Standard Video Playback
Play H.264 and HEVC in MultiMon — the decode path on Windows, the containers accepted, and the hardware-to-software fallback.
Alongside HAP, MultiMon plays ordinary delivery codecs, so you can drop in the file you already have rather than converting everything first.
Codecs
MultiMon decodes H.264 and HEVC.
On Windows, that decode runs through Media Foundation. It uses hardware decode where the machine offers it, and falls back to software decode automatically when a hardware decoder is not available — you do not have to pick, and there is no setting to toggle.
GPUs that are forced to software decode
MultiMon carries a named list of GPUs whose Direct3D 11 hardware video decode is known to be unreliable. When it detects one of them, it takes the Media Foundation software decode path deliberately, rather than risking the hardware one. The list covers older AMD FirePro cards (W600, W5000, W7000, V3800, V4800, V5800), pre-Kepler NVIDIA Quadro cards (Quadro 600, Quadro 2000), and pre-Skylake Intel integrated graphics (Sandy Bridge through Broadwell — HD Graphics 2000/3000, 2500/4000, 4200/4400/4600, 5000/5100/5200, 5300/5500/6000/6100/6200). Skylake and later Intel integrated graphics are not on the list. This list affects Media Foundation only; it does not gate HAP.
If your GPU is on that list, expect higher CPU load on H.264 and HEVC — converting your media to HAP is the way around it.
Overriding the decode path
Three environment variables exist as escape hatches and testing hooks:
| Variable | Effect |
|---|---|
MULTIMON_FORCE_SW_DECODE | Media Foundation skips the hardware bind and decodes in software on any GPU |
MULTIMON_DISABLE_HAP | Turns the HAP path off, so HAP clips go to Media Foundation instead |
MULTIMON_FEATURE_LEVEL | Pins the Direct3D feature level to 11_1 or 11_0 |
Set MULTIMON_FORCE_SW_DECODE if hardware decode is misbehaving on your machine and your GPU is not on
the list above. See What you can configure.
Containers
| Container | Accepted |
|---|---|
mp4 | Yes |
mov | Yes |
mkv | Yes |
avi | Yes |
Those four are the containers MultiMon takes. Anything else should be remuxed or converted first.
When to use HAP instead
Standard codecs are compact on disk and convenient, but they are decoded frame by frame. HAP is a GPU-native texture format designed for real-time playback, and it is the better choice when you are driving several outputs or running a long show. See HAP codec, and use Convert to HAP when you want to move a source over.
Loading a source
Load your file into a monitor slot in the main window, then choose your mode:
- Span — this source is sampled across every display MultiMon detects.
- Individual — this source plays on this monitor only.
- Hap — one HAP clip per monitor, all on the one shared clock. H.264 and HEVC belong in Individual, not here.
- Split — this source is cut into a grid across your outputs.
See Video wall setup for how Span and Split lay out, and Video synchronisation for how several sources stay together.
Audio
Audio from a loaded source appears in the inline audio mixer, where it has its own volume, pan, mute and solo, under a master fader. The output device is chosen once for the whole show in the AUDIO DEVICE dropdown, not per track. See Audio mixer.