News, Tutorials, Howtos for Ubuntu Linux
Celluloid, the GTK4 front-end of MPV media player, released new 0.28 version few days ago.
Celluloid is a free open-source media player uses MPV as backend. It features GTK4 and Libadwaita for its modern and adaptive GUI that’s well integrated in GNOME desktop.
MPV, the popular free open-source media player, released new 0.40.0 version after half an year of development.
The new MPV release added NVIDIA RTX Video HDR support, which can be enabled by using --vf=d3d11vpp=nvidia-true-hdr option. And, HDR is now natively supported when using direct rendering (DRM) and dmabuf-wayland on Linux.
The release added new clipboard property with native backends for Windows, macOS, and Linux on Wayland, allowing for native clipboard access, which is useful for scripting.
The on-screen control now offers right-click menu options. User can now right-click on play/pause button to choose whether loop current playback or not, and right-click on volume icon to select audio device.
Right-click on volume icon to choose audio device
MPV 0.40.0 also introduced mpv:// protocol, which can be used to start mpv from web browser or anything that would trigger url handler for given protocol.
Other changes include Windows support in umpv helper script, support for HDR metadata, as well as:
--playlist-exts and --archive-extsMPV does not provide official packages. It however offers links to the source code, and unofficial Windows, macOS, and Linux packages in its website via the link below:
For Ubuntu 22.04 (without libmpv), Ubuntu 24.04, and Ubuntu 24.10, I’ve built the new release package into this unofficial PPA with amd64 (AMD/Intel) and arm64/armhf (e.g., RasPi) platforms support.
To add the PPA and install mpv 0.40 from it, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run commands below one by one:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/mpv
sudo apt update
sudo apt install mpv
(Optionally) you may remove the PPA by using command:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/mpv
And remove the mpv package if you want via command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove mpv
MPV, the popular free open-source Linux media player, released version 0.39.0 last week. Here are the new features and Ubuntu PPA for Ubuntu 22.04 and Ubuntu 24.04 users.
The new MPV 0.39.0 introduced Video Super Resolution scaling support with Intel and NVIDIA RTX GPUs. It’s a technology that can use your GPU to upscale low resolution video to higher resolutions. For AMD GPUs, the feature will be integrated into the FFmpeg library.
According to the official release note, the feature is implemented through the d3d11va filter, meaning that it’s Windows only. To enable it, either use vf set d3d11vpp=scale=nvidia:scale-target in your mpv.conf file or see the official documentation for the command line options.
MPV media player
Celluloid, free open-source GTK4 GUI front-end for MPV, released new 0.27 version hours ago.
Celluloid, formerly GNOME MPV, is a media player interacts with mpv via the client API, allowing access to mpv’s powerful playback capabilities, while providing a modern user interface that looks native in Ubuntu, Fedora Workstation, and other Linux with GNOME Desktop.
The new 0.27 release introduced floating header-bar in the windowed mode. It can be enabled, along with floating controls, either in “Preference” dialog or by running gsettings command. They only appear when moving mouse cursor over the video, so user can watch video without distraction.
Floating header-bar & controls only appear on mouse hover
MPV, the popular free open-source media player, announced new 0.38.0 release few days ago!
The release improved --deinterlace with auto value, and --deinterlace-field-parity to automatically turn on deinterlacing. It can improve the overall clarity, sharpness of the video, by converting interlaced video (commonly found in analog television, VHS, Laserdisc, digital television (HDTV)) into a progressive form.
Without using config file, users can now press and hold Ctrl key then use mouse wheel scrolling to zoom in or zoom out the video playback.
Ctrl + Mouse Wheel to zoom in/out
Celluloid, formerly GNOME MPV, released version 0.26 yesterday.
Celluloid is a free open-source video player uses mpv as backend, and is default in Linux Mint 21 Cinnamon. Since v0.24, it’s been ported to GTK4 and Libadwaita that looks native in modern GNOME desktop environment.
In the new 0.26 release, the ‘About‘ and ‘Preferences‘ dialog are also ported to LibAdwaita to follow GNOME’s step. Which, is adaptive to fit different screen sizes.
The ‘Toggle Playlist‘ option has been removed from the ‘≡’ menu. Instead, it added a new button in bottom right to show/hide the playlist. Though, it has wrong tooltip shows ‘Toggle Fullscreen’.
Other changes in Celluloid 0.26 include:
--mpv-optionsvo‘ from the list of default options.The video player has an official Ubuntu PPA. Due to updated LibAdwaita library requirement, the new 0.26 release is available in the PPA for Ubuntu 23.04 and Ubuntu 23.10. While 22.04 stuck at v0.24.
1. Firstly, press Ctrl + Alt + T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below to add the official PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xuzhen666/gnome-mpv
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue
2. Then either use “Software Updater” (or Update Manager) to update the player if stock version was installed.
Or, run the command below to install/upgrade the app:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install celluloid
For Ubuntu 20.04 and Ubuntu 22.04 users who want to try the latest 0.26 release, just search for and install the Snap package from Ubuntu Software. Though, it runs in sandbox.
To uninstall the celluloid video player, just run the command below in terminal:
sudo apt remove --autoremove celluloid
Also remove the Ubuntu PPA by running command:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:xuzhen666/gnome-mpv
For the snap package, uninstall it either via Ubuntu Software or by running command:
snap remove celluloid
MPV media player has reached version 0.39.0. Here’s how to install it for those sticking to the classic .deb package format.
