Win 7 and Video Players

[walter]

I use Win 7 32 bit on a Compaq computer. The computer came with Win 7 64 bit
but I changed over to 32 bit. Everything is working fine, EXCEPT

When I play a video with Windows Media Player, such as the sampler that
comes with Windows 7, the sound is clear but the picture is extremely dark
and not usable. I have to turn up the brightness on my video card to see
anything at all.

So, I installed, VLC video player. Now I get nice, clear pictures but the
sound is so badly distorted that it hurts my ears.

Any ideas what the problem might be?

Thanks

 

[Ed Cryer]

I use Win 7 32 bit on a Compaq computer. The computer came with Win 7 64
bit but I changed over to 32 bit. Everything is working fine, EXCEPT

When I play a video with Windows Media Player, such as the sampler that
comes with Windows 7, the sound is clear but the picture is extremely
dark and not usable. I have to turn up the brightness on my video card
to see anything at all.

So, I installed, VLC video player. Now I get nice, clear pictures but
the sound is so badly distorted that it hurts my ears.

Any ideas what the problem might be?

Thanks

Hi.

For WMP go to Enhancements, Video Settings; and there are 4 sliders
there. Try them all at middle before anything else.

For VLC Tools, Preferences, Audio.
My settings are;
Enable Audio
Keep audio level between sessions
Output Module = Default
Enable Time-Stretching Audio
Replay gain mode = None
Dolby Surround = Auto
Visualization = Default

Good luck, Ed

 

[Paul]

I use Win 7 32 bit on a Compaq computer. The computer came with Win 7 64
bit but I changed over to 32 bit. Everything is working fine, EXCEPT

When I play a video with Windows Media Player, such as the sampler that
comes with Windows 7, the sound is clear but the picture is extremely
dark and not usable. I have to turn up the brightness on my video card
to see anything at all.

So, I installed, VLC video player. Now I get nice, clear pictures but
the sound is so badly distorted that it hurts my ears.

Any ideas what the problem might be?

Thanks

Doesn't it seem odd to you, that the symptoms would be
diametrically opposite ? What are the odds ?

That makes it pretty hard to formulate a theory...

To bugger up a system, one way to do that, is have something
like Adobe Gamma Loader or equivalent loaded. Or, perhaps
keep swapping video cards, without removing the driver first,
until the system is well and truly gummed up (I did that once,
and ended up reinstalling the OS to resolve it).

*******

What I use, for checking out stuff like this, is

http://gspot.headbands.com/v26x/GSpot270a.zip

That program uses the same process as Windows Media Player would,
to play a video. To play a video, filter graphs are assembled,
like demuxing a video into an audio and video stream, then
attaching appropriate codecs to each stream, to get an audio
signal and a video signal.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphedit

The GSpot program, down near the bottom of the window, shows
what it is using for its filter graph. And it should be
doing the same thing as Windows Media Player. The codecs
are assigned weights, so if you install a "codec pack" and
now there are duplicate codecs present, somehow they
end up with different weights, so the must trustworthy
one is used in lieu of the others. It's something
along those lines.

It's not much to go on, but that's how you might debug
the Windows Media Player path.

VLC could be using something like FFMPEG/libAVcodec library.
More details here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VLC_media_player

"Many of VLC's codecs are provided by the libavcodec
library from the FFmpeg project, but it uses mainly
its own muxer and demuxers and its own protocols
implementations."

That's a completely different set of plumbing.

And if it was your sound hardware or sound driver
that was broken, then both WMP and VLC would share
the problem. And yet, only VLC has a problem. So
that means a VLC audio codec has a problem. Or something
before the audio codec is corrupting the stream.

Start by reviewing the codecs being used for the
sample video. Then review whether VLC has problems
with the audio type being used.

Paul

 

[Char Jackson]

Hi.

For WMP go to Enhancements, Video Settings; and there are 4 sliders
there. Try them all at middle before anything else.

For VLC Tools, Preferences, Audio.
My settings are;
Enable Audio
Keep audio level between sessions
Output Module = Default
Enable Time-Stretching Audio
Replay gain mode = None
Dolby Surround = Auto
Visualization = Default

Good luck, Ed

Ahem, his name is "walter". *Your* name is Ed. ;-)

Sorry, just having a bit of fun while pointing out one of my pet peeves.

 

[Ed Cryer]

Ahem, his name is "walter". *Your* name is Ed. ;-)

Sorry, just having a bit of fun while pointing out one of my pet peeves.

I recognise and welcome good fun. You and I started off years ago with
good fun about the differences between US and UK English.
If we're going to have a humorous exchange, please don't drag me back to
that. I'm repentant and humble.

Ed to Char.

 

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Ahem, his name is "walter". *Your* name is Ed. ;-)

Sorry, just having a bit of fun while pointing out one of my pet peeves.

What do you think the comma was for (-:?

And I think the other person's name is probably Walter not walter.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

What do you think the comma was for (-:?

If I were to wish Allen good luck, I'd write "Good luck, Allen". "Good
luck Allen" would be a solecism, in my view.

If I were Allen and signing off with a good luck wish to the reader, I'd
write

"Good Luck*
Allen"

i.e., on two lines; '*' might be a comma, space-hyphen, or even nothing.

"Allen" is a place holder for any name that might end up being
appropriate.

 

[Char Jackson]

If I were to wish Allen good luck, I'd write "Good luck, Allen". "Good
luck Allen" would be a solecism, in my view.

If I were Allen and signing off with a good luck wish to the reader, I'd
write

"Good Luck*
Allen"

i.e., on two lines; '*' might be a comma, space-hyphen, or even nothing.

"Allen" is a place holder for any name that might end up being
appropriate.

Thanks, Gene. We're on exactly the same page here.

 

[Char Jackson]

What do you think the comma was for (-:?

Gene explained it better than I was about to. Essentially, as written, Ed
was wishing good luck to himself.

And I think the other person's name is probably Walter not walter.

Could be, but the OP doesn't capitalize it that way so my use of quotes are
meant to respect the OP's preference.