No videos after upgrading to PinballX ver 6.99

[Tom Speirs]

1 hour ago, Mike_da_Spike said:

Will that ever happen ? Unity is powerfull, but lot of re-coding, so lot of time . 

nah, its not that much work. A lot of it is already done, but it wont be today.

[Mike_da_Spike]

40 minutes ago, Tom Speirs said:

nah, its not that much work. A lot of it is already done, but it wont be today.

I understand.  Rome wasn't build in one day either ! 

If there is anything people can do to help you, you know where they are.😉

[Draco1962]

8 hours ago, Tom Speirs said:

Yeah, unfortunatly it is what it is. Not much I can do without a big rewrite to Directx 11 or unity.

Would this issue occur with DirectX 12?

[Tom Speirs]

1 hour ago, Draco1962 said:

Would this issue occur with DirectX 12?

same difference buddy.

[Tom Speirs]

Moving to directx11 may be a much quicker fix for this. This  will require much less work. The main work is with the video playback code itself as the other display work has been handled by my own external library for a long time.

ive been a bit distracted with other things but i will get to it. We will lose support for all older versions of Windows and maybe lose h265 for free. vlc is an option but from what ive researched no hardware acceleration.

of note:

Intel broke this too with 12th gen then did actually fix it. I cant put latest drivers on my laptop as they break it but amd on board was or is still broken too.

The issue is with directshow vmr9 renderless output. its obviously a lot of overhead for them to still support i guess or they broke it.

unity conversion requires much more work than directx 11. The main issue with unity is no multithreading support but for windows support only not too bad.

i need to get busy with it!

What do you guys think? What should i focus on?

Unity brings steps toward cross platform support and DirectX 11 will be quicker to do but little value. vlc is no better than the sample grabber workaround already in place. its automatic detection normally and in gameex too but nvidia obviously wanted to be difficult or hoped nobody would notice!

1080p 60fps videos work fine for me on a Ryzen 9 7845hx (laptop cpu) with the fallback sample grabber. I get the occasional black video which ive seen before and know about. 4k 60fps are too slow.

 

[Draco1962]

My thought is to go with the solution that fixes the issue in the near term. So maybe DirectX11 for now?

AI query for "free alternatives to VLC that offer multithreading support" turning up the following:

Here’s a clean, reliable breakdown of free VLC alternatives that support multithreading or offer similar performance benefits, grounded in the sources we pulled.

---

🔧 Free, Multithread‑Capable Alternatives to VLC

1. MPV

Why it fits your criteria:
MPV is built on a modernized fork of MPlayer/mplayer2 and is known for high‑performance playback, hardware acceleration, and efficient use of system resources — including multithreaded decoding when supported by the underlying FFmpeg stack.
Highlights:

• Extremely lightweight and modular
• Hardware acceleration via OpenGL, Vulkan, or Direct3D
• Scriptable and highly customizable
• Excellent for high‑bitrate or high‑resolution content
  XDA Developers

---

2. MPC‑BE (Media Player Classic – Black Edition)

Why it fits your criteria:
MPC‑BE uses FFmpeg and supports hardware decoding and deinterlacing, which offloads work across CPU/GPU threads. While not explicitly branded as “multithreaded,” its backend pipeline benefits from multithreaded codecs.
Highlights:

• Modernized version of MPC
• Smooth playback even for high‑resolution content
• Clean, efficient interface
  windowsforum.com

---

3. PotPlayer

Why it fits your criteria:
PotPlayer is known for aggressive optimization, including multithreaded decoding, hardware acceleration, and deep customization.
Highlights:

• Highly configurable
• Supports 3D, UHD, and 4K
• Built‑in codecs
  CyberLink

---

4. KMPlayer

Why it fits your criteria:
KMPlayer supports high‑definition formats and uses built‑in codecs that take advantage of multithreaded decoding.
Highlights:

• Great for advanced users
• Strong codec support
• Smooth playback for heavy formats
  CyberLink

---

Quick Comparison Table

Player	Multithreading / Performance	Strengths	Source
MPV	Yes (via FFmpeg + GPU accel)	Lightweight, modular, extremely fast	XDA Developers
MPC‑BE	Yes (via hardware decoding)	Modern UI, smooth playback	windowsforum.com
PotPlayer	Yes (multithreaded decoding)	Highly customizable, built‑in codecs	CyberLink
KMPlayer	Yes (advanced codecs)	Great for HD/4K playback	CyberLink

---

 

[Tom Speirs]

Thank you. i agree.

Multithreading is just a general roadblock with unity not video playback specifically.

VLC has an API but i don't think the others do. They are just players.

From what I can see h265 not an issue now on latest windows 11. That is a plus. ps: looks like that is lav codecs doing that.

DirectX 11 it is.

 

[scutters]

I'm happy with the DirectX11 route choice (but then i don't care about cross platform and i'm selfish!).

Thanks for the looking at it Tom, appreciate it's nvidia that broke stuff and it's given you the pain to sort out.

Btw - the next version of Visual Pinball will be built using BGFX as a wrapper around the graphics rendering for cross platform. Not sure if that's an option for pbx but thought i'd mention it.

[Mike_da_Spike]

Not sure why I missed this thread; I think I'm too busy with side projects.

Anyway, if you want my opinion, I would say a build that works on any computer and also VR.

But if DX11 or VLC is easier to implement (or requires less code), you should follow that route.

I understand it will be the same for the other GameEx apps as well, and maybe those arcade cabinets run on lower hardware and older OS.

[Rochabian]

Could the workaround be implemented in GameEx too, because it has the same problem with nvidia 59X.XX drivers. Is it on the roadmap ?

