MPC-HC, or Media Player Classic Home Cinema, is a free open source lightweight media player built for Windows and licensed under GPL v3. It continues the simple interface of the classic Media Player Classic, known for extremely low resource use and near universal format support, with no ads, no telemetry, and no redundant components. The original project stopped development in 2017 and is now maintained by developer clsid2 on GitHub, with about 15k stars and the latest stable 2.x series. Beyond PotPlayer and VLC, it is a favorite of users who want a light and clean playback experience.
What MPC-HC is
The soul of MPC-HC is lightness. It barely uses memory, starts fast, and has an interface as plain as a player from two decades ago, yet its decoding ability is no joke. It is the same class as What Is VLC media player and How to Use It, both universal players, but MPC-HC is lighter and more Windows native, while VLC is cross platform with broader built in protocols. If you often transcode or compress video, see What Is HandBrake and How to Use It, one for playing and one for converting.
Main features
First, built in decoders, through the bundled LAV Filters it decodes HEVC, AV1, VVC, and AC4 directly, with no extra codec pack needed. Second, HDR playback, with the built in MPC Video Renderer supporting HDR and Dolby Vision output. Third, subtitle tools, with ASS, SRT, and WebVTT support, and online subtitle search by pressing D. Fourth, playback control, with pitch corrected speed, A-B repeat, resume position memory, and thumbnail previews on the seek bar. Fifth, third party filters, as a DirectShow player it can load external filters and renderers like madVR. Sixth, yt-dlp online video, by placing yt-dlp.exe in the program folder it can open links from YouTube and similar sites.
How to install
Download at https://github.com/clsid2/mpc-hc/releases , choose the MPC-HC.x.x.x.x64.exe installer or the zip portable build. Official site https://mpc-hc.org/ , also available as a portable build from PortableApps. The steps are open the releases page, download the 64 bit exe (zip is the portable extraction build), double click to run, optionally check the video and audio file types to associate during install, and on first launch from the Start menu you enter a minimal playback window.
How to use it
Drag a video file into the window, or use File > Open File or Open File/URL to pick a local file or a network link. During playback space pauses, arrow keys seek, and the mouse wheel adjusts volume. For subtitles drag the srt file into the window or press D to search online. To tune quality open View > Options, where you can switch renderers, enable HDR, and set a dark theme. To grab a frame press Alt + I to save the current frame as an image.
Things to watch
Only download the clsid2 maintained GitHub version, since the original site and old builds have stopped updating. Get the installer from GitHub Releases, as sites like Softonic often bundle adware. It supports Windows only, with no macOS or phone version. There is no built in media library, so it is a local player, and use another solution for library management. When enabling yt-dlp online playback, respect the relevant site terms and local laws.
Download
https://github.com/clsid2/mpc-hc/releases (MPC-HC.x.x.x.x64.exe or zip portable), also from PortableApps.
Official site
Advanced tips
To get more from it, first go to View > Options and set the default renderer to MPC Video Renderer, then enable auto HDR switching in output, and 4K HDR sources will look more accurate. Subtitle fans can install a Chinese font and then set the default subtitle language and encoding in options to avoid garbled text. Dropping yt-dlp.exe into the program folder lets you drag a video link straight into the window and play without waiting for a download. For audiophile grade quality you can add the madVR renderer, though it asks more of the GPU, and the built in renderer is already sharp enough on an ordinary laptop.
FAQ
Is MPC-HC the same as MPC-BE? No. Both descend from Media Player Classic, but MPC-HC is maintained by clsid2 and MPC-BE is a different branch with different UI and feature emphasis.
Why are some 4K HDR videos color shifted? Usually the renderer or GPU output mode is mismatched, and switching to MPC Video Renderer in Options and checking the system HDR setting usually fixes it.
Can it replace a streaming client? No, it only plays local or supplied links and has no built in online source.
Can it batch convert formats? Not really. It is a player, and dedicated transcoders handle batch jobs better, so keeping play and convert separate is more efficient.