AnimeJaNai 3.7.0: Automatic Refresh Rate Matching Comes to Real-Time Anime Upscaling

By Indie Kings | October 22, 2026

Updated October 22, 2026: AnimeJaNai 3.7.0, released on 7 October 2026, adds an experimental automatic display refresh rate matcher to a video player that upscales 1080p anime to 4K in real time. The matcher is Windows only, while the player itself now ships Linux builds as well. The upscaling is the headline feature and the refresh matching is the more interesting one, because it attacks a problem that no amount of GPU compute fixes.

Image: GitHub repository card for the-database/mpv-AnimeJaNai, the real-time anime upscaling project built around a custom mpv build.

What AnimeJaNai is

The project is two things shipped together: a collection of Real-ESRGAN Compact ONNX upscaling models, and a custom build of the mpv video player that runs them on the GPU while a video plays. The default configuration takes 1080p content to 4K in real time, using either TensorRT on NVIDIA hardware or DirectML on AMD and Intel Arc cards.

That combination is what makes it practical. A generic upscaler that runs as a filter in another player has to fight that player's renderer for control of the frame. AnimeJaNai owns the renderer, because it is a fork of mpv with the ONNX runtime wired into the video pipeline, so the model output goes straight to the display rather than through a plugin boundary.

The naming on GitHub has moved, and it is only half finished. The repository now resolves as the-database/mpv-AnimeJaNai, and the README heading follows the new name, as do the 3.7.0 Windows artifacts, which are published as mpv-AnimeJaNai-Setup-3.7.0.exe and an AppImage under the same name. The older mpv-upscale-2x_animejanai name survives on the portable 7z archive, the Linux tar.zst and the model overlays, so both names appear on the same release page. The repository was created in November 2022 and has 767 stars, 22 forks and 8 open issues, with a repository size of about 156,000 KB. The licence field reads NOASSERTION rather than a recognised identifier, which is worth checking before redistributing anything from the tree.

Three profiles and the GPU each one needs

The player ships with three upscaling profiles built around the 2x_AnimeJaNai V3.1 models, and the keybinding for each is a single modifier combination so it can be changed mid-episode.

Profile	What it trades	Keybinding	Minimum recommended GPU for 1080p to 4K
Quality	Highest quality model	Shift+1	RTX 4090
Balanced, the default	High quality with major performance gains	Shift+2	RTX 3080
Performance	Fastest model, a bit more quality given up	Shift+3	RTX 3060

Those minimums are the project's own and they describe the NVIDIA path. The README says the player uses TensorRT on NVIDIA and DirectML for AMD or Intel Arc, but the GPU recommendations in the profile table are all GeForce parts, so an Arc owner is reading a table written for someone else. That is not a defect, it is what the documentation covers, and it is the kind of gap that gets filled by the Discord rather than the README.

The first time a video plays with a given model, TensorRT builds an engine file. Playback pauses and a command prompt window opens while the engine is created, and the README asks the user to wait rather than close it. That happens once per model, and playback resumes on its own afterwards. Pressing Ctrl+J shows the current profile and which models are running, which is the documented way to confirm upscaling status.

Beyond the three presets, the AnimeJaNai Manager, opened with Ctrl+E from the player, exposes up to nine custom slots, custom model chains, conditional settings based on video resolution and framerate, and downscaling for performance. The default profile can also be set there.

The refresh rate feature, in detail

Video is shot at a fixed cadence and displays refresh at a fixed rate, and when the two do not divide evenly the result is judder that no upscaler can remove. A 23.976 frames per second episode shown on a 60 Hz panel repeats frames in an uneven pattern, and the eye reads that as stutter even when every frame is perfectly sharp.

Version 3.7.0 adds automatic display refresh rate matching on Windows, off by default and enabled in the Manager's Profiles tab. The README's description is unusually precise, and the precision is the reason to take it seriously.

Before playback, the player scans the local video's timestamps and chooses one display refresh for the whole episode, including across seeks. For fixed-rate video it prefers an exact multiple or a near supported multiple. For mixed-rate video it prefers a common multiple of all measured cadences, and failing that it minimises estimated timing error weighted by how long each cadence lasts. Inputs it cannot verify fall back to the highest supported progressive refresh at the current resolution.

Playback pauses with a notice before a needed switch and resumes after the settling interval, and manual pauses are preserved. Matching consecutive episodes keep their rate rather than switching back and forth. Scanning adds startup time, and the README warns that the television may briefly go black during a change. The original refresh is restored at the end of playback or on a normal exit.

The honest caveats are all in the README rather than a footnote. The feature is off by default. It does not interpolate video, so it is not frame generation. It does not change the video-sync setting. A display limited to 60 Hz is supported, but arbitrary variable frame rate content cannot always be presented perfectly evenly on a fixed-refresh display. And Windows driver and TV switching behaviour still needs testing on more hardware than the author has.

The feature also has a hard dependency that will trip up people who update partially. It requires three updated components working together: the Manager, the native mpv player built with display-rate-match, and scripts/animejanai_backend.lua. An older component in that set means the option will not work even though it appears in the interface.

The other 3.7.0 fixes

The release notes are five lines: one feature, three fixes and an upstream rebase, which is a useful signal about where the project's problems actually are.

