Cinematic 4k UHD on any system.

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MAVEN
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Cinematic 4k UHD on any system.

HD is everywhere these days, DVD res is still neat but looks like a VHS today. 1080p is still amazing, but you know what's even better? 4k UHD - Ultra High Definition video, and with everyone having an easy access to at least some sort of internet for streaming these days watching UHD videos is something you can enjoy right now and on any system without the need to buy a TV that costs arm and leg, that's if you know how.

Sure online players have the capability to play UHD videos, but there's one tiny big problem - Flash. Flash sucks so much that it's dying fast and it is being replaced by HTML5, HTML5 being a new tool to play with on websites is still under development but it does perform better than flash. So how to enjoy your UHD 4k res cinematic experience on ANY system with added bonus of expert audio and video filtering?

Read on.

Your toolkit, download it:

This is your basic kit you will be using to get the UHD 4k experience smoothly going.

1. PotPlayer (Latest beta, or 64 bit for your 64 bit OS, this player should be in English once installed) - http://www.videohelp.com/tools/PotPlayer
2. Enhancer 017 - http://www.winamp.com/plugin/enhancer-017/81361
3. Video DownloadHelper (browser plugin for Firefox, find alternative if your browser is unsuported) - http://www.downloadhelper.net/install.php
4. ~512kbps internet speed (actual download) for seamless 4k UHD streaming.
5. UHD videos - Samples at the end of tutorial.

Setting up:

PotPlayer is originally called Daum, it was developed by a Korean corporation, the actual brainchild behind this great player is the same developer behind several other players like KMPlayer and VLC, PotPlayer is by far the best in my opinion because it can do things other players can't come even close to, and the fact Korean govt issued this player for TVs just guarantees its top quality.

1. Unpack and install PotPlayer which should be in English once opened (Daum is in Korean).
2. Exit PotPlayer and find its install directory.
3. Create a folder named Plugin and another one called TEMPVIDS, then extract your Enhancer 017 Winamp plugin to the Plugin directory.
4. Open PotPlayer.
5. Right click on the player and go to Preferences.
6. Adjust as bellow:

Select Built-In DVXA in top left drop down and then proceed.

>General - Automatic updates to Do Not Use and tick Store Settings to .ini file.
>General>Skin>Potplayer Default skin.
>Filter Control>Condition to Always Use and tick Use audio filters
>Filter Control>Source/Splitter>All filters should be set to Built-In because PotPlayer features the best filters right away. The same goes for Video and Audio decoder options, all should be to Built-In.
>Video>Video Renderer>VMR 9 (You may also try other, but VMR 9 is the most stable and reliable) also Direct3D9ex to Vista or later, unless you have W7 then select W7. Tick Fix Broken Vsync.
>Video>Colorspaces>Tick YUY2/RGB and adjust your color settings, the default ones are good so you can leave it at that.
>Video>Video processing>Untick all but Sharpen - Luma and set it to 200, also, if you have a multicore processor tick the Multi Core support.
>Audio>In audio output for Audio Rendered and S/PDIF select your sound driver (It is very important or else your player will crash) Set output setting to PCM, Set Speakers to match your sound setup (the one your card can support and is set on by default driver, 2.0 Stereo is fool-proof and best as default, you will need to experiment and find the best option for yourself, so set 2.0 Stereo for a start and later when you got it all set up you can play some video and test different sound setups) also set to 32 bit (real), Resample to Same as input, Reverb settings tick all.
>Audio>Equalizer>Tick Enable and set to Party. Do not use SuperEQ as it can be bugged up.
>Audio>Normalize>Tick enable and select 32 bit normalizer (recommended)
>Audio>Crystality>Disable all.
>Audio>Winamp DSP plugins>Locate the folder Plugin you created in PotPlayer install dir. Untick Only Use in Dual Channel. Select Enhancer 0.17 from the list. Click on Settings, an Enhancer window will pop up, set it as this - Power (Green light) Boost (off) Presets>Techno>Load>Ok and then minimize Enhancer window.
>Network>Temporary storage folder>Locate TEMPVIDS folder and select it, if you need more space make a new folder on a drive with more space and select that instead. This folder is used when you stream playback online, it will fill up a lot since 4k UHD can go well over several GB's over a hour of playback.

Click on Apply button then on Export and export your settings to a .reg key. After that hit OK. Close PotPlayer via Right click>Exit Your PotPlayer is now ready to stream and play videos in UHD definition, however, not all systems work the same, if you are tech savvy you may want to try tweak some settings by yourself and see what's best for you just like the Audio input mentioned above.

7. Install DownloadHelper into your browser and set it up as per your likes. Remember however that we will need Copy url option that pops up only when the icon gets animated and a vid is playing in browser, once you click this you can then hover over desired definition and move right to Copy url option which will copy direct video url.
8. And that's it, you are ready to play some UHD videos, so let's give it a test run.
9. Go to this link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vrdgDdPApQ and using DownloadHelper Copy 4k UHD url (For UHD playback) or 1080p for 1080p playback. Click on Stop download or close the tab (but not browser) and open PotPlayer. Right click and go Open>Open URL and paste this link to URL field and hit OK. You can also use CTRL+U shortcut.
10. Pause video. Hit Double Back button ( |< ) so video sets at 0.00 and click on Full screen icon top right that is just left of X. Hit Space and...

....enjoy the ultra HD in 4k Resolution right on your system with expert Audio and Video filtering, a cinematic experience that turns web videos into movies Biggrin

The conclusion?

Sure enough your multicore beast of a gaming system can play UHD videos, but this method is not only a better one, or perhaps only way to play UHD videos like movies without crappy flash, it also, after my determination and prolonged testings proved 100% reliable in playing 4K UHD on my workstation as well as on my two test systems (One of them is low spec single core even and it played 4K UHD with all those filters in PotPlayer without a hitch LOL!)

Got addicted? I bet you did. Bellow are links to some fine UHD samples as well as some eye-popping 1080p uploads. Enjoy.

UHD Samples (1080p compatible):

Sample 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vrdgDdPApQ
Sample 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoyiyTxR7mE
London in UHD - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZOARQiyj9s
Surreal UHD sample (with 7.1 audio) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqoUOXmWSlk
ArmA 3 4k gameplay - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcSwb66Vrcs
Crysis 3 UHD ultra wide 3monitor and surround - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H52laKrZzNI
Crysis 1 mod UHD - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJILn0WsGfE
Animation sample - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60GCz9iywbQ
Nature in UHD - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsrPTpg6mNo

1080p samples:
Far Cry Experience (Must watch Biggrin ) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBQSxTjPrHc
Battlefield 4 Gameplay (real) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8HVQXkeU8U

If you want more, rent a movie online, or find some other free samples, the choices are plentiful. I hope you liked this tutorial and found it useful Smile

P.S. PotPlayer being the best and Enhancer giving it the extra boost, you can also stream 320kbps music, make playlists, stream TV online, watch or listen to anything, etc etc. There's a lot of things you can do with this set up. I personally use it for movies on my workstation now as well as 3D render previews and video design. Use your imagination. One last but not least thing. 17" or smaller screens can play UHD videos, BUT the difference is not big, you may want to have 21" or bigger OLED screen for UHD with resolution that goes 1080p and beyond for even better and very noticeable 1080p vs UHD experience.

Speed, Precision, Experience, Endurance. General System Tweak Guide