Hardware-Accelerated Playback Guide

CaptureGem recordings are often high-bitrate and high-resolution (4K+). If your playback is stuttering or dropping frames, the bottleneck is likely your CPU struggling to decode the video stream in real-time. This guide covers how to shift that load to your GPU using Hardware Acceleration.

1. Why 4K Playback Stutters

Standard high-definition video is easy for modern CPUs. However, CaptureGem's high-bitrate MP4s (especially 4K @ 60fps) require significant math to decompress. Without hardware acceleration, your CPU has to do all the heavy lifting, often pegging a single core to 100% and causing the "slideshow" effect.

2. Built-in CaptureGem Player

The native player in CaptureGem attempt to use hardware acceleration by default, but it can be restricted by OS settings:

• Windows: Ensure "Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling" is enabled in Windows Settings > System > Display > Graphics.
• Linux: Ensure `libva` or `vdpau` drivers for your specific GPU (Intel/Nvidia/AMD) are installed and accessible by the application.

3. External Player Setup (Recommended)

For the most robust playback, we recommend using a dedicated video player with fine-grained control over decoding.

MPV (The Gold Standard)

MPV is a lightweight command-line player that offers the best hardware decoding support. Add the following line to your `mpv.conf` file:

hwdec=auto-safe

This tells MPV to use the safest hardware decoding method available (NVDEC for Nvidia, QuickSync for Intel, or VA-API for Linux/Intel/AMD).

VLC Media Player

1. Open VLC and go to Tools > Preferences.
2. Select Input / Codecs.
3. Change "Hardware-accelerated decoding" to Automatic or your specific GPU API.

4. Verifying Support

To ensure your hardware actually supports the codec (usually H.264 or HEVC) in your recording:

• Nvidia: Use nvdec-check or look at "Video Decode" in Task Manager.
• Intel: Check Intel's Ark page for your CPU model to see "Intel® Quick Sync Video" support.
• macOS: Modern Macs (M1/M2/M3) have dedicated Media Engines that handle this natively in IINA or QuickTime.