Frame presentation order is fixed for the multiple Vulkan queue path. CUDA decoder frames are no longer released before the GPU copy from them has finished, which is a frame lifetime ordering problem rather than a quality tuning issue. The statistics and script overlays no longer briefly disappear. And mpv itself was updated to the latest upstream.

For context on the release cadence, 3.6.1, 3.6.2 and 3.6.3 are all flagged as prereleases, with 3.6.2 on 16 September 2026 and 3.6.3 on 18 September whose entire note reads "test fix crash on toggle sub-ass-override". 3.7.0 on 7 October is the only one of the four marked as a stable release. That is a project shipping small, targeted builds rather than bundling changes into a quarterly drop, and the 3.6.3 entry says in its own words that the fix was a test.

In-place updates and what survives them

The player checks for updates on startup. When one is available, an on-screen message appears and Ctrl+U, or the AnimeJaNai menu's Install Update item, applies it: mpv closes, the update is applied in place and mpv reopens.

The list of what is preserved is the part that matters, because a video player configured for a specific display and a specific GPU is expensive to rebuild.

Item	Survives an update	Where it lives
Custom profiles and slots	Yes	`animejanai.conf`
Your mpv settings	Yes	`mpv-user.conf`, applied last so it overrides defaults
ONNX models you added	Yes	`animejanai/onnx/`
Shipped keybindings	Reset, with your old file kept	`input.conf` backed up to `input.conf.bak-<version>`
GPU runtime	Re-downloaded only when it changes	Keeps most updates small

Custom keybindings belong in input-user.conf rather than input.conf for the same reason custom mpv settings belong in mpv-user.conf: the user file overrides the shipped one and is not overwritten. Anyone upgrading from a build older than the updater has to download the release manually once, after which updates are handled in place.

Where it stops

The scope limits are stated rather than implied. The refresh matcher is Windows only, which is a narrower claim than the player being Windows only: 3.7.0 publishes an AppImage and a Linux tar.zst alongside the Windows installer and portable archive. TensorRT is NVIDIA only, with DirectML covering AMD and Intel Arc. The default models are trained for anime, and while the README says any Real-ESRGAN Compact ONNX model can be substituted, the tuning and the profile names are all aimed at animation.

Then there is the cost, which the profile table states more honestly than any benchmark would. The recommended minimum for 1080p to 4K starts at an RTX 3060 and reaches an RTX 4090 for the quality model, and those are single-purpose figures. This is not a filter you can stack with other heavy post-processing on a mid-range card and expect to hold a frame budget.

Our take: the refresh rate matcher is the most useful addition in years for anyone watching on a television from a PC, and it is also the one most likely to be misunderstood. It does not make motion smoother by inventing frames, it makes the existing frames land on a cadence the panel can actually display. That is a different promise from frame generation, and the README's insistence that it does not interpolate is the right disclaimer to lead with.

One thing the README does say plainly is that the original refresh is restored at playback end or on a normal player exit, and that the change affects the display rather than the video window. That is a reason to leave the option off until you have watched something on the target screen and are satisfied with how the switch behaves.

FAQ

Does AnimeJaNai work on Linux?
There are Linux builds: 3.7.0 ships an AppImage and a tar.zst package alongside the Windows installer and portable archive. The automatic refresh rate matcher is documented as Windows only, so that feature is the part Linux users do not get.

Does it need an NVIDIA GPU?
No. TensorRT is the NVIDIA path and DirectML covers AMD and Intel Arc. The three profile table entries name NVIDIA cards as the minimums, so the AMD and Arc guidance is thinner.

Is the refresh rate feature frame interpolation?
No. The README says explicitly that it does not interpolate video. It chooses a display refresh that presents the existing frames evenly and restores the original rate when playback ends.

Why is the refresh rate option not doing anything?
It is off by default and must be enabled in the Manager's Profiles tab. It also needs all three updated components: the Manager, the native player build with display-rate-match, and scripts/animejanai_backend.lua.

What is the first-launch pause?
TensorRT is building an engine file for the selected model. A command prompt opens during the build, playback resumes on its own when it finishes, and the build happens once per model.

Will updating wipe my settings and models?
No. Profiles, mpv-user.conf and any ONNX models added to the model folder are preserved. The shipped input.conf is refreshed, with the previous file kept as a dated backup, so custom keys belong in input-user.conf.

Bottom Line

AnimeJaNai 3.7.0 is a small release with one feature that matters more than the version number suggests. Real-time 4K upscaling of anime is a solved problem on a fast enough GPU, and the three profile presets make it a keypress rather than a configuration exercise. What was not solved was cadence, and matching the display to the video's measured timestamps, across seeks, with a common multiple for mixed-rate content and a fallback that minimises weighted timing error, is the work that separates a sharp picture from a smooth one. The release also fixes a CUDA frame lifetime bug and a Vulkan presentation ordering bug, which is a better signal of engineering care than the feature list. The limits are honest and unchanged: the refresh matcher is Windows only, the models are anime-tuned, and the GPU requirement starts at an RTX 3060 for 1080p to 4K. Turn the new option on if you watch on a television, expect a brief black frame when it switches, and know that it fixes cadence rather than inventing motion.

Sources

AnimeJaNai repository README, the-database/mpv-AnimeJaNai, accessed 22 October 2026
Release notes for 3.7.0, 3.6.3, 3.6.2 and 3.6.1, published between 14 September and 7 October 2026
GitHub repository metadata and release listing for the-database/mpv-AnimeJaNai, accessed 22 October 2026