MPV does not provide official packages for Ubuntu Linux. It’s however easy to install the latest version via different sources.
Linux Mint 21/22 can directly search for and install MPV Flatpak package from software manager. And, Ubuntu can install the Snap package from Ubuntu Software. Though, both of them run in sandbox.
For those sticking to the classic .deb package, I’ve upload MPV 0.39.0 into this unofficial PPA. It supports Ubuntu 22.04, Ubuntu 24.04, and Ubuntu 23.10, Ubuntu 20.04 on both x86_64 and arm64/armhf CPU architecture types.
NOTE: Ubuntu 22.04 has FFmpeg 4.4.2, but mpv now requires at least v6.1. So, the PPA package for 22.04 now has FFmpeg (7.0) built in bundle. Please leave comment below if there’s any issue due to this change.
1. Add the PPA
Firstly, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open a terminal window. When it opens, paste the command below and hit run:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/mpv
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue.
2. Update package cache
Since Ubuntu 20.04, it automatically updates the package cache while adding PPA. Though, Linux Mint user needs to do it manually.
To do so, run command in terminal:
sudo apt update
3. Install MPV 0.39.0
Finally, install mpv media player v0.38.0 by running command:
sudo apt install mpv
To verify, run mpv --version command in terminal.
Drag and drop files into mpv app window does not work, due to Wayland. Though, you may right-click on media file to open with mpv.
For hardware video acceleration, first make sure your graphics driver support it, then edit ‘/etc/mpv/mpv.conf‘ file and add hwdec=auto. And, enable classic header bar via gpu-context=x11egl.
You can choose to purge the PPA repository, which will also downgrade mpv to the stock version in system repository. To do so, open terminal and run command:
sudo apt install ppa-purge && sudo ppa-purge ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/mpv
Or, remove PPA by running command:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:ubuntuhandbook1/mpv
To remove the mpv media player, use command:
sudo apt remove --autoremove mpv
By releasing v0.24, Celluloid (formerly Gnome MPV) is now a LibAwaita app. Meaning it works good on any screen sizes, including mobile or tablet devices.
Celluloid is a graphical front-end for MPV, defaults in Linux Mint. As MPV is a command line video player, Celluloid adds graphical controls and options to make the player easy to use.
Now, the app has ported to GTK4 plus LibAwaita. Which makes it look modern and stylish, and works good on small screen sizes.
MPV was just OK when it was in Ubuntu 20.04. But in Ubuntu 22.04, it lacks window border due to switch to Wayland (though there are workarounds). And, the UI looks outdated as more and more apps ported to GTK4.
If you’re going to make a switch, then Celluloid is really a good choice, especially for Gnome desktop Linux, such as Ubuntu, Fedora Workstation.
1. Firstly, press Ctrl + Alt + T on keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the command below to add the official PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xuzhen666/gnome-mpv
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it asks and hit Enter to continue
2. Then either use “Software Updater” (or Update Manager) to update the player if stock version was installed.
Or, run the command below to install/upgrade the app:
sudo apt update && sudo apt install celluloid
For other Linux, go to the project page.
The player in my case does not use GPU rendering out-of-box. However, it’s easy to enable the features.
Simply click the hamburger menu and go to “Preferences”. Under “Miscellaneous” tab, add --hwdec in the ‘Extra MPV options’ box.
To remove the software package, simply run command in terminal:
sudo apt remove --autoremove celluloid
And, remove the Ubuntu PPA either via the command below:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:xuzhen666/gnome-mpv
Or use the ‘Software & Updates’ utility under ‘Other Software’ tab:
Celluloid, formerly Gnome MPV, released version 0.20 a few hours ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 20.04 via PPA.
Celluloid is a simple GTK+ frontend for mpv media player. The latest 0.20 release features:
Celluloid media player is available to install via Flatpak package in Flathub repository.
For those prefer apt repository, the formerly Gnome MPV PPA has made the new release packages for Ubuntu 20.04, Linux Mint 20.
1.) Open terminal either by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard or by searching for ‘terminal’ from application menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xuzhen666/gnome-mpv
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.
2.) Then install the media player via command:
sudo apt install celluloid
For Ubuntu derivatives, you may need to run sudo apt update to refresh package cache first.
To remove the media player, open terminal and run command:
sudo apt remove celluloid
And remove the PPA repository via command:
sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:xuzhen666/gnome-mpv
SMPlayer, complete front-end for MPlayer and mpv, released version 20.6.0 a day ago. Here’s how to install it in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.10, and Ubuntu 20.04.
SMPlayer 20.6.0 is a small release contains following changes:
The official SMPlayer PPA contains the latest packages for all current Ubuntu releases, as well as Ubuntu 12.04, Ubuntu 14.04.
1. Search for and launch “terminal” from ‘Show Applications’ menu. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:rvm/smplayer
Type user password (no asterisk feedback while typing) when it asks and hit Enter.
2. Then upgrade SMPlayer using Software Updater (or Update Manager):
or run commands in terminal to install (or upgrade) the media player:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install smplayer smtube smplayer-themes
Uninstall:
To remove SMPlayer, run command in terminal:
sudo apt-get remove --autoremove smplayer smtube smplayer-*
And remove the PPA via “Software & Updates” utility under “Other Software” tab.
