Windows 1709 Video Playback

[Destro]

As of updating to the new Windows Fall Creators update version 1709 build 16299.19 I've had some issues I've not encountered before.

The first one is that when playing h.264/avc files they will start out fine but suddenly drop about 90% of frames and that will continue until the video is changed. It's inconsistant in how long it will take to occur.

Second one is that h.265/hevc files just prompt an error stating that there was no codec to decode (Although I do have one), this was a notification from Windows however not an error in Wallpaper engine.
I did some research and it seems that Microsoft have added an official HEVC decoder which you have to download from the Windows store.
After installing this selecting a HEVC file will bring up a fatal error in Wallpaper Engine which says:

wallpaper32.exe - Bad Image

Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.HEVCVideoExtension_1.0.2512.0_x64__8wekyb3dbbwe\x86\hevcdecoder_store.ddl is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error. Try installing the program again using the original installation media or contact your system administrator or the software vendor for support. Error status 0xc0000428.

I am able to play HEVC files with both Microsofts decoder and a third party one without issue.

Let me know if you need more info.

[Biohazard]

You can use the LAV filters on the beta instead of relying on Windows: http://steamcommunity.com/app/431960/discussions/2/1484358860951576217/

Wallpaper Engine just uses Media Foundation by default, I know that HEVC was supported by it before 1709. If it stopped working now then Microsoft must have broken it or purposefully stripped it out of Media Foundation, there is nothing I could change there besides supporting third-party decoders as above.

There is no mention here that anything changed, they just say it's a default feature for Win10: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/mt218785%28v=vs.85%29.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396 So I guess they must have broken it by accident.

[Destro]

Thanks, I'll try out the Beta. LAV filters are the third party ones I mentioned so that's good.
Curiously with the other issue I mentioned with dropping frames, after the program crashed and I manually started it again (64bit instead of 32), the problem isn't occurring. 32 bit starts by default is there a way I can change that?

A new feature in this Windows update displays GPU resource stats in the Task Manager, I was pleasantly surprised to see that videos playing on my other monitors were decoding on my second gpu rather then my first, which is nice for keeping resources if playing games. Do you think you could implement a gpu selection function to always defer rendering to a specific GPU in a multiple GPU (non SLI) setup?

[Destro]

I switched to the beta and the filters started working straight away (can see lav splitter and video decoder tray icons), however only on my primary display. Secondary displays just show a black screen, any ideas?

[Biohazard]

You would have to play around with the LAV video decoder options. If you have hardware acceleration enabled in Wallpaper Engine, you can choose the specific type of hardware acceleration you want in LAV, just restart the video though. The LAV settings aren't applied to any running video from what I understand.

My WMP also stopped playing HEVC with the 1709 update. It uses LAV now too. Maybe Microsoft fixes this since it seems HEVC doesn't work without thirdparty codecs now.

I don't think I can choose a GPU, but you can actually choose a GPU in the LAV settings for certain hardware decoders.

[Biohazard]

I looked at the file hevcdecoder_store.dll and I get the same error code as you do.

And the error code means "Windows cannot verify the digital signature for this file".

So the file is probably fine, Microsoft just didn't sign it right! virustotal.com also shows a cert issue if you check the 'signature info' there: https://www.virustotal.com/#/file/bf3498115ef3bd97f0f7dda28d1d7ec36089c58924007d5954cf67a973e54aea/details

[Destro]

I see, thanks.