# Video playback
Source: [https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70022-50/topic/gst-video-playback-example.html](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70022-50/topic/gst-video-playback-example.html)
The **gst-video-playback-example** application allows you to decode and playback a
video file. The standard playback options such as play, pause, resume, and fast forward are
supported.
The following figure shows the pipeline workflow of the video playback GStreamer
application. The file is read, demultiplexed, parsed, decoded, and displayed on a
screen. For more information about the plugins, see [Pipeline flow](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70022-50/topic/gst-video-playback-example.html#gst-video-playback-example__section_op1_zwh_4bc).
Figure : gst-video-playback-example pipeline
To use this application effectively, you should be aware of the GStreamer pipeline
construction.
## Run the application
1. Ensure that you complete the [Prerequisites](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70022-50/topic/mm_sample_apps_prerequisites.html).
2. Input the `AVC.mp4 (H.264)` and `HEVC.mp4 (H.265)`
video files on the target device.
3. In the terminal of the target device, play back the video
file:
gst-video-playback-example -e filesrc location=.mp4 ! qtdemux ! queue ! h264parse ! v4l2h264dec capture-io-mode=4 output-io-mode=4 ! video/x-raw,format=NV12 ! waylandsink enable-last-sample=false fullscreen=trueCopy to clipboard
The following table provides a description of the command-line
parameters: | Command-line parameter | Description |
| --- | --- |
| `` | Specifies the MP4 input file to playback. |
| `` | Specifies the video parser.
h264parse for H.264.
h265parse for H.265.
|
| `` | Specifies the video decoder.
v4l2h264dec for H.264.
v4l2h265dec for H.265.
|
For example, run the following commands for different video playback
use cases:
- Playback AVC (H.264)
video:
gst-video-playback-example -e filesrc location=.mp4 ! qtdemux ! queue ! h264parse ! v4l2h264dec capture-io-mode=4 output-io-mode=4 ! waylandsink enable-last-sample=false fullscreen=trueCopy to clipboard
- Playback HEVC (H.265)
video:
gst-video-playback-example -e filesrc location=.mp4 ! qtdemux ! queue ! h265parse ! v4l2h265dec capture-io-mode=4 output-io-mode=4 ! waylandsink enable-last-sample=false fullscreen=trueCopy to clipboard
4. To stop the use case, use CTRL +
C.
5. In the terminal of the target device, run the following command in the SSH shell
to display the available help
options:
gst-video-playback-example --helpCopy to clipboard
## Expected output
The video is captured, decoded, and played on the local display.
Figure : Expected output for gst-video-playback-example application
## Pipeline flow
The following table lists the plugins used to run the video playback
pipeline:| Plugin | Description |
| --- | --- |
| filesrc | Reads the AVC or HEVC MP4 file. |
| qtdemux | Demultiplexes the AVC or HEVC MP4 file. |
| h264parse | Parses the video stream for H.264 format. |
| h265parse | Parses the video stream for H.265 format. |
| [v4l2h264dec](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70022-50/topic/v4l2h264dec.html) | Decodes the video stream for H.264 format. |
| [v4l2h265dec](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70022-50/topic/v4l2h265dec.html) | Decodes the video stream for H.265 format. |
| [Waylandsink](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70022-50/topic/waylandsink.html) | Displays the video in full-screen mode on a Wayland display. |
## Known issue
The rewind playback option isn't supported
## Related information
- [Video transformation using OpenCV](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70022-50/topic/video-playback-using-opencv.html)
- [Video playback use cases](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70022-50/topic/video-playback-use-cases.html)
**Parent Topic:** [Run sample applications for video and audio](https://docs.qualcomm.com/doc/80-70022-50/topic/audio-sample-applications.html)
Last Published: Feb 20, 2026
[Previous Topic
Video transcoding](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/80-70022-50/topics/gst-video-transcode-example.md) [Next Topic
Audio and video encode](https://docs.qualcomm.com/bundle/publicresource/80-70022-50/topics/gst-audio-video-encode.md)