the hand of
the hardware decoder APIs.

``gpu`` makes use of FBOs by default. Sometimes you can achieve better
quality or performance by changing the ``--fbo-format`` option to
``rgb16f``, ``rgb32f`` or ``rgb``. Known problems include Mesa/Intel not
accepting ``rgb16``, Mesa sometimes not being compiled with float texture
support, and some macOS setups being very slow with ``rgb16`` but fast
with ``rgb32f``. If you have problems, you can also try enabling the
``--gpu-dumb-mode=yes`` option.

.. note:: This driver is for compatibility with old systems.

The following global options are supported by this video output:

``--xv-adaptor=<number>``
    Select a specific XVideo adapter (check xvinfo results).
``--xv-port=<number>``
    Select a specific XVideo port.
``--xv-ck=<cur|use|set>``
    Select the source from which the color key is taken (default: cur).

    cur
      The default takes the color key currently set in Xv.
    use
      Use but do not set the color key from mpv (use the ``--colorkey``
      option to change it).
    set
      Same as use but also sets the supplied color key.

``--xv-ck-method=<none|man|bg|auto>``
    Sets the color key drawing method (default: man).

    none
      Disables color-keying.
    man
      Draw the color key manually (reduces flicker in some cases).
    bg
      Set the color key as window background.
    auto
      Let Xv draw the color key.

``--xv-colorkey=<number>``
    Changes the color key to an RGB value of your choice. ``0x000000`` is
    black and ``0xffffff`` is white.

``--xv-buffers=<number>``
    Number of image buffers to use for the internal ringbuffer (default: 2).
    Increasing this will use more memory, but might help with the X server
    not responding quickly enough if video FPS is close to or higher than
    the display refresh rate.

Since mpv 0.30.0, you may need to use ``--profile=sw-fast`` to get decent
performance.

.. note:: This is a fallback only, and should not be normally used.

.. note::

    Earlier versions of mpv (and MPlayer, mplayer2) provided sub-options
    to tune vdpau post-processing, like ``deint``, ``sharpen``, ``denoise``,
    ``chroma-deint``, ``pullup``, ``hqscaling``. These sub-options are
    deprecated, and you should use the ``vdpaupp`` video filter instead.

The following global options are supported by this video output:

``--vo-vdpau-sharpen=<-1-1>``
    (Deprecated. See note about ``vdpaupp``.)

    For positive values, apply a sharpening algorithm to the video, for
    negative values a blurring algorithm (default: 0).
``--vo-vdpau-denoise=<0-1>``
    (Deprecated. See note about ``vdpaupp``.)

    Apply a noise reduction algorithm to the video (default: 0; no noise
    reduction).
``--vo-vdpau-chroma-deint``
    (Deprecated. See note about ``vdpaupp``.)

    Makes temporal deinterlacers operate both on luma and chroma (default).
    Use no-chroma-deint to solely use luma and speed up advanced
    deinterlacing. Useful with slow video memory.
``--vo-vdpau-pullup``
    (Deprecated. See note about ``vdpaupp``.)

    Try to apply inverse telecine, needs motion adaptive temporal
    deinterlacing.
``--vo-vdpau-hqscaling=<0-9>``
    (Deprecated. See note about ``vdpaupp``.)

