New codecs

[The-10-Pen]

Kind of became a moot point.

The issue which prompted me to give Mullvad a trial-run did not result in a fix to my issue.

I stream *everything*. My cable provider for "tv" is DirecTV. "Something" happened within the last couple of weeks where I can no longer stream DirecTV programming on my laptop with an Intel HD Graphics 520 display adaptor. Okay, technically I 'can', but the CPU pegs 100% *forever* and so I cannot bring myself to streaming "hours on end" with the CPU running at 100%.

So far, I haven't been able to figure out "why".
Nothing on the setup has changed.
And none of my other computers have changed in regards to CPU usage while streaming from DirecTV.

I went to see if IceCat would resolve the issue, but since it hasn't been updated for so long (unless on Linux), that's when I found Mullvad.
I'm impressed overall. But it didn't solve the reason I found it in the first place.

On YouTube, there's a "stats for nerds" route of discovering what codec is being used.
If there was something like this for DirecTV, maybe I could have witnessed whatever changed and that the HD Graphics 520 is no longer performing hardware acceleration and everything is unefficiently being handled by the CPU (an Intel i5-6300U in this case).

[Duke]

my laptop with an Intel HD Graphics 520 display adaptor.
the CPU pegs 100% *forever* and so I cannot bring myself to streaming "hours on end" with the CPU running at 100%.

So far, I haven't been able to figure out "why".

My guess is that they have changed the video codec. Before they were using H.264/AVC and now H.265/HEVC or AV1. And your old Intel 520 has no hardware acceleration for these new codecs.
Check which video codec is used with a media player like VLC or MPV.

[The-10-Pen]

Check which video codec is used with a media player like VLC or MPV.

Um... HOW ???

I know there are ways to "download" from YouTube and play "later" and do that playback in any media player you so choose.
Once the media FILE is on your computer, your options are endless.
But these have *never* interested me. If I'm going to DOWNLOAD then play later, that's what TORRENTS are for.

The whole HEADACHE of things like https://github.com/ytdl-org/youtube-dl or the like really are USELESS to me.
Again, that's what TORRENTS are for, in my humble opinion.

But that "view" aside. And in as few words as I can think in order to enquire -- *HOW ???*
I cannot download from Netflix or Hulu and choose any ol' media player for playback.
Likewise, I cannot download from DirecTV and just choose any ol' media player for playback.

DirecTV ≠ YouTube... DirecTV <> YouTube... DirecTV != YouTube...
So what am I missing?

[The-10-Pen]

It indeed must be a "new and improved" video codec.
Sports and news channels with text all over the place are way WAY crisper and cleaner than they were a week or two ago.

I'd actually *PREFER* the old codec! At least on this one laptop.
I can do that in YouTube (ie, there are userscripts galore to force h264).
I don't think things like that exist to force *ALL* videos to *ALWAYS* be h264, regardless of website.

[The-10-Pen]

I'll tinker some more tomorrow.

I temporarily installed Win10 LTSC 21H2 because that enabled newer graphics drivers that are unavailable for the laptop's original Win10 LTSB 2016. Same issue though - 100% CPU when streaming live video from DirecTV. I really don't know "how" to determine what video codec is being used.

While the updated driver didn't fix the 100% CPU, I may have to investigate modifying the drivers so that I can get them to install on LTSB 2016. Though probably not important. They're only a year newer than what I was using and even the "new" is almost a decade old.

What I did accidentally stumble upon is that if I set the two monitors to the SAME resolution (ie, set the added secondary monitor to match the laptop's built-in display), then the CPU drops to a fluctuating range of 45% to 70% with the GPU around 35% to 40%. A *vast* improvement over the CPU being pegged at 100%. Not sure if that is "normal" or not.

I'm going to return it to LTSB 2016 tomorrow. Hoping the resolution-matching will work there also. This laptop has always ran hotter than my other computers used for streaming (they all can stream 1080p with the CPU running LESS than 7% and the GPU running between 10% to 25%).

[Duke]

Um... HOW ???
what am I missing?

Well, you said:

I stream *everything*.

So I thought you were talking about live streams, usually fed by .M3U8 playlist files. In this case VLC and MPV can open and play such live streams and show you the codec being used.

I'd actually *PREFER* the old codec! At least on this one laptop.
I can do that in YouTube (ie, there are userscripts galore to force h264).
I don't think things like that exist to force *ALL* videos to *ALWAYS* be h264, regardless of website.

For Youtube there is this extension:
https://board.eclipse.cx/viewtopic.php?t=805

But Youtube is using several different codecs (H.264, VP9 and AV1) for the same video so you can force one, but I believe some other sites are using only one video codec.

