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Colours really faded


xenth

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Using the server version 3.0.5424.1 with Theatre I noticed that the colours look really faded when using theatre:

 

MPC-HC: http://i.imgur.com/1uSuf0C.png

Theatre: http://i.imgur.com/oSJ6HyG.png

 

Now on my iPhone it looks like it's supposed to. 

 

Transcoder log: http://pastebin.com/q47DZPKJ

 

I'm assuming this is some configuration setting. Changing the transcoding settings to max didn't help either. 

 

Advice welcome  :)

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salphonso

Xenth, it looks almost like a contrast or brightness issue not faded colors.  As shaefurr mentioned, I would check LAV video settings.

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shaefurr

Here's some other solutions I found you can try.

 

 

Q: Video playback is too bright or too dark on almost all files or the colors are all messed up A:

This is most likely caused by incorrect settings of your graphics card driver. Some versions of the NVIDIA drivers are notorious for messing up their own settings.

Driver settings:

  • Go to your control panel of your graphics driver. Reset all settings to their default values. Important settings are Brightness, Contrast, Saturation and Gamma.
    You can access the graphics driver settings via: Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Display -> Settings -> Advanced.
  • Go to your control panel of your graphics driver. Select the "Color Correction" page. Select "All" in the drop down box called "Apply color changes to:". Then click on the button called "Restore Defaults".
  • Go to your graphics card control panel. Open the "video and television" options. (You need to be in the advanced view). Select "adjust video color settings", then select "correction". Hit "do not use co lour temperature correction".
  • If resetting the settings does not help, then find a newer or an older version of the graphics drivers. Uninstall your current drivers, reboot, and install the older ones.

A possible workaround for the problem is to change the video renderer in Media Player Classic. By default it uses the Overlay Mixer (on XP) or EVR CP (on Vista/Seven). If the default renderer you trouble, then change it to either VMR-7 or VMR-9 (renderless). You can find this option via: MPC Options -> Playback -> Output -> DirectShow Video.

In Windows Media Player there also is an option that influences the renderer that is used. In the WMP menu go to Tools -> Options -> Performance -> Advanced. This brings up the video acceleration settings. There you can choose between 'Use overlays' and 'Use high quality mode' (VMR).

 

 

 

Q: Some videos files look "washed out" and colors are not vivid A:

This is caused by wrong luminance levels. Solutions can be found below.

If luminance levels are wrong, then black is displayed as dark gray and white is displayed as very light gray. Colors look very dull.

 

Q: How can I correct wrong luminance levels? A:

There are several methods for correcting luminance levels. We have listed them below in order of recommendation.

All methods assume that you are outputting the video to a PC monitor or LCD TV, meaning a device that needs full range luminance (0-255).

If you are using an old CRT TV or projector, then read the comments at methods 2 and 3.

Method #1: Adjusting graphics driver settings

NVIDIA

Since version 177.84, the NVIDIA drivers have an option for configuring the luma range. You can find the option here:
NVIDIA Control Panel -> Video & Television -> Adjust video color settings -> Select "With the NVIDIA settings" -> Advanced tab -> Set Dynamic Range to "Full (0-255)".

ATI

The ATI driver requires a Registry tweak. With the tweak applied, the driver will convert TV levels to PC levels for SD resolution video. It already does that by default for HD video.

Several ATI driver tweaks can be found at: avsforum.
The UseBT601CSC setting is the one related to luminance levels.

Note: the above tweak only works with driver version 9.1 and older. ATI removed it in 9.2 and newer.

Method #2: Pixelshader in Media Player Classic

A pixelshader is a small program that runs on your graphics card and processes some graphic data. In this case each frame of your video.

Media Player Classic has a special pixelshader called "16-235 -> 0-255" for converting TV levels to PC levels. This shader only adjusts luma values. Use the [sD] variant of the shader if luminance levels are only wrong for videos with low resolutions. Use the [sD][HD] variants if the levels are always wrong.

Some requirements for the pixelshaders in MPC:

  • You need to use a compatible video renderer: VMR-7 (renderless), VMR-9 (renderless), or EVR Custom Presenter.
  • Surface setting must be set to "3D surfaces".
  • It requires some DirectX components that are not included with a default Windows installation. Run the DirectX Web Installer to get the required DirectX updates.

Method #3: Convert to RGB32 with ffdshow

Forcing ffdshow to output in the RGB32 colorspace can help prevent luminance level issues. Downside of this method is that doing this conversion increases CPU usage.

To force RGB32 output in ffdshow, you should uncheck all colorspaces except RGB32 on the Output page in ffdshow configuration. It is also recommended to enable "High quality YV12 to RGB conversion".

There are additional options on the RGB conversion page. Recent versions of ffdshow will automatically use the correct settings, so you don't need to worry about them.

If you are outputting to a CRT TV or projector (or any other device that expects TV levels as input), then you need to adjust the setting under Output levels on the RGB conversion page. It is configured by default to output to a computer monitor. LCD TVs usually also expect PC levels, just like a computer monitor. Some TVs have an option to choose between Full and Reduced range.

Tip: the Profiles/Presets feature in ffdshow can be used to create different sets of settings. You can even auto-load profiles based on conditions like resolution of video format. You could for example create a profile specifically for HD resolution video, and use the 'standard' profile for low resolution videos.

Method #4: Levels filter in ffdshow video decoder

ffdshow has a special filter for adjusting (luminance) levels. To correct wrong luminance levels for a PC monitor or LCD TV you need to convert to PC levels. To correct wrong levels for a CRT TV, you need to convert to TV levels.

To convert from TV levels to PC levels use 16-235 as input range and 0-255 as output range. To convert from PC levels to TV levels use 0-255 as input range and 16-235 as output range.

Method #5: Monitor settings

Some monitors can be calibrated to assume a certain luminance level as input. Read its manual for the details.

Method #6: Resize in software

If wrong levels occur only with SD video resolutions and not with high resolutions, then another solution would be to resize the video to your screen resolution before sending it to the video renderer. For example ffdshow can be used for resizing the video.

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mattyg8

I have the same problem when playing thru MBT...If I play thru Windows Media player the colours look fine. If under MBT I change it to use Madvr the colours look fine but doesn't play as smooth

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