Question About DCP Playback Performance

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witcher
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2026 6:18 pm

Question About DCP Playback Performance

Post by witcher »

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!
Carsten
Posts: 3114
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2014 9:11 pm
Location: Germany

Re: Question About DCP Playback Performance

Post by Carsten »

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?
RSV
Posts: 8
Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2026 10:03 am

Re: Question About DCP Playback Performance

Post by RSV »

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.