Windows-based Media Players won't play High4:2:2 (x264)

[PizzaTime]

Hello,

I am working on encoding some videos for some family members onto USB, and I am running into an issue where the videos will only play in VLC but not any other standard Windows-based media players. I even tested file playback on another PC. Normally, this would not be a problem for me. However, I don't expect the average PC user to use VLC, much less know what it is. I came to this conclusion by first resetting my x264 settings back to their defaults. With the exception of audio. Which is set to FDKAAC 160kbs. Under these settings, I can play any video within any standard Windows-based media player. So, one by one, I changed 1 setting at a time per job to see when the issue would arise. First, I changed the encoding mode to CRF 1 pass. Still played just fine. Next, I changed the AVC Profile/Level from High to High4:2:2 (I want to use 4:2:2 for output. But I don't change it from i420 to i422 just yet. Only switch the profile). This is when it causes the resulting output file to be unplayable in any standard Windows-based media player.

I am wondering if anyone has any ideas on how to solve this issue. Also, I am using Dev version 2023.11.05.

[Selur]

High 4:2:2 profile or higher are required for 4:2:2 H.264, which simple decoders (specially hardware decoders) might not support.
If you want wider playback compatibility, you should stick with base maybe high profile and 4:2:0.

Cu Selur

[PizzaTime]

Gotcha. Thank you, Selur!