Matroska Player Overview

September 8, 2023 ยท View on GitHub

This overview should show which players use which Matroska features.

MPC-HC

MPC-HC internally uses the LAV Filter/Splitter. This adds up the used Matroska features. Furthermore, other external DirectShow filters can be used, such as the Haali Splitter, which can be used to further Matroska features.

Test version is MPC-HC 1.8.6(clsid)

Matroska featurespresentis workingcomment
Basic Chaptersyesvery good
Multiple chapter namesno
Nested Chaptersyesvery good
Ordered Chaptersyesvery good
Nested Ordered Chaptersyesgoodonly start times are used
Matroska Editionsyesvery good
Selection of Matroska Editionsyesgoodno internal Edition menu, very good menu in the Splitter (LAV or Haali)
Matroska Hard-Linkingyesvery goodVideo track is perfectly seamlessly connected
Matroska Medium-Linking (Chapter-Segment-Linking)yesvery goodChapterSegmentEditionUID is not supported
Matroska Soft-Linking (Matroska DVD menu)no
Native Matroska menuno
Video Rotationyesvery goodonly with the Matroska Tags, ProjectionPoseRoll is not supported
TRACKSETEXnovery goodonly with the Haali Splitter
Tracks selection per chapterno

MPC-BE

For testing, the internal Matroska Splitter is used. MPC-BE can also load external splitters, such as the LAV or Haali Splitter, and then behave like the MPC-HC player.

Test version is MPC-BE.1.5.6.6000.x64

Matroska featurespresentis workingcomment
Basic Chaptersyesgoodno display in the timeline, cumbersome chapter selection in submenus, chapter flags are ignored
Multiple chapter namesno
Nested ChaptersyesgoodChapter display corresponds to the usual standard
Ordered Chaptersnoonly start times are used
Nested Ordered Chaptersno
Matroska Editionsnothe 1st Edition is always used
Selection of Matroska Editionsno
Matroska Hard-Linkingno
Matroska Medium-Linking (Chapter-Segment-Linking)no
Matroska Soft-Linking (Matroska DVD menu)no
Native Matroska menuno
Video Rotationyesvery good
TRACKSETEXno
Tracks selection per chapterno

VLC

The VLC player has an internal Matroska Demuxer/Splitter programmed by Matroska founder Steve Lhomme.

Test version is vlc-3.0.7-20190514-0510-win64

Matroska featurespresentis workingcomment
Basic ChaptersyesgoodChapter selection in a submenu, Chapter flag ChapterFlagEnabled is ignored
Multiple chapter namesyesgoodAll chapter names are put together into a string. The language is not really taken into account.
Nested ChaptersyesgoodChapter display corresponds to the usual standard
Ordered ChaptersyesgoodPlaying time is not correct if there are deactivated chapters
Nested Ordered Chaptersyesgoodonly start times are used
Matroska Editionsyesvery good
Selection of Matroska EditionsyesbadSwitching Editions does not work properly
Matroska Hard-LinkingyesgoodProblems with the chapter display, the series-intro-credits test crashes VLC, timeline is not correct
Matroska Medium-Linking (Chapter-Segment-Linking)yesgoodChapterSegmentEditionUID is not supported, problems with chapter display
Matroska Soft-Linking (Matroska DVD menu)yesno moreonly worked in a very early version of the VLC
Native Matroska menuyesvery good
Video Rotationno
TRACKSETEXno
Tracks selection per chapterno

mpv

The mpv player is an open source project that is currently working on a lot.

Test version is mpv-x86_64-20190513-git-64cdc36

Matroska featurespresentis workingcomment
Basic Chaptersyesbadno chapter selection menu, no chapter names in the timeline, chapter flags ChapterFlagEnabled and ChapterFlagHidden are ignored
Multiple chapter namesno
Nested Chaptersno
Ordered ChaptersyesgoodPlaying time is not correct if there are deactivated chapters
Nested Ordered Chaptersno
Matroska Editionsyesgoodwhich Edition is used is not apparent
Selection of Matroska Editionsyesbadawkward, a mpv command must be used
Matroska Hard-Linkingno
Matroska Medium-Linking (Chapter-Segment-Linking)yesgoodChapterSegmentEditionUID is supported
Matroska Soft-Linking (Matroska DVD menu)no
Native Matroska menuno
Video Rotationno
TRACKSETEXno
Tracks selection per chapterno