Premiere Pro v25.1+ Cannot Use GPU Hardware Decoding for HEVC 10bit 4:2:0/4:2:2 Files on Network Dri

[powerful_enthusiasm5245]

To the Adobe Team,

Hello,

I would like to report a regression issue encountered in Adobe Premiere Pro since version v25.1, which affects GPU hardware decoding of HEVC video files stored on network drives (NAS).

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System Information

• CPU: Intel Ultra 9 285K

• GPU: NVIDIA RTX 5090

• Operating System: Windows 11 (Version 24H2)

• Storage: NAS connected via 10GbE network, mounted as a network drive (e.g., Z:)

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Issue Description

Starting from Premiere Pro v25.1, when video files encoded in HEVC 10-bit 4:2:0 or 4:2:2 are stored on a network drive, the software fails to utilize GPU hardware decoding, instead falling back to CPU decoding. This results in high CPU usage and degraded playback performance.

When the same HEVC files are placed on a local disk, GPU decoding works as expected.

Most importantly, in Premiere Pro v25.0 and earlier, GPU decoding functioned normally even when HEVC files were stored on network drives, which strongly suggests a regression introduced in v25.1.

I also tested with H.264-encoded files and found that GPU hardware decoding works correctly from both local and network paths, regardless of version. The issue appears to affect only HEVC 10-bit 4:2:0 and 4:2:2 formats in newer versions.

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Possible Cause

Based on the observed behavior, I suspect that Adobe may have made changes to the HEVC decoding module in v25.1 that introduced one or more of the following:

1. Stricter path validation or access control;

2. Incorrectly classifying network paths as unsupported or insecure for hardware acceleration;

3. A bug that disables GPU decoding for HEVC formats when files are not located on a local disk.

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Request and Background

As a professional video production studio, we rely on a centralized NAS storage system for high-speed collaboration and asset management. Our network runs on 10GbE connections, so throughput is not a limiting factor.

We kindly ask the Adobe development team to:

• Investigate and fix this regression in HEVC GPU decoding behavior;

• Restore GPU hardware decoding support for HEVC 10bit 4:2:0 and 4:2:2 files on network drives as in earlier versions;

• Or provide technical clarification and any potential workarounds.

Thank you for your attention and continued improvements to Premiere Pro.

Best regards,
[Personal info deleted by mod]

[jamieclarke]

Hi @powerful_enthusiasm5245 -   Thanks for submitting your bug report. We need a few more details to try to help with the issue.
Please see, How to Report a Problem.

Support for NVIDIA Blackwell architecture was introduced in Premiere Pro version 25.3. It’s possible this change may be conflicting with your integrated GPU. Could you update to the latest version and let us know if the issue persists?

A few follow up questions:
• What GPU drivers are you currently using?
• How are you monitoring GPU activity?
• Can you select your clips, right click, and choose “Media File Properties”, then share a screenshot?

[powerful_enthusiasm5245]

I have tested all the versions, including v25.3 and v25.6 (beta). My driver is studio 577.00. My description is already very detailed. Please take some time to read it.

[powerful_enthusiasm5245]

[powerful_enthusiasm5245]

Even though I disabled the iGPU, I still couldn't achieve hardware-accelerated decoding. I hope you can carefully read the problem I described. The key issue is not the version of the graphics card driver, but the path where the video is stored and the video's encoding format. At the same time, it is also related to the version of the software.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @powerful_enthusiasm5245 -  Thank you for sharing the screenshot of your Media File Properties that kind of detail is really helpful as we try to narrow down what might be causing the issue.  How are you monitoring your GPU usage?  What is the driver version for your iGPU?

Could you also go to File > Project Settings > General and let us know what your Video Rendering and Playback renderer is set to?

[powerful_enthusiasm5245]

This is the situation of the Windows Task Manager when I was previewing the video, as well as my PR software settings and video encoding format. I made a surprising discovery. I updated to the latest beta version of PR today and found that even if the HVEC 10-bit 420 video material is stored on the local disk, it still cannot trigger hardware-accelerated decoding, and the video preview is very choppy.

[jamieclarke]

Hi @powerful_enthusiasm5245 - Can you navigate to device manager > displays and disable either your iGPU or dGPU and then test.  Can you share a screen recording of your issue playing back your footage with task manager open.

For HEVC 10bit 420/422 media you should see decoding happen on your iGPU not your dGPU

[powerful_enthusiasm5245]

[jamieclarke]

Hi @powerful_enthusiasm5245 - In your screenshots you can see the iGPU being used in task manager.  If you want your dGPU to be used for this footage then you can navigate to your Preferences > Media and uncheck the box "Intel"

[powerful_enthusiasm5245]

In the second image, when the video file is stored on the network drive, the igpu is also not working