    0
        Use default VDPAU scaling (default).
    1-9
        Apply high quality VDPAU scaling (needs capable hardware).
``--vo-vdpau-fps=<number>``
    Override autodetected display refresh rate value (the value is needed
    for framedrop to allow video playback rates higher than display
    refresh rate, and for vsync-aware frame timing adjustments). Default 0
    means use autodetected value. A positive value is interpreted as a
    refresh rate in Hz and overrides the autodetected value. A negative
    value disables all timing adjustment and framedrop logic.
``--vo-vdpau-composite-detect``
    NVIDIA's current VDPAU implementation behaves somewhat differently
    under a compositing window manager and does not give accurate frame
    timing information. With this option enabled, the player tries to
    detect whether a compositing window manager is active. If one is
    detected, the player disables timing adjustments as if the user had
    specified ``fps=-1`` (as they would be based on incorrect input). This
    means timing is somewhat less accurate than without compositing, but
    with the composited mode behavior of the NVIDIA driver, there is no
    hard playback speed limit even without the disabled logic. Enabled by
    default, use ``--vo-vdpau-composite-detect=no`` to disable.
``--vo-vdpau-queuetime-windowed=<number>`` and ``queuetime-fs=<number>``
    Use VDPAU's presentation queue functionality to queue future video
    frame changes at most this many milliseconds in advance (default: 50).
    See below for additional information.
``--vo-vdpau-output-surfaces=<2-15>``
    Allocate this many output surfaces to display video frames (default:
    3). See below for additional information.
``--vo-vdpau-colorkey=<#RRGGBB|#AARRGGBB>``
    Set the VDPAU presentation queue background color, which in practice
    is the colorkey used if VDPAU operates in overlay mode (default:
    ``#020507``, some shade of black). If the alpha component of this value
    is 0, the default VDPAU colorkey will be used instead (which is usually
    green).
``--vo-vdpau-force-yuv``
    Never accept RGBA input. This means mpv will insert a filter to convert
    to a YUV format before the VO. Sometimes useful to force availability
    of certain YUV-only features, like video equalizer or deinterlacing.

Using the VDPAU frame queuing functionality controlled by the queuetime
options makes mpv's frame flip timing less sensitive to system CPU load and
allows mpv to start decoding the next frame(s) slightly earlier, which can
reduce jitter caused by individual slow-to-decode frames. However, the
NVIDIA graphics drivers can make other window behavior such as window moves
choppy if VDPAU is using the blit queue (mainly happens if you have the
composite extension enabled) and this feature is active. If this happens on
your system and it bothers you then you can set the queuetime value to 0 to
disable this feature. The settings to use in windowed and fullscreen mode
are separate because there should be no reason to disable this for
fullscreen mode (as the driver issue should not affect the video itself).

You can queue more frames ahead by increasing the queuetime values and the
``output_surfaces`` count (to ensure enough surfaces to buffer video for a
certain time ahead you need at least as many surfaces as the video has
frames during that time, plus two). This could help make video smoother in
some cases. The main downsides are increased video RAM requirements for
the surfaces and laggier display response to user commands (display
changes only become visible some time after they're queued). The graphics
driver implementation may also have limits on the length of maximum
queuing time or number of queued surfaces that work well or at all.

.. note:: This driver is for compatibility with systems that don't provide
          proper OpenGL drivers, and where ANGLE does not perform well.

The following global options are supported by this video output:

``--vo-direct3d-disable-texture-align``
    Normally texture sizes are always aligned to 16. With this option
    enabled, the video texture will always have exactly the same size as
    the video itself.


Debug options. These might be incorrect, might be removed in the future,
might crash, might cause slow downs, etc. Contact the developers if you
actually need any of these for performance or proper operation.

``--vo-direct3d-force-power-of-2``
    Always force textures to power of 2, even if the device reports
    non-power-of-2 texture sizes as supported.

``--vo-direct3d-texture-memory=<mode>``
    Only affects operation with shaders/texturing enabled, and (E)OSD.
    Possible values:

    ``default`` (default)
        Use ``D3DPOOL_DEFAULT``, with a ``D3DPOOL_SYSTEMMEM`` texture for
        locking. If the driver supports ``D3DDEVCAPS_TEXTURESYSTEMMEMORY``,
        ``D3DPOOL_SYSTEMMEM`` is used directly.

    ``default-pool``
        Use ``D3DPOOL_DEFAULT``. (Like ``default``, but never use a
        shadow-texture.)

    ``default-pool-shadow``
        Use ``D3DPOOL_DEFAULT``, with a ``D3DPOOL_SYSTEMMEM`` texture for
        locking. (Like ``default``, but always force the shadow-texture.)

    ``managed``
        Use ``D3DPOOL_MANAGED``.

