Hardware-accelerated video playback (mpv)

On some ARM/embedded platforms (for example, Qualcomm SoCs), hardware video encode/decode typically uses the V4L2 M2M (Memory-to-Memory) architecture rather than the PC-style VA-API/VDPAU. As a result, the default hwdec=vaapi often does not work. For smoother playback and lower power consumption, set mpv's hardware decode backend to hwdec=v4l2m2m-copy.

Install mpv

radxa@dragon-q8b$

sudo apt update
sudo apt install mpv -y

Configure mpv

Create the directory and edit the config:

radxa@dragon-q8b$

mkdir -p ~/.config/mpv
nano ~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf

Add the following to the user configuration file:

mpv.conf

# Fast preset for resource-constrained devices
profile=fast

# Enable V4L2 M2M hardware decode (recommended)
hwdec=v4l2m2m-copy

# GPU output (compatible with OpenGL ES / Vulkan)
vo=gpu

# Improve frame submission stability (more friendly to embedded devices)
swapchain-depth=8

# Fast scaling to reduce CPU/GPU load
sws-fast=yes

Parameter notes:

• profile=fast: Enables a fast rendering preset to reduce post-processing overhead, suitable for embedded devices.
• hwdec=v4l2m2m-copy: Uses the V4L2 M2M hardware decoder (standard on Qualcomm). -copy copies decoded frames from GPU memory to CPU-accessible memory for better compatibility.
• vo=gpu: Uses GPU rendering output and supports OpenGL ES (common on ARM Linux). Recommended for embedded platforms.
• swapchain-depth=8: Sets the GPU frame queue depth to improve stability and reduce stutter (especially on low-refresh displays).
• sws-fast=yes: Enables fast software scaling to bypass high-quality scaling for better performance.

Configuration priority

mpv config file priority:

1. User config: ~/.config/mpv/mpv.conf (highest priority, recommended)
2. Global config: /etc/mpv/mpv.conf

Notes:

If /etc/mpv/mpv.conf sets hwdec=vaapi, user-level config overrides it.

If you do not create a user config, mpv uses /etc/mpv/mpv.conf directly. In that case, edit the global config or pass parameters on the command line.

Verify mpv

Play any video on the board to verify the configuration. Download a video file to the board first.

radxa@dragon-q8b$

mpv /path/to/your/video.mp4

When hardware decoding is enabled, the terminal will show a message like Using hardware decoding (v4l2m2m-copy)..

Temporarily set mpv parameters

You can also set parameters on the command line, for example:

radxa@dragon-q8b$

mpv --hwdec=v4l2m2m-copy --vo=gpu --swapchain-depth=8 --sws-fast=yes /path/to/your/video.mp4