Forcing Windows Media Player to use EVR via GPU to decode h264 encoded files

Question

I am using Windows 7.

I can use Windows Media Player Classic Home cinema to play MKV and other h264 using my nVidia GPU to decode the video stream. To do this, I have to set the video decoder settings to EVR and ensure only FFShow Codec is enabled.

I know this works, because if I don't do this, my atom + nv ion board tries to decode the movie entirely through CPU and it drops every other frame. With EVR on and the appropriate filters selected, it renders 1080p without skipping a beat and the CPU cores hold at a steady 11%.

My problem is that I would like to do this through Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center. IF I install codecs like the haali codec, will this have the same effect? Is there a way to ensure that the players that ship with Windows will utilize the GPU to its fullest?

Answer 1

I just installed Haali codec and this did the trick. When I play h264 content through any direct show players, it uses the GPU.

Atom CPU is at 11% when playing 1080p -- Ion is doing the rest. Awesome!