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Sep 7, 2026
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LAV Filters is a free, open-source set of DirectShow splitters and decoders built on the FFmpeg libraries, letting any compatible Windows player open H.264, HEVC, VP9, AV1, DTS-HD and TrueHD with nothing to pay and no bundled extras.
Built on the libavformat and libavcodec libraries from the FFmpeg project, LAV Filters lets a DirectShow player open almost any file you throw at it.
It is free and open source, written by Hendrik Leppkes, and the installer adds nothing but the three filters.
One thing to know before you start: it only helps players that use DirectShow, so MPC-HC, PotPlayer and Windows Media Player gain from it, while VLC and mpv bring their own decoders and ignore it completely.
Key Features in LAV Filters 0.83
- Broad format support. Video from H.264 and HEVC through VP9, AV1, VVC and APV, audio from AAC and AC3 through DTS-HD and TrueHD.
- Hardware acceleration. D3D11, DXVA2, NVIDIA CUVID and Intel QuickSync hand decoding to the graphics card, which keeps the processor quiet and the fans down.
- Bitstreaming. Dolby Digital, DTS-HD and TrueHD pass straight through to your AV receiver untouched, so the receiver does the decoding.
LAV Filters only decodes. If you need to encode rather than play, that is a different job and a different tool - x264 for H.264 and x265 for HEVC.
On the audio side, our guide to EAC3 audio explains where that format keeps turning up, and the DTS/AC3 Source Filter covers Dolby and DTS on its own if you do not want a full filter set.
Windows also sells some of this as store components. LAV makes the HEVC Video Extension unnecessary for DirectShow players, and the VP9 Video Extension is the one people most often find missing from Windows itself.
Which File To Download
The download page carries three kinds of 0.83 build, and most people want the first one.
- Installer. Registers the filters, offers a per-format tick list and adds an uninstaller - use this unless you have a reason not to.
- Zip archives, x64 and x86. The same filters with no installer, registered by running the included batch file as administrator - handy for portable player setups.
- Nightly build. Whatever has been committed since 0.83, currently 0.83.0-5 - try it only if a fix you need has not reached a release yet.
A 64-bit player needs the 64-bit filters and a 32-bit player the 32-bit ones, and the installer puts both in so you do not have to think about it.
Uninstall Haali Media Splitter First
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
Remove Haali Media Splitter first, or rename its AX file. Haali overrides player settings and will quietly take priority over LAV Filters, which makes it look as though the install did nothing.
Once it is in, our guide to playing HEVC and H.265 video on Windows with LAV Filters walks through the settings that matter. There is a companion piece on getting more out of your media player with LAV Filters once the basics work.
If a file still will not play after installing, the fault is usually in the renderer rather than the decoder - our explainer on decoders and renderers shows how to tell which stage broke.
No Sound When HDR Kicks In
A reader below reports that sound disappears at the start of HDR playback and comes back when LAV Video is disabled. That is not a bug in the decoder: when LAV Video passes HDR through, the graphics card switches display mode, and that switch briefly resets the HDMI audio device.
Three things avoid it - turn Windows HDR on before you press play, switch off automatic HDR passthrough in LAV Video, or let the renderer tone-map to SDR instead. The last one is what madVR and MPC Video Renderer are for.
LAV Filters Megamix
The LAV Filters Megamix bundles LAV Splitter together with the pieces most people end up installing anyway.
- XySubFilter and DirectVobSub for subtitle rendering.
- MPC-HC in a lite build, plus PotPlayer if you prefer that one.
- madVR for high-quality rendering, with the H.264 MVC 3D Decoder and DirectX 10 as optional extras.
The Megamix on the download page is still built around 0.82, so install it and then run the 0.83 installer over the top if you want the current filters.
Why Use LAV Filters
It is small, it is fast, and it stays out of the way. Install it once and virtually everything plays, without the bloat a full codec pack drags in.
Changes in LAV Filters 0.83
0.83 is a small maintenance release from 17 August 2026. The two releases before it carried the new features, so all three are listed here.
0.83 - 17 August 2026
- LAV Splitter: various stability improvements for Dolby Vision Enhancement Layer processing.
- LAV Splitter: Matroska files would only show the first 64 tracks.
- LAV Audio: minor timing corrections for TrueHD Atmos bitstreaming.
0.82 - 10 June 2026
- LAV Splitter: support for demuxing Dolby Vision Enhancement Layer streams, and Dolby Vision metadata is available on the primary video stream when demuxing Blu-ray discs.
- LAV Splitter and LAV Video: support for animated WebP images.
- LAV Video: hardware decoding support for DVDs has been removed.
One caveat. Containers are not all supported equally, so a format that plays inside MKV might still fail inside MP4. And "tested" is never a guarantee - there are too many codec and container combinations for any developer to cover them all.
Quick questions
Is LAV Filters free?
Yes. It is open source under the GPL, with no paid version, no adverts and nothing bundled in the installer.
Do I need it if I use VLC or mpv?
No. Those players carry their own copy of the FFmpeg libraries and never touch DirectShow. LAV Filters is for MPC-HC, PotPlayer, Windows Media Player, Zoom Player and anything else built on DirectShow.
Installer or zip?
The installer, unless you are building a portable player folder. The zip files hold the same filters but you register them yourself from an administrator prompt.
Does it play HEVC without the Microsoft extension?
Yes, in any DirectShow player. The HEVC Video Extension only matters for Windows' own apps, such as Photos and Films and TV.
Is LAV Filters a codec pack?
Not in the usual sense. It is three filters from one developer, which is why it does not conflict with itself the way big packs can. If you want subtitles and a player in the same download, that is what the Megamix is for.
Download LAV Filters 0.83 and see how it handles your files, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.
KO
@miao
When LAV Video enables HDR passthrough, the GPU switches color/bit-depth modes, which temporarily resets the HDMI audio device and causes “no sound” at playback start.
Disabling LAV Video prevents this HDR mode switch, so the audio device never drops.
You can avoid the issue by enabling HDR before playback, disabling auto HDR passthrough, or using tone-mapping instead.
We're going to write a short guide on how to do these steps in the coming days.
When LAV Video enables HDR passthrough, the GPU switches color/bit-depth modes, which temporarily resets the HDMI audio device and causes “no sound” at playback start.
Disabling LAV Video prevents this HDR mode switch, so the audio device never drops.
You can avoid the issue by enabling HDR before playback, disabling auto HDR passthrough, or using tone-mapping instead.
We're going to write a short guide on how to do these steps in the coming days.
MI
why lav video when start up hdr will make no sound output,why like that??
when i turn off lav video filter it fine no problem at all....
when i turn off lav video filter it fine no problem at all....
ZI
The LAV filters are the de facto standard for Windows users when dealing with audio and video codecs; the developer is talented and its filters (FFMPEG based) are focused on high quality direct playback from hard disk, less on video streaming content.
The D3D11 interface, together with madVR, are a solid video rendering path for the new 10 bit videos.
The D3D11 interface, together with madVR, are a solid video rendering path for the new 10 bit videos.
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