    ``scratch``
        Use ``D3DPOOL_SCRATCH``, with a ``D3DPOOL_SYSTEMMEM`` texture for
        locking.

``--vo-direct3d-swap-discard``
    Use ``D3DSWAPEFFECT_DISCARD``, which might be faster.
    Might be slower too, as it must(?) clear every frame.

``--vo-direct3d-exact-backbuffer``
    Always resize the backbuffer to window size.

.. note:: This driver is for compatibility with systems that don't provide
          proper graphics drivers.

The following global options are supported by this video output:

``--sdl-sw``
    Continue even if a software renderer is detected.

``--sdl-switch-mode``
    Instruct SDL to switch the monitor video mode when going fullscreen.

.. warning::

    This driver is not required for mpv to work on Wayland. ``vo=gpu``
    and ``vo=gpu-next`` will switch to the appropriate Wayland context
    automatically. This driver is experimental and generally lower quality
    than ``gpu``/``gpu-next``.

The following global options are supported by this video output:

``--vo-vaapi-scaling=<algorithm>``
    default
        Driver default (mpv default as well).
    fast
        Fast, but low quality.
    hq
        Unspecified driver dependent high-quality scaling, slow.
    nla
        ``non-linear anamorphic scaling``

``--vo-vaapi-scaled-osd=<yes|no>``
    If enabled, then the OSD is rendered at video resolution and scaled to
    display resolution. By default, this is disabled, and the OSD is
    rendered at display resolution if the driver supports it.

Usually, it's better to disable video with ``--video=no`` instead.

The following global options are supported by this video output:

``--vo-null-fps=<value>``
    Simulate display FPS. This artificially limits how many frames the
    VO accepts per second.

This driver reserves some keys for runtime configuration. These keys are
hardcoded and cannot be bound:

d and D
    Toggle dithering algorithm.

a and A
    Toggle antialiasing method.

h and H
    Toggle charset method.

c and C
    Toggle color method.

.. note:: This driver is a joke.

Since mpv 0.30.0, you may need to use ``--profile=sw-fast`` to get decent
performance.

Note: the TCT image output is not synchronized with other terminal output
from mpv, which can lead to broken images. The options ``--terminal=no`` or
``--really-quiet`` can help with that.

``--vo-tct-algo=<algo>``
    Select how to write the pixels to the terminal.

    half-blocks
        Uses Unicode LOWER HALF BLOCK character to achieve higher vertical
        resolution. (Default.)
    plain
        Uses spaces. Causes vertical resolution to drop twofolds, but in
        theory works in more places.

``--vo-tct-buffering=<pixel|line|frame>``
    Specifies the size of data batches buffered before being sent to the
    terminal.

    TCT image output is not synchronized with other terminal output from mpv,
    which can lead to broken images. Sending data to the terminal in small
    batches may improve parallelism between terminal processing and mpv
    processing but incurs a static overhead of generating tens of thousands
    of small writes. Also, depending on the terminal used, sending frames in
    one chunk might help with tearing of the output, especially if not used
    with ``--really-quiet`` and other logs interrupt the data stream.

    pixel
        Send data to terminal for each pixel.
    line
        Send data to terminal for each line. (Default)
    frame
        Send data to terminal for each frame.

``--vo-tct-width=<width>``  ``--vo-tct-height=<height>``
    Assume the terminal has the specified character width and/or height.
    These default to 80x25 if the terminal size cannot be determined.

``--vo-tct-256=<yes|no>`` (default: no)
    Use 256 colors - for terminals which don't support true color.

You may need to use ``--profile=sw-fast`` to get decent performance.

Kitty size and alignment options:

``--vo-kitty-cols=<columns>``, ``--vo-kitty-rows=<rows>`` (default: 0)
    Specify the terminal size in character cells, otherwise (0) read it
    from the terminal, or fall back to 80x25.

``--vo-kitty-width=<width>``, ``--vo-kitty-height=<height>`` (default: 0)
    Specify the available size in pixels, otherwise (0) read it from the
    terminal, or fall back to 320x240.

