Windows 10: HEVC Video

Hello,


When I attempt to open HEVC video on my Surface Book 3 i7, 16gb RAM, Intel Iris plus graphics and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti w max-q in the movies/tv app I am met with the error code 0x800700aa and told to come speak to you wonderful people.


Other threads in this forum state that there should be no issue, but, alas, we have an issue.


VLC is an option that I have tried with no luck either.


Not really sure how to proceed -- all the resources I can find online either tell me to repeat what I'm doing or that it should work.


Any assistance would be very much so appreciated. I hope you are doing well amidst the covid maddness and your family is safe to enjoy the holiday season.


-PL69

:)

 

Directories with HEVC/x265 or Hi10p/10bit video sluggish

This was working for me in the Anniversary Update and Creators Update, but has been slowly going downhill after the Fall Creators Update (build 1709). After updating to the Fall Creators Update, I could sometimes get thumbnails to show up in Explorer, sometimes
not. I could sometimes get HEVC video to play in Movies & TV and Movie Moments, sometimes not. Now File Explorer won't create any HEVC thumbnails and HEVC video won't play in any of the Microsoft desktop or metro apps.

Here's what I've been able to piece together from a couple of different sources:

• Microsoft removed native HEVC support from the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.
• If you applied a feature update from a previous version (Creators, etc.), you were supposed to retain HEVC support. Wasn't quite true for me, which is how I found this thread. The work-around I mentioned in a previous reply has now stopped working.
• Update KB4041994 enables SOME systems to ADD HEVC support back. There's a hidden app in the Microsoft Store called "HEVC Video Extension". Windows may add it manually. The app only enables HARDWARE HEVC decoding.
  You need a video card or processor released within the last ~year to get it though (Kaby Lake, Kaby Lake Refresh and Coffee Lake, and GPUs like AMD's RX 400, RX 500 and RX Vega 56/64, and Nividia's GeForce GTX 1000 and GTX 950 and 960 series.)
• One of the sources suggests software HEVC decoding might become available as a paid app in the Windows Store in the future. No further info available.

I did a clean install of the Fall Creators Update in Virtualbox. Applied all the updates and installed the "HEVC Video Extension" from the store. MP4 opens in Movies & TV metro app; HEVC video is blank, but HE-AAC audio plays. The slow folder refresh issue
with HEVC files exists.

I have a mid-range desktop processor and video card from early 2013. VLC plays 1080p HEVC using just a couple of percent CPU. I can encode 480p 30FPS in real time using the x.265 Medium preset. My system doesn't need hardware-accelerated encoding / decoding.

As for the original issue. I took someone's suggestion and installed Icaros. Explorer refresh is speedy and I get thumbnails not only for HEVC MP4/MKV, but also FLV (like Icaros claims - anything FFMPEG can decode).

Additional info:

• Microsoft removes HEVC codec in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, adds it to Store - gHacks Tech News
• HEVC and the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update

 

HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer

Thanks for the reply. I am not refering to the HEVC Video Extensions you listed in the link.

I am refering to the HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer linked below.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/h...urer/9n4wgh0z6vhq?activetab=pivot:overviewtab

Why is it no longer available? Does MS plan to make it available again? It was available up until about a month ago.

 

HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer

Hi,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



In order to get clarity and to assist you accordingly, please reply with the answers to the questions below:

• What is the Windows 10 Version and Build installed? (Type winver
  in Windows search/Run command)
• What is the make and model of the PC?
• Where are you getting HEVC Video Extensions from Device Manufacturer showing as temporarily unavailable?

If you want to install HEVC Video Extensions, then refer to

Microsoft Store.



Regards,



Aditya Roy

Microsoft Community – Moderator