[The-10-Pen]

Best I can seem to get (while streaming live from DirecTV) is CPU bouncing around between 65% and 80% and GPU hovering between 25% and 30%. It's probably going to end up killing this o' laptop because live news via DirecTV streams as "background noise" for anywhere from 6 to 12 hours pretty much daily.

Different drivers = no effect
Smaller resolutions for secondary monitor (where live stream is viewed) = minor effect

The solution with the biggest effect was to set both the internal display adaptor and the secondary monitor to the LOWEST POSSIBLE "refresh rate".
ZERO negative effects toward video quality (it's for news streams and sitcoms, not for 4k action flicks).

[The-10-Pen]

For Youtube there is this extension:
https://board.eclipse.cx/viewtopic.php?t=805

Yep. I use a modified version of that as a userscript.
I prefer userscript method over adding extensions to my profile.

[The-10-Pen]

So I thought you were talking about live streams

Semantics?

I guess I've always called online videos that can not be "downloaded" but simply watched in "real time" as 'live streams'.
I cannot download them, I have to log in at the time of day that they play them.

[Duke]

Different drivers = no effect

It's not the drivers, it's the card.
Food for thought:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000035848/graphics.html
http://wp.xin.at/archives/3561

I guess I've always called online videos that can not be "downloaded" but simply watched in "real time" as 'live streams'.
I cannot download them, I have to log in at the time of day that they play them.

If you can watch them then you can record them or download them

[The-10-Pen]

If you can watch them then you can record them or download them

True. But it has to be "real-time" and the CPU/GPU runs hot for the entire duration.
I **PREFER** the older codec.
Sure, the whites are whiter, the blacks are darker, the letters are crisper.
But the less-white, the less-black, the still-crisp-didn't-even-notice-could-be crisper codec at 5% CPU and 20% GPU **BEATS THE H#LL** out of forcing the CPU to sweat it out at 55% *minimum*. GPU at 30% or so seems fine.

I mean, come on, it's just "tv news", *background noise*, eyes only looking at it 20% of the time, not Halle Berry in catwoman leather.

[xperceniol_sal]

...Halle Berry in catwoman leather.

I like Halle Berry - I have many of her movies on DVD

My PC gets very hot when I stream with such little RAM and faulty hardware. Most of the time its background noise as well and I struggle to keep focus on much of what is on for me so I'd rather enjoy my DVD's. Its a real headache to stream for me; but I do it when there is something I really want to see but my CPU also gets to 100%

[Duke]

I **PREFER** the older codec.

Broadcasters prefer newer codecs because they use less bandwith for the same quality, much less bandwith. So at the end of the year the bill is much lower.
They assume no one should still own a device older than 10 years.

Halle Berry in catwoman leather.

Or in an orange bikini like in Die Another Day

[The-10-Pen]

Broadcasters prefer newer codecs because they use less bandwith for the same quality, much less bandwith. So at the end of the year the bill is much lower.
They assume no one should still own a device older than 10 years.

Bill is a flat rate.
Whether I watch zero hours per month or whether I watch 730.5 (365.25 * 24 / 12) hours per month.
Not only that, it's a flat rate whether I watch on one device or whether I watch on all six of my devices.

But yeah, on their end, that flat rate that is invoiced to me and to every other of their customers is based on an assumed level of "watchery".
I made up that word, free to use, no royalties.
And people like me that have it on as "background noise" are all very likely ABOVE the AVERAGE "watchery" level.

But this is the real "kickery" (again, free to use, no royalties), many websites discussing H.264 vs H.265 cite 265 as "about 50% bandwidth".
But, um, hello, shouldn't my bill now be "about 50%" of what it was before the upgrade ???

Here's the second "kickery".
With this "upgrade", they now have a MANDATED "inactive sleep mode".
There has ALWAYS been an option in the settings menu to "go to sleep" if the device indicates "no activity".
Defined by whether the remote is touched or not (I think).
I don't know the time span, I've always kept this feature *OFF*.

But now, REGARDLESS of that setting, streaming goes to sleep anyway!
I'm thinking about hanging the remote from a string and letting the cat swipe at it.
Or maybe a paint shaker on a timer?

[The-10-Pen]

They assume no one should still own a device older than 10 years.

Reading through their "support" web page and they "support" Chrome/Edge v143 or higher.
Wow! v143 was released (ie, "promoted to Stable Channel") on December 3, 2025.
That was only 59 DAYS ago!

Granted, I know it works on v140 and the "support" page used to cite Chrome v86 or higher [v86 was released on October 6, 2020].
I used to have a "360Chrome" project over at MSFN, it [v13 and v13.5] is v86 but I have not tried DirecTV in my 360Chrome.