[Draco1962]

3 hours ago, Rochabian said:

Could the workaround be implemented in GameEx too, because it has the same problem with nvidia 59X.XX drivers. Is it on the roadmap ?

Yes. 

[Mike_da_Spike]

14 hours ago, Draco1962 said:

17 hours ago, Rochabian said:

Is it on the roadmap ?

Yes. 

Where can we find this roadmap?

[Draco1962]

5 hours ago, Mike_da_Spike said:

Where can we find this roadmap?

At the gas station?@Tom Speirs has that on lockdown in his brain pan.

[Tom Speirs]

On 2/15/2026 at 4:26 PM, Rochabian said:

Could the workaround be implemented in GameEx too, because it has the same problem with nvidia 59X.XX drivers. Is it on the roadmap ?

It is already in GameEx. You not see it? (Sample grabber workaround).

[Rochabian]

No, sorry. As the last GameEx update seems to be December 17, 2025, i didn't thought it was already in there. I'll check this. Thanks Tom 

[Rochabian]

Ok, it's working with sample grabber setting. Thanks Tom !

[Tom Speirs]

It just happened so I have not checked it out but ChatGPT (paid version) converted all my code from directx9 to directx11 in 15 minutes. Wow!

[keithhov]

So does 7.02 use this newer code or is that to come?......I'm still using 7.0 and older NVidia drivers, don't want to commit to new video drivers and newest pinballx unless videos play nicely.

[Draco1962]

You should be free on the latest PinballX version. Let us know if you have any issues and supply the pinballx.ini and log.txt files should you experience any issues. Otherwise, let us know if it works OK. Thanks!

[keithhov]

Not good.....installed 7.02,  installed 595.79 nvidia drivers released on March 10th..... videos do play but everything is super slow, slow transitioning between tables,  wheel images super slow, updated LAV codecs just in case.....still slow.   Quicky opened a backup pinballx from like 2 years ago installed in a seperate folder, that one was correct speed.

Files attatched.  Likely will go back to 7.0 and report back...Thanks

log.txt PinballX.ini

[keithhov]

went back to 6.99 on my cabinet with newest nvdia drivers...speedy again but of course no videos,, rolled back nvidia driver from a few months ago and all is well.

Tested 7.02 with newest nvdia drivers on my main pc setup,, I only have 10 or so tables installed and only 1 has a video....when I scroll between tables with no video everything is fast, when I get to the one table with a video everything goes slow until the video I navagate to a table with no video.

So it looks likes vidoes/video player cause slow down pinballx greatly on 7.02, I had a feeling this would be tricky, thanks to Tom in advance, I know eventually he will get it right and I encourage people to contribute to him for this free software!

I might try to see if newer videos created with version 7.02 do not cause slowdown when I get some time.

[Tom Speirs]

Still working with chatgpt. i had to upgrade to pro.

here is the prompt so far.

 

convert all my files and include all to use sharpdx directx 11 using same function names and parameters target .net framework 4 with option strict on and option infer off and provide download. Also within that project provide a directx11 function equivalent to directx9 stretchrect that is fast.. Add the equivalent of directx9 render target support and provde a set render target function in device.vb, this is to be used alongside the existing getrendertarget function.  video player that includes play, pause, stop, dispose, , render and seek using media foundation and sharpdx. reading the samples should occur via a callback with an option to use a thread instead. it should also play the audio in the video with an option to turn off audio. there should be a fuction in the video playback to return the last frame as a texture and also a surface as defined in surface.vb. the texture and surface should be created on upon loading the video. there should also be a function to get the position, duration, framerate and aspect ratio. Also Create the appropriate draw functions in surface.vb and device.vb to support 3d x and y rotation. use full namespace for system.drawing.rectangle, system.drawing.color, sharpdx.color and sharpdx.color4. Also add openvr compatible vr headset support via a compiler directive. create a pinball room and provide images. Provide complete visual studio 2019 solution. also add an x file format loader and renderer that works with direct2d.surface. the reference to Sharpdx.wic is wrong it should be shardx.direct2d1. fix Type 'IDisposable' is not defined. error. Create a demo project that renders and plays a video.

[Tom Speirs]

1 hour ago, keithhov said:

went back to 6.99 on my cabinet with newest nvdia drivers...speedy again but of course no videos,, rolled back nvidia driver from a few months ago and all is well.

Tested 7.02 with newest nvdia drivers on my main pc setup,, I only have 10 or so tables installed and only 1 has a video....when I scroll between tables with no video everything is fast, when I get to the one table with a video everything goes slow until the video I navagate to a table with no video.

So it looks likes vidoes/video player cause slow down pinballx greatly on 7.02, I had a feeling this would be tricky, thanks to Tom in advance, I know eventually he will get it right and I encourage people to contribute to him for this free software!

I might try to see if newer videos created with version 7.02 do not cause slowdown when I get some time.

yeah the fallback video player code is not hardware accelarated. im aware. lower resolution and framerate of videos is required or go back to the old nvidia driver.

Its looking like i will have directx 11 and VR support done very soon though anyway. im killing it wirh ChatGPT.

[keithhov]

Thanks for the info @Tom Speirs...do you think eventually hardware accelerated video playback will be implemented?,  or should I spend time capturing videos in lower quality?

[Mike_da_Spike]

8 hours ago, keithhov said:

Thanks for the info @Tom Speirs...do you think eventually hardware accelerated video playback will be implemented?,  or should I spend time capturing videos in lower quality?

Latest version should work again. Can you try it? I only see that sometimes the videos are not showed. P,ayfirld and backglass. If going to next table and previous it shows fine.

Not sure if you experience the same