Bafxxx — Videolan Top

Decoding B-frames is computationally expensive. The decoder must keep multiple frames in memory and reorder them. If your hardware decoder (GPU) does not support B-frames for a specific codec, the VideoLAN software falls back to software decoding, maxing out your CPU (visible in Linux top or Windows Task Manager).

The keyword is a perfect storm of technical jargon and user error. To summarize: bafxxx videolan top

vlc --verbose 2 some_stream.mpd 2>&1 | grep baf Decoding B-frames is computationally expensive