Best 4K Video Players for PC That Actually Work: 6 Free Picks

Your 4K file looks perfect on paper, then you hit play and it stutters, drops frames or won't open at all - and usually the fix is a better player, not a new PC.

Most default Windows apps were never built for 4K HEVC, AV1 or HDR video.

A good player hands the decoding to your graphics card, so the processor stays cool and the picture stays smooth.

Short answer: install PotPlayer as your main player and keep VLC as the backup.

The Quick Pick

What Makes a Good 4K Player

• Hardware decoding. The graphics card does the heavy lifting - look for D3D11 or DXVA2 in the settings.
• HEVC and AV1 support. These are the two codecs most 4K files use today.
• HDR tone mapping. It stops HDR films looking grey and washed out on a normal screen.
• 10-bit colour. 4K HDR files are 10-bit, and a player that drops to 8-bit shows banding in skies and shadows.
• Headroom for high bitrates. UHD Blu-ray video can peak above 100 Mbps, which chokes a player that leans on the processor alone.

1. PotPlayer - Best Overall 4K Player for Windows

Best for: Windows users who want smooth 4K with no setup.

PotPlayer carries its own decoders, so most 4K HEVC files play the moment you open them. Hardware decoding through D3D11, DXVA2 or NVIDIA CUDA switches on automatically when your graphics card supports it.

• HDR playback with 10-bit output, and tone mapping for normal screens.
• For AV1 files, install the free AV1 Video Extension and PotPlayer uses it for hardware decoding.
• Deep settings for subtitles, audio filters and skins, all optional.

The one catch: it is Windows only and closed source, made by the Korean company Kakao. Get it from our PotPlayer download page.

2. VLC Media Player - The Player That Opens Everything

Best for: one free player for every file and every device.

VLC plays HEVC, AV1, VP9 and nearly every container without a codec pack, on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iPhone. Hardware decoding has been switched on by default since VLC 3.0.

• Open source, with no ads and nothing bundled in the installer.
• Copes with half-downloaded or damaged files better than most players.
• Basic HDR tone mapping, fine for casual viewing.

It is not the lightest player on very high-bitrate 4K, but if a file refuses to open anywhere else, VLC will usually open it. For H.265 files in particular, see our best HEVC players guide.

Get it from our VLC download page.

3. mpv - Best Picture Quality

Best for: people who care more about the picture than about menus.

mpv has no menus or settings windows. You drop a file on it, control it with the keyboard and a small on-screen bar, and change settings in a text file called mpv.conf.

The payoff is the picture. With its gpu-next renderer, mpv has some of the best HDR tone mapping of any free player, and it plays Dolby Vision profile 5 files that turn green or purple in many other players.

To switch on hardware decoding and the better renderer, add these two lines to mpv.conf:

vo=gpu-nexthwdec=auto-safe

Get it from our mpv download page.

4. MPC-BE - Best for Older or Low-Power PCs

Best for: older laptops, and anyone who wants a light, no-frills player.

MPC-BE opens instantly and uses very little memory, yet it hands 4K decoding to the graphics card through D3D11, DXVA2, NVDEC or Intel Quick Sync. AV1 plays straight away, with no extra download.

It comes with MPC Video Renderer, which handles HDR tone mapping properly once you pick it as the video renderer in the options. Prefer MPC-HC? It is still maintained by the community and works much the same way, but MPC-BE gets new features faster.

Get it from our MPC-BE download page.

5. Kodi - Best for a 4K Film Library

Best for: home theatre PCs and big collections.

Kodi scans your folders and builds a poster library with plots, cast and artwork, then plays each film with hardware decoding. On an HDR TV, it can switch Windows into HDR mode for HDR films and back again afterwards.

It is a library app first and a player second, so for opening one file, PotPlayer or VLC is quicker. Get it from our Kodi download page.

6. KMPlayer - Worth a Look, With One Warning

Best for: people who like built-in extras such as 3D playback and screen capture.

KMPlayer supports hardware decoding and plays HEVC and VP9 files without extra codecs.

Get it from our KMPlayer download page.

Still Stuttering? Check These Five Things

• Hardware decoding is off. Turn on D3D11 or DXVA2 decoding in the player's video settings.
• Old graphics drivers. HEVC and AV1 hardware decoding needs current NVIDIA, AMD or Intel drivers.
• You are using a built-in Windows app. Windows Media Player and Films & TV need the free HEVC Video Extensions for H.265 video.
• A damaged file. Try VLC, which is the most forgiving with broken or incomplete downloads.
• Your graphics chip is too old for the codec. Check the table below - without hardware support, 4K falls back to the processor and stutters.

Which Graphics Chips Decode 4K in Hardware

If your hardware is older than this, no player can fix it - the file will play, but 4K will stutter on the processor alone. Converting the file to 1080p H.264 is the practical workaround.

Which One Should You Install?

• Most people: PotPlayer, with VLC installed alongside as the backup.
• Best picture: mpv, if you are happy editing one text file.
• Older PC: MPC-BE, light and fast.
• Big library on a TV: Kodi.

Quick questions