Overview

The options and features you can use while playing videos in MediaPortal

Introduction

MediaPortal can play any video file you have on your computer or DVD as long as you have the codecs installed (DivX, XVID, MPEG, Matroska, etc.). As of v 1.3.0 MediaPortal includes LAV Filters which will play most of your files 'out of the box'.  However, you may wish to check our Codecs guide if you find some files do not play.  

Select which codecs you wish to use for video playback under in Configuration > Codecs and Renderer, or within MediaPortal under Videos Settings.

Playback Controls

While a video is playing, you can pause, rewind, fast forward or 'skip' forwards and backwards using Keyboard Shortcuts or keys on your remote.  Mouse or touch screen users can perform the same functions by using the Top Bar. Just hover your mouse at the top of the screen to display the top bar..

You can also jump to a specific time by entering the time position with format HHMM - examples: to jump to 35 minutes, enter 0035; to jump to 1 hour and 7 minutes, enter 0107.

Repeating the action will increase/decrease it, for example if you press right arrow to skip ahead, and press it again it will increase the time period it jumps ahead, according to the skip steps, which you can choose in Settings > General > Skip Steps with MediaPortal, or in Configuration > General > Skip Steps.  Similarly, if you press the fast forward or rewind key repeatedly it will increase or decrease the speed incrementatly, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, 32x. If you wish to reverse the process, for example reduce a fast forward of 32x to 16x, then press the rewind key.

Resume Playback

MediaPortal automatically keeps track of your playback so you can resume viewing where you left off.  Unless of course someone else finished watching the movie on you!

Watched status

Watched status helps you to keep track of your watched video files. Watched files are displayed in the list with different colour for easier visualization (items in yellow text in screenshot below). 

To enable that feature, use "Mark every already watched file" setting in Video configuration. By doing this, watched status will be triggered automatically after 80% or more of  the total duration of video file is played. 

*Note: *For videos in the video database, the "Watched" entry has priority, so if total played time is less than 80%, but you change "Watched" info to "On" in the movie info screen, then the video file in both Shares and database views will be shown  as watched.

Manually change watch status

If you want to change watched status for any reason:

In Shares view  (or after deleting video from the database: 

1. Select the video file (not the folder that contains it) and
2. Invoke context menu with F9 key and
3. Select the option "Reset watched status" or after deleting video from the database.

In Database views (e.g. Title, Year, Genre, etc.):

1. Press F3 or the Show Info button on your remote, or select the IMDB option from the context menu
2. Toggle the Watched button to on or off

On Screen Display (OSD)

Whenever you use any of the playback controls,including Pause, you will see a small display display at the bottom of the screen in most skins, sometimes at the top in other skins.

If you wish a full OSD display with all the bells and whistles, press the Info/More key on your remote or the 'y' key on your keyboard. 

The small box in the lower right in the Default Skin (varies in different skins) provides easy access to several video controls. Many of these functions can be also performed by keyboard shorcuts or remote keys, but they are essential for mouse or touch screen control.

1.  In the Default skin (and many others) the OSD can be expanded or collapsed by pressing the up/down arrow keys (or clicking the buttons).

Expanded:

2. Menu  - provides access to the context menu (see below under Context menu) the same as if  you press F9 or the Info/More button on your remote.

3. Mute - mutes the volume the same as pressing M on a keyboard or the mute key on your remote.

4. V/S (Video Slider)  - allows you to select the viewing position in the video, rather than fast forward or rewind, or using the right/left arrow keys to skip

5. CC (Subtitles) - to select forced or enable subtitles and even adjust the audio delay/sync to match subtitles with the audio:

Context Menu

While playing a video fullscreen, you may also use the context menu to perform certain actions:

Additional options will automatically display if relevant:

• Subtitles - if subtitles are enabled and available for the video file or disc
• Audio Language - If your video supports more than one language or audio track
• Movie Editions - if you play a .mkv file with Haali codec installed.  See Codecs > .mkv container for instructions on installing Haali.
• Post Processing - when using FFDShow as decoder or[ Post-Processing|Post-Processing (ffdshow)] Filter.

Aspect Ratio

If you select Change aspect ratio an additonal menu will display to allow you to select the aspect ratio you wish:

The options available depend on the settings you select in Configuration > Video Zoom.  To learn more about the various aspect ratio options, see Video Zoom Modes

In Fullscreen video, you can also press the 's' key on a keyboard to change aspect ratio.  Or program a key on your remote for aspect ratio if it does not include one by default.

Bookmarks

From the context menu, you may also *Create bookmark*s of your favorite scenes. 

Once you have created a bookmark you can 'jump' to it, or clear bookmarks using the Bookmarks menu.

Subtitles

If your video or movie supports subtitles, the context menu will include a subtitle option.  Select it to display the subtitles menu:

You can turn the subtitles on by selecting the subtitle from the list. If you have several subtitles for the video, they will all be displayed.

Closed Captions

To use closed captions, you must  enable them in DVD Discs/Images. Once enabled, they will display in the Subtitles menu list where you may  turn them on/off or select what you want to see.

They will also display when you use the Subtitles option vai the OSD menu:

Audio Language

If your video supports more than one language or audio track, the context menu will include an option for audio language.  Simply select the option and the audio language your prefer.

Switch Video Streams

MediaPortal now has the ability to switch between Video streams inside an .mkv (Matroska) file.

Imagine you have a movie with both the 2D & 3D Video streams inside - you can now switch between those 2 streams from the Context Menu (F9), or by pressing the ‘V’ key on your keyboard.

If your remote supports it (for example a MCE Remote or Logitech Harmony), you can also map the ‘V’ key to a button on your remote using the new 'Next Video' action - so switching streams has never been easier before! (see Mapping Buttons for more info)

Switching Video Streams works with either Haali Media Splitter or LAV Splitter.

Video Overlay Window

While a video is playing, you may navigate to other windows in MediaPortal. The video playback, along with the main details of the video, will display in a small window in most skins, usually the bottom left in Default/wide. The format, style and size of the Video Overlay window can vary between skins. 

Video Background (TV Desktop)

You can even display the video playing as a background, or wallpaper. This is sometimes referred to as TV desktop. You can select Video Background by using the Background button on the Top bar, or Home screen display.