Hello,
This is my first post, and I'm a new member here.
I need to create a DCP for a film festival. I converted my MP4 to a DCP, and everything seemed to work fine.
However, when I tested the DCP using a DCP player, I noticed some lagging and dropped frames.
Is this normal? When the DCP is played in a movie theater, will it play smoothly without dropped frames?
Thanks!
Question About DCP Playback Performance
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Carsten
- Posts: 3128
- Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:11 pm
- Location: Germany
Re: Question About DCP Playback Performance
Check Decode at half or quarter resolution under 'View' to fix this. Also, try 'OpenGL (faster)' under General Preferences -> Video Display mode. Typically, this is a just a player performance issue, your DCP is most likely fine.
What is your MP4 and DCP frame rate?
What is your MP4 and DCP frame rate?
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RSV
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2026 10:03 am
Re: Question About DCP Playback Performance
Playing DCPs on a "standard PC" is a resource intensive task for the hardware. That's why you need powerful hardware.
On my Mac Studio M2 Max 64GB, it runs very smoothly, without any dropped frames. (2K Scope). Didn't test 4K yet.
On my Mac Studio M2 Max 64GB, it runs very smoothly, without any dropped frames. (2K Scope). Didn't test 4K yet.
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Wolfgang Woehl
- Posts: 12
- Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2026 6:07 am
Re: Question About DCP Playback Performance
RSV, hey hi, I am working on the browser version of dcp_inspect (inspection and validation of DCP/compositions) - runs in your browser - no installation - runs locally (no DCP uploads) - doesn't phone home or anything - is a beta in progress - is and will be free to use.
It includes a powerful inspection and evaluation player. I would specifically be interested in playback performance on that beefy Mac Studio of yours. Care to try it out?
https://dcpinspect.filmhaus.net > load a dir with DCP(s) > click "Timeline" in one of the CompositionPlaylist summaries. f for fullscreen because fullscreen is life. In the player controls (c or mouse to the bottom of viewport) see the "Auto" button, which will try to find stable resolution level and worker numbers. Or set manually. See the About popup from the dcp_inspect menu (top-left) for keyboard player controls.
The player brings a bunch of quality-of-life features which are all aimed at inspecting and digging in deeper, like frame-stepping/shuttling/seeks/playback in both directions, frame guides, video scope, sound stage simulator and inspector, subtitles stuff, 3D viewing modes, looping.
A lot of effort went into experiments to squeeze out more performance from the OpenJPEG baseline I started out with. Happy so far, but not satisfied yet. One of my test systems is a Ryzen 9800X3D, that system will play a Dolby Vision 4K composition in 1/1 res level stable at 24 fps.
If you get a chance to test on that Mac Studio, I'd be very interested to hear about it: Safari coping or dying? Memory footprint? Framerate stability?
It includes a powerful inspection and evaluation player. I would specifically be interested in playback performance on that beefy Mac Studio of yours. Care to try it out?
https://dcpinspect.filmhaus.net > load a dir with DCP(s) > click "Timeline" in one of the CompositionPlaylist summaries. f for fullscreen because fullscreen is life. In the player controls (c or mouse to the bottom of viewport) see the "Auto" button, which will try to find stable resolution level and worker numbers. Or set manually. See the About popup from the dcp_inspect menu (top-left) for keyboard player controls.
The player brings a bunch of quality-of-life features which are all aimed at inspecting and digging in deeper, like frame-stepping/shuttling/seeks/playback in both directions, frame guides, video scope, sound stage simulator and inspector, subtitles stuff, 3D viewing modes, looping.
A lot of effort went into experiments to squeeze out more performance from the OpenJPEG baseline I started out with. Happy so far, but not satisfied yet. One of my test systems is a Ryzen 9800X3D, that system will play a Dolby Vision 4K composition in 1/1 res level stable at 24 fps.
If you get a chance to test on that Mac Studio, I'd be very interested to hear about it: Safari coping or dying? Memory footprint? Framerate stability?