``--vo-kitty-left=<col>``, ``--vo-kitty-top=<row>`` (default: 0)
    Specify the position in character cells where the image starts (1 is
    the first column or row). If 0 (default) then try to automatically
    determine it according to the other values and the image aspect ratio
    and zoom.

``--vo-kitty-config-clear=<yes|no>`` (default: yes)
    Whether or not to clear the terminal whenever the output is
    reconfigured (e.g. when video size changes).

``--vo-kitty-alt-screen=<yes|no>`` (default: yes)
    Whether or not to use the alternate screen buffer and return the
    terminal to its previous state on exit. When set to no, the last
    kitty image stays on screen after quit, with the cursor following it.

``--vo-kitty-use-shm=<yes|no>`` (default: no)
    Use shared memory objects to transfer image data to the terminal.
    This is much faster than sending the data as escape codes, but is not
    supported by as many terminals. It also only works on the local machine
    and not via e.g. SSH connections.

    This option is not implemented on Windows.

``--vo-kitty-auto-multiplexer-passthrough=<yes|no>`` (default: no)
    Automatically detect terminal multiplexer to passthrough escape
    sequences. This allows the image protocol to work in multiplexers that
    might not support the kitty image protocol by passing through the
    escape sequences directly to the terminal.

    Currently only supports tmux and GNU screen.

Note: the Sixel image output is not synchronized with other terminal
output from mpv, which can lead to broken images.
The option ``--really-quiet`` can help with that, and is recommended.
On some platforms, using the ``--vo-sixel-buffered`` option may work as
well.

You may need to use ``--profile=sw-fast`` to get decent performance.

Note: at the time of writing, ``xterm`` does not enable sixel by default -
launching it as ``xterm -ti 340`` is one way to enable it. Also, ``xterm``
does not display images bigger than 1000x1000 pixels by default.

To render and align sixel images correctly, mpv needs to know the terminal
size both in cells and in pixels. By default it tries to use values which
the terminal reports, however, due to differences between terminals this is
an error-prone process which cannot be automated with certainty - some
terminals report the size in pixels including the padding - e.g. ``xterm``,
while others report the actual usable number of pixels - like ``mlterm``.
Additionally, they may behave differently when maximized or in fullscreen,
and mpv cannot detect this state using standard methods.

Sixel size and alignment options:

``--vo-sixel-cols=<columns>``, ``--vo-sixel-rows=<rows>`` (default: 0)
    Specify the terminal size in character cells, otherwise (0) read it
    from the terminal, or fall back to 80x25. Note that mpv doesn't use the
    the last row with sixel because this seems to result in scrolling.

``--vo-sixel-width=<width>``, ``--vo-sixel-height=<height>`` (default: 0)
    Specify the available size in pixels, otherwise (0) read it from the
    terminal, or fall back to 320x240. Other than excluding the last line,
    the height is also further rounded down to a multiple of 6 (sixel unit
    height) to avoid overflowing below the designated size.

``--vo-sixel-left=<col>``, ``--vo-sixel-top=<row>`` (default: 0)
    Specify the position in character cells where the image starts (1 is
    the first column or row). If 0 (default) then try to automatically
    determine it according to the other values and the image aspect ratio
    and zoom.

``--vo-sixel-pad-x=<pad_x>``, ``--vo-sixel-pad-y=<pad_y>`` (default: -1)
    Used only when mpv reads the size in pixels from the terminal.
    Specify the number of padding pixels (on one side) which are included
    at the size which the terminal reports. If -1 (default) then the number
    of pixels is rounded down to a multiple of number of cells (per axis),
    to take into account padding at the report - this only works correctly
    when the overall padding per axis is smaller than the number of cells.

``--vo-sixel-config-clear=<yes|no>`` (default: yes)
    Whether or not to clear the terminal whenever the output is
    reconfigured (e.g. when video size changes).

``--vo-sixel-alt-screen=<yes|no>`` (default: yes)
    Whether or not to use the alternate screen buffer and return the
    terminal to its previous state on exit. When set to no, the last
    sixel image stays on screen after quit, with the cursor following it.

