MPV

MPV is an open-source command line media player known for its high performance, versatility, and minimalist design.While it has a basic GUI, MPV can be paired with a GUI front-end like SMPlayer (package: smplayer) to offer a user-friendly interface similar to other desktop media players.

MPV supports a wide range of video and audio formats, ensuring extensive compatibility. It features advanced video rendering capabilities, including high-quality scaling algorithms, color management, and HDR support, which contribute to superior video playback quality. MPV leverages hardware-accelerated video decoding through APIs such as VA-API, VDPAU, and DXVA2, improving performance and reducing CPU usage. The player’s minimalist design emphasizes efficiency, offering a streamlined user experience with extensive configurability through command-line options and scripting interfaces.

Installation

2.1 Using nix-shell

nix-shell -p mpv

2.2 System-Wide Installation on NixOS

environment.systemPackages = [
  pkgs.mpv
];

After modifying your configuration, apply the changes by running:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch

2.3 User-Specific Installation with Home Manager

home.packages = [ 
  pkgs.mpv 
];

After updating your configuration, apply the changes by running:

home-manager switch

Configuration

3.1 Basic

programs.mpv = {
    enable = true;
};

3.2 Advanced

programs.mpv = {
  enable = true;

  package = (
    pkgs.mpv-unwrapped.wrapper {
      scripts = with pkgs.mpvScripts; [
        uosc
        sponsorblock
      ];

      mpv = pkgs.mpv-unwrapped.override {
        waylandSupport = true;
      };
    }
  );

  config = {
    profile = "high-quality";
    ytdl-format = "bestvideo+bestaudio";
    cache-default = 4000000;
  };
};

Tips and Tricks

4.1 Where to get scripts

To find more scripts run this in a terminal:

nix search nixpkgs mpvScripts

The scripts are also defined in the following Nixpkgs directory.

4.2 Where to find override options

The package override options are defined in the following Nixpkgs directory.

Troubleshooting

5.1 Error, unknown format

If you get the following sort of error, note that MPV currently uses the small ffmpeg version (ffmpeg_5) instead of the full version (ffmpeg_5-full).

$ mpv --log-file=foo.log av://v4l2:/dev/video5
[lavf] Unknown lavf format v4l2
Failed to recognize file format.

Exiting... (Errors when loading file)

To address this problem, you can use the following package configuration for ffmpeg.

programs.mpv = {
  enable = true;

  package = (
    pkgs.mpv-unwrapped.wrapper {
      mpv = pkgs.mpv-unwrapped.override {
        ffmpeg = pkgs.ffmpeg-full;
      };
    }
  );
};

References

1. https://github.com/mpv-player/mpv/wiki
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mpv_(media_player)
3. https://mynixos.com/search?q=mpv