OK, whats the deal with VLC in Windows 7?!

[RhysG]

I've been looking for solutions to this problem and lurking these, and other, forums for a while hoping for a magic bullet but VLC still has worse playback than WMP12. I don't mind for most things but some files are stubborn or need to be played in VLC, when this happens I lose out on quality. Has anyone got a concrete answer for why this is happening and a solution now or on the horizon?

Picture is usually slightly pixellated, washed out and sometimes even choppy in VLC but plays fine in WMP12. I thought it would be best to visually represent the problem so here you go:

Has anyone got any ideas how I can fix this problem or should I find another player for those files which WMP can't handle?

Cheers,
Rhys

 

[mickey megabyte]

hi RhysG, and welcome to sevenforums, you'll like it here...

i used to use vlc for years and years, until i discovered kmplayer.

so far it's played everything i've thrown at it, including files that vlc baulked at.

you don't need to install any codecs, but can use external ones if you want.

give it a try!

 

[RhysG]

hi RhysG, and welcome to sevenforums, you'll like it here...

i used to use vlc for years and years, until i discovered kmplayer.

so far it's played everything i've thrown at it, including files that vlc baulked at.

you don't need to install any codecs, but can use external ones if you want.

give it a try!

Hi Mickey, thanks for the headsup. I just checked KMPlayer out but the playback on that is even worse than VLC - pixellated all to hell! Thanks for the quick reply and input though (are there any settings I should use in KMP to fix pq?).

 

[mickey megabyte]

ok, try right-clicking in the main video window, options >> preferences >> video processing

i don't know how yours is set, but try either vmr9 renderless or enhanced video renderer

also have you got the latest drivers for your video card?

good luck!

 

[ken12012]

When I used Windows XP SP2, VLC did that for me as well. I did a comparison with VLC vs MPC and i got results the same as in your screenshots. So I'm thinking it's just a problem with VLC.

 

[torrentg]

Both samples don't look so great to me. It looks like a 1cd XviD rip. (Am I right?) The only reason you're complaining about VLC is because it is brighter, possibly sharper in the comparison and it's showing you the defects in the encode easier.

In the samples, VLC's brightness seems closer to what it should be than WMP.

Get a good rip or source material to justify comparison.

Try PowerDVD. You'll enjoy it. Or if you're looking to employ filtering (shaders) to lessen the block noise, try Media Player Home Cinema.

 

[ratePV]

The solution is in the Video Equalizer
(Bring down the Brightness a bit and up the contrast a bit too)
and you should achieve the same effect
(The VLC image has a bit of a Sepia effect a bit to it)

 

[Sp3kt3r]

I have the same problem with my new system (video card is ATI 4770) windows 7 Final OEM and I noticed that VLC is very pixelated and I try changing the Rendering output and it works with DirectX but I loose the AERO theme while the video is playing..

I read so many different opinion about this problem. Video driver (I have the latest one) software version (I have the latest one) windows 7 bug.. etc.. I have no clue.. so far i'm using the directX output rendering and it works but I still find the quality in XP better ! hopfully a true fix soon...

 

[mickey megabyte]

I have the same problem with my new system (video card is ATI 4770) windows 7 Final OEM and I noticed that VLC is very pixelated and I try changing the Rendering output and it works with DirectX but I loose the AERO theme while the video is playing..

I read so many different opinion about this problem. Video driver (I have the latest one) software version (I have the latest one) windows 7 bug.. etc.. I have no clue.. so far i'm using the directX output rendering and it works but I still find the quality in XP better ! hopfully a true fix soon...

hi Sp3kt3r, and welcome to sevenforums,

try opengl output with vlc - you won't lose your aero....

 

[Sp3kt3r]

Thx for the welcome

You are right.. OpenGL doesn't turn off Aero but with OpenGL my standard resolution DivX movie are worst than DirectX out. The best rendering it's with WMP12. I don't know which rendering output he use but for regular divX he beats everything.

 

[torrentg]

I was bored and stumbled upon this thread again. Have a look at the picture in this post. It's unedited from the o.p. except for the red paint brush to highlight an area. To me, the WMP shows the sample with more block noise than VLC is. Check it.

 

[RhysG]

SNIP

Hi torrentg, I realise the quality of the video is sub-par, that certain aspects of the playback may actually appear better in VLC but what I am mostly referring to in my posts is that the OVERALL picture quality appears better, more watchable etc in WMP. The problem is that this difference has only come to the fore since I began using Windows 7 (previously XP SP3) - beforehand VLC would have just as good playback as you see in the screens of WMP.

 

[smarteyeball]

You're not alone mate. I too watch a lot of compressed video files and WMP12 does offer a better picture quality overall than VLC.

No matter what combination of settings in VLC, WMP12 just looks better.

 

[goosetheforce]

The VLC 1.0.3 Release Candidate fixes this known issue. Worked for me! Here's a direct link to the windows binary:
ftp://ftp.videolan.org/pub/testing/vlc-1.0.3-rc/win32

VideoLAN, Free streaming and multimedia solutions for all OS!

The VLC developers are very glad to offer you the first release candidate of the third minor update of the popular "Goldeneye" version of VLC.
This version brings a few improvements and fixes, and especially fixes an important issue with Windows® 7 that worsened the video quality of the default output of VLC. As Windows® 7 will be available today, the windows maintainers of VLC wanted to sync with this release.
This release candidate provides also updated translations, new deinterlacer filters, fixes for the interface and the WMA Professional support on Windows. Please test this release candidate and report bugs.

 

[smarteyeball]

Cheers Goose

 

[torrentg]

Cool! Installing it now.

 

[smarteyeball]

I'm watching some .avi's now now and it looks much better on default than it did previously.

 

[DC187]

Glad I saw this thread with the above 1.0.3 RC as I discovered the exact same issue.
I found the following when trying to watch a video yesterday evening:
Winamp plays video like a slide show with out of sync sound
VLC 1.0.2 was really blocky
WMP12 played perfectly

Will test 1.0.3 tonight as I use VLC to play my hidef .mkv files and I don't want them to appear blocky.

 

[dood]

Quick Fix: MPCHC (Media player Classic Home Cinema)

Simple, straight forward..no fuss..no muss...

 

[RhysG]

Thanks for the heads up goose - trying it now.