    ``--vo-sixel-exit-clear`` is a deprecated alias for this option and
    may be removed in the future.

``--vo-sixel-buffered=<yes|no>`` (default: no)
    Buffers the full output sequence before writing it to the terminal.
    On POSIX platforms, this can help prevent interruption (including from
    other applications) and thus broken images, but may come at a
    performance cost with some terminals and is subject to implementation
    details.

Sixel image quality options:

``--vo-sixel-dither=<algo>``
    Selects the dither algorithm which libsixel should apply.
    Can be one of the below list as per libsixel's documentation.

    auto (Default)
        Let libsixel choose the dithering method.
    none
        Don't diffuse
    atkinson
        Diffuse with Bill Atkinson's method.
    fs
        Diffuse with Floyd-Steinberg method
    jajuni
        Diffuse with Jarvis, Judice & Ninke method
    stucki
        Diffuse with Stucki's method
    burkes
        Diffuse with Burkes' method
    arithmetic
        Positionally stable arithmetic dither
    xor
        Positionally stable arithmetic xor based dither

``--vo-sixel-fixedpalette=<yes|no>`` (default: yes)
    Use libsixel's built-in static palette using the XTERM256 profile
    for dither. Fixed palette uses 256 colors for dithering. Note that
    using ``no`` (at the time of writing) will slow down ``xterm``.

``--vo-sixel-reqcolors=<colors>`` (default: 256)
    Has no effect with fixed palette. Set up libsixel to use required
    number of colors for dynamic palette. This value depends on the
    terminal emulator as well. Xterm supports 256 colors. Can set this to
    a lower value for faster performance.

``--vo-sixel-threshold=<threshold>`` (default: -1)
    Has no effect with fixed palette. Defines the threshold to change the
    palette - as percentage of the number of colors, e.g. 20 will change
    the palette when the number of colors changed by 20%. It's a simple
    measure to reduce the number of palette changes, because it can be slow
    in some terminals (``xterm``). The default (-1) will choose a palette
    on every frame and will have better quality.

The following global options are supported by this video output:

``--vo-image-format=<format>``
    Select the image file format.

    jpg
        JPEG files, extension .jpg. (Default.)
    jpeg
        JPEG files, extension .jpeg.
    png
        PNG files.
    webp
        WebP files.

``--vo-image-png-compression=<0-9>``
    PNG compression factor (speed vs. file size tradeoff) (default: 7)
``--vo-image-png-filter=<0-5>``
    Filter applied prior to PNG compression (0 = none; 1 = sub; 2 = up;
    3 = average; 4 = Paeth; 5 = mixed) (default: 5)
``--vo-image-jpeg-quality=<0-100>``
    JPEG quality factor (default: 90)
``--vo-image-jpeg-optimize=<0-100>``
    JPEG optimization factor (default: 100)
``--vo-image-webp-lossless=<yes|no>``
    Enable writing lossless WebP files (default: no)
``--vo-image-webp-quality=<0-100>``
    WebP quality (default: 75)
``--vo-image-webp-compression=<0-6>``
    WebP compression factor (default: 4)
``--vo-image-outdir=<dirname>``
    Specify the directory to save the image files to (default: ``./``).

This also supports many of the options the ``gpu`` VO has, depending on the
backend.

Since mpv 0.30.0, you may need to use ``--profile=sw-fast`` to get decent
performance.

The following global options are supported by this video output:

``--drm-connector=<name>``
    Select the connector to use (usually this is a monitor.) If ``<name>``
    is empty or ``auto``, mpv renders the output on the first available
    connector. Use ``--drm-connector=help`` to get a list of available
    connectors. (default: empty)

``--drm-device=<path>``
    Select the DRM device file to use. If specified this overrides automatic
    card selection. (default: empty)

``--drm-mode=<preferred|highest|N|WxH[@R]>``
    Mode to use (resolution and frame rate).
    Possible values:

    :preferred: Use the preferred mode for the screen on the selected
                connector. (default)
    :highest:   Use the mode with the highest resolution available on the
                selected connector.
    :N:         Select mode by index.
    :WxH[@R]:   Specify mode by width, height, and optionally refresh rate.
                In case several modes match, selects the mode that comes
                first in the EDID list of modes.