But here is my third "kickery" for this morning.
I have also recently been *FORCED* to upgrade from v140 to, IRONICALLY, v143 *minimum*.
Without v143, I cannot log into my bank or my water sewage billpay on anything older than v143!
My bank forces two-step authentication (code sent to phone) only if on older browsers, newer browsers can be set as "trusted" and skip two-step.
My water sewage billpay lands on a Cloudflare CAPTCHA that LOOPS ENDLESSLY on anything older than v143.

I myself find all of these "v143 or higher" as no coincidence.

[Duke]

Bill is a flat rate.
Whether I watch zero hours per month or whether I watch 730.5 (365.25 * 24 / 12) hours per month.

I mean the content provider's bill. They pay for the amount of data of the content they stream.
Not to mention the storage of the files being streamed. H.265/HEVC encoded files are smaller than H.264/AVC encoded files from the same source = less storage or more files for the same storage space.

I have also recently been *FORCED* to upgrade from v140 to, IRONICALLY, v143 *minimum*.

It's not the browser, it's your graphics card which is decoding in software mode hence the 100% CPU usage. As of today no browser has native support for HEVC because of licensing issues. They can use the HEVC codec but you need to have this video extension installed:
https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9n4wgh0z6vhq

or this one:
https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nmzlz57r3t7

Then you can take advantage of the hardware acceleration of your graphics card. Assuming DirectTV is using HEVC.

Here is the video extension for the AV1 codec:
https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9mvzqvxjbq9v

But your old Intel 520 has no hardware acceleration support for AV1 anyway.

[The-10-Pen]

Also, I'm not technically a fan of "X-Lite" (I find it to be a lazy approach compared to building my own), but this has been added to my To Try List also:

2026-02-03_10-39-46.png (172.8 KiB) Viewed 828 times

[Duke]

added to my To Try List also:
HEVC

https://www.free-codecs.com/guides/how_to_download_hevc_video_extension_for_free.htm
or
https://github.com/Fox8284/Microsoft-HEVC-Video-Extension

[The-10-Pen]

X-Lite 10 "Classic" runs identical as my normal tweaked install as far as DirecTV streaming.
ie, 60 to 85% on the CPU and 45% on the GPU.
I don't technically know what the "installed HEVC codec" *DOES*.

But, and yeah, it's biased on my part, but BECAUSE of the StartIsBack "bundle", that alone makes me NOT TRUST IT!
ie, what else was ADDED, all I was looking for was a DEBLOAT, I was not looking for a DEBLOAT *AND ADD WHAT WE THINK YOU NEED*.
That's my line in the sand, DON'T ADD STUFF, that contradicts the philosophy of "debloat", in my shout-from-the-rooftop "opinion".

"To each their own", of course

[Duke]

I don't technically know what the "installed HEVC codec" *DOES*.

Decoding HEVC, with hardware acceleration support if your graphics card can handle it, in WMP and some other players and also in browsers.
In R3dfox/Firefox/LibreWolf/etc check about:support#media

[The-10-Pen]

Chrome/Chromium has decoded HEVC since v104 [if hardware is capable] (enabled by default in v105 and higher).
v104 was released August 2022.

My (short-lived) run of X-Lite with the "installed HEVC codec" tells me that nothing was gained for my usage, just let Chrome/Chromium offload the decode to the GPU instead of offloading to the OS which then offloads to the GPU.

It would be different if my HEVC needs were EXTERNAL to Chrome/Chromium.

I do use PotPlayer (*hate* that name, sounds like something a hippy from the 60s came up with), and I thought I've played h.265 content from within it, will have to verify over the next day or so.

[The-10-Pen]

I can confirm that PotPlayer *does* play HEVC with a Win10 LTSB [2016] install with zero internet connection.
No hoops jumped through to add anything, not even K-Lite Codec Pack. Just pure unadulterated virgin Win10. Debloated, NO ADDITIONS.
ie, zero possibility of any "driver" or "codec decoder" being downloaded.

Sure, technically, there might be something that POTPLAYER ("portable") 'added', but I'm okay with that.
Just as I'm okay with pure unadulterated virgin Chrome v144 and Chromium v144 both being able to play HEVC without me having to ADD *anything*.

I only only ONLY ever use those three programs to play videos, whether downloaded or whether streaming.

2026-02-04_5-01-21.png (342.55 KiB) Viewed 519 times

2026-02-04_5-03-52.png (22.92 KiB) Viewed 519 times

[The-10-Pen]

I feel like I am finally getting somewhere.
My problem is technically *only* with DirecTV (I can force h.264 on *other* platforms, just not on DirecTV).

h.264 is *awesome*, if you ask me. CPU and GPU on a WIDE RANGE of my hardware all behaves **GREAT**.

h.265, on the other hand, despite the bandwidth "savings", is ***TERRIBLE*** on my Dell Latitude E5470 with an HD 520 GPU.
It's *ONLY* ten years old! That isn't that old. My TI-34 calculator, timestamped right on the back, is from 1988!
Powder coating has worn around the edges, but otherwise NOT A SCRATCH ON IT!
Used dang near weekly for that entire THIRTY EIGHT YEAR time span.

