MPV

MPV is an open-source command line media player known for its high performance, versatility, and minimalist design. It has only a very basic GUI. MPV can be used with a GUI front-end like SMPlayer (package: smplayer), to have a comparable user interface like other media players for the desktop environment.

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 utilizes hardware-accelerated video decoding through APIs such as VA-API, VDPAU, and DXVA2, enhancing performance and reducing CPU usage. The player’s design emphasizes minimalism and efficiency, offering a streamlined user interface with extensive configurability via command-line options and scripting interfaces.

Installation

Using nix-shell

To use MPV in a temporary environment with nix-shell, run:

nix-shell -p mpv

System-Wide Installation on NixOS

To install MPV system-wide, add it to your system configuration. Edit your /etc/nixos/configuration.nix and include MPV in the environment.systemPackages list:

environment.systemPackages = [ 
  pkgs.mpv 
];

After modifying your configuration, apply the changes by running:

sudo nixos-rebuild switch

User-Specific Installation with Home Manager

If you use Home Manager, you can add MPV to your home configuration. Edit your Home Manager configuration file (usually ~/.config/nixpkgs/home.nix) and include MPV in the home.packages list:

home.packages = [ 
  pkgs.mpv 
];

After updating your configuration, apply the changes by running:

home-manager switch

Configuration

The recommended way to enable and configure MPV on NixOS is through the programs attribute in your NixOS home configuration.

programs.mpv = {
    enable = true;
};

A more comprehensive configuration of MPV would look like this.

{ pkgs, ... }:
{
  programs.mpv = {
    enable = true;

    # Custom package configuration for MPV
    package = (
      pkgs.mpv-unwrapped.wrapper {

        # To find more scripts run this in a terminal: nix search nixpkgs mpvScripts
        # The scripts are defined in the following Nixpkgs directory: https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/tree/master/pkgs/applications/video/mpv/scripts
        scripts = with pkgs.mpvScripts; [
          uosc
          sponsorblock
        ];

        mpv = pkgs.mpv-unwrapped.override {
          # Find more override options in the expression:
          # https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/blob/master/pkgs/applications/video/mpv/default.nix
          waylandSupport = true;
        };
      }
    );

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

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