    Use ``--drm-mode=help`` to get a list of available modes for all active
    connectors.

``--drm-draw-plane=<primary|overlay|N>``
    Select the DRM plane to which video and OSD is drawn to, under normal
    circumstances. The plane can be specified as ``primary``, which will
    pick the first applicable primary plane; ``overlay``, which will pick
    the first applicable overlay plane; or by index. The index is zero
    based, and related to the CRTC.
    (default: primary)

    When using this option with the drmprime-overlay hwdec interop, only the
    OSD is rendered to this plane.

``--drm-drmprime-video-plane=<primary|overlay|N>``
    Select the DRM plane to use for video with the drmprime-overlay hwdec
    interop (used by e.g. the rkmpp hwdec on RockChip SoCs, and v4l2 hwdec:s
    on various other SoC:s). The plane is unused otherwise. This option
    accepts the same values as ``--drm-draw-plane``. (default: overlay)

    To be able to successfully play 4K video on various SoCs you might need
    to set ``--drm-draw-plane=overlay --drm-drmprime-video-plane=primary``
    and setting ``--drm-draw-surface-size=1920x1080``, to render the OSD at a
    lower resolution (the video when handled by the hwdec will be on the
    drmprime-video plane and at full 4K resolution)

``--drm-format=<xrgb8888|xbgr8888|xrgb2101010|xbgr2101010|yuyv>``
    Select the DRM format to use (default: xrgb8888). This allows you to
    choose the bit depth and color type of the DRM mode.

    xrgb8888 is your usual 24bpp packed RGB format with 8 bits of padding.
    xrgb2101010 is a 30bpp packed RGB format with 2 bits of padding.
    yuyv is a 32bpp packed YUV 4:2:2 format. No planar formats are currently
    supported.

    There are cases when xrgb2101010 will work with the ``drm`` VO, but not
    with the ``drm`` backend for the ``gpu`` VO. This is because with the
    ``gpu`` VO, in addition to requiring support in your DRM driver,
    requires support for xrgb2101010 in your EGL driver.
    yuyv only ever works with the ``drm`` VO.

``--drm-draw-surface-size=<[WxH]>``
    Sets the size of the surface used on the draw plane. The surface will
    then be upscaled to the current screen resolution. This option can be
    useful when used together with the drmprime-overlay hwdec interop at
    high resolutions, as it allows scaling the draw plane (which in this
    case only handles the OSD) down to a size the GPU can handle.

    When used without the drmprime-overlay hwdec interop this option will
    just cause the video to get rendered at a different resolution and then
    scaled to screen size.

    (default: display resolution)

``--drm-vrr-enabled=<no|yes|auto>``
    Toggle use of Variable Refresh Rate (VRR), aka Freesync or Adaptive Sync
    on compatible systems. VRR allows for the display to be refreshed at any
    rate within a range (usually ~40Hz-60Hz for 60Hz displays). This can help
    with playback of 24/25/50fps content. Support depends on the use of a
    compatible monitor, GPU, and a sufficiently new kernel with drivers
    that support the feature.

    :no:    Do not attempt to enable VRR. (default)
    :yes:   Attempt to enable VRR, whether the capability is reported or not.
    :auto:  Attempt to enable VRR if support is reported.

Since this video output driver uses native decoding and rendering routines,
many of mpv's features (subtitle rendering, OSD/OSC, video filters, etc)
are not available with this driver.

To use hardware decoding with ``--vo=gpu`` instead, use ``--hwdec=mediacodec``
or ``mediacodec-copy`` along with ``--gpu-context=android``.

Since mpv 0.30.0, you may need to use ``--profile=sw-fast`` to get decent
performance.

.. note:: This is a fallback only, and should not be normally used.