A laptop / computer should surely be expected to run fluently at ONLY ten years old - without a scratch on it.

My newest stumble-upon.
I have reduced h.265 DirecTV viewing from 55% to 80% CPU and 45% GPU all the way down to 45% to 55% CPU and 25% GPU.
And able to keep HIGHER "refresh rates" in the monitors display settings.
Reduced refresh rates weren't that major, I don't watch movies from the laptop anyway, but it's nice to see I can keep them at fastest rates.

Turns out, running EDGE BROWSER did the trick!
"Portable" v144. Same exact "chrome engine" that I was using in Chrome v144 and Chromium v144.
But EDGE v144 really is performing MUCH better.

Not just in regards to CPU/GPU "percentage". But also in terms of video and audio STAYING IN SYNC !!!
It would only take 20 minutes or so for Chrome and Chromium to need a "channel change" and return to channel to RE-SYNC audio/video.

[The-10-Pen]

I guess I probably should have been tracking CPU/GPU temperature, but percentage is constantly monitored in systray so that was easiest.

[The-10-Pen]

ps - Edge is FULLY *decoupled* from Win10. It's actually one of my DEBLOATS.
Running Edge as a *PORTABLE* does not have the same *OS-level* overhead as it being "embedded" into the OS (especially the d@mn "update" processes).

[Duke]

I can confirm that PotPlayer *does* play HEVC with a Win10 LTSB [2016] install with zero internet connection.
Sure, technically, there might be something that POTPLAYER ("portable") 'added', but I'm okay with that.

PotPlayer has built-in ffmpeg codecs, just like VLC and MPV do.

Turns out, running EDGE BROWSER did the trick!
"Portable" v144. Same exact "chrome engine" that I was using in Chrome v144 and Chromium v144.

I found this page about HEVC support in browsers:
https://caniuse.com/hevc

However, in any case no browser has a built-in HEVC decoder so they all rely on what is installed system wide.
So in your case there are two possible solutions:
- You have the HEVC codec installed system wide for some reason and you didn't know it.
If your HEVC Matroska video plays in WMP then you have the codec installed.

- The codec being used is not HEVC but another one.
Maybe VP9 or AV1. The latter is very CPU demanding.

[The-10-Pen]

Enterprise versions (LTSB/LTSC) of Windows do not have WMP.
I definitely do NOT have any system-wide HEVC decoder.
I have file managers with "preview panes" and they would play the video if there was a system-wide decoder.
The HEVC that I showed in PotPlayer was downloaded specifically for this test - plays in PotPlayer, does not play in "preview panes".
But correlation to "system-wide" viewability did not dawn on me until just now, I originally assumed PotPlayer was doing "real-time" CONVERTING.
But found no evidence of any ability to real-time converting.
I don't even have access to (nor want access to) the "Microsoft Store".

I wish that DirecTV had a "stats for nerds" dialog like YouTube.
I'm finding zero details on "exactly" what codec the video stream is using.
Again, it's not something I can download and play with any ol' player.
It's "live", I log in, select a channel, and watch.

[Duke]

I have file managers with "preview panes" and they would play the video if there was a system-wide decoder.
The HEVC that I showed in PotPlayer was downloaded specifically for this test - plays in PotPlayer, does not play in "preview panes".

So you don't have HEVC codec installed, therefore the stream is not HEVC encoded.

It's "live", I log in, select a channel, and watch.

Maybe they are now using DRM ? Which uses a lot of CPU.
But I think 80-100% CPU usage is too high for DRM, it should be more about 10-20% maybe 30% max. Unless you have a very old and weak CPU.

[The-10-Pen]

So you don't have HEVC codec installed, therefore the stream is not HEVC encoded.

I don't know, I don't think it's that simple.
Or I'm just viewing things too simplisticly.

My OS doesn't have to know how do decode a PDF file, but that doesn't mean my browser cannot.
My OS doesn't have to know how to decode HEVC, but that doesn't mean my browser cannot.

Based on my file manager viewer pane, my OS cannot decode HEVC.
But I can play HEVC from inside my browser.

I intentionally (for a few years now) force YouTube to only play h.264.
But I can just as easily force it to play h.265 instead.
Despite my OS not having any decoder (per file manager preview funtionality).

2026-02-04_17-14-45.png (164.09 KiB) Viewed 160 times

2026-02-04_17-11-58.png (102.89 KiB) Viewed 160 times

2026-02-04_17-11-03.png (82.59 KiB) Viewed 160 times