Media Player looks terrible on Windows 7 64bit - Codec Suggestions Please.

[subucni]

Hi all,

I finally got around to building my new setup. It's my first time switching to Windows 7 64bit and I've noticed that video quality and colours in windows media player look awful. Googling seems to show that it's a bit of a common issue but there doesn't seem to be a definitive solution listed anywhere. Lots of talk about uninstalling and reinstalling media player and codecs which I've tried but nothing has fixed it.

When trying VLC, the colour issue seems to have cleared up and the video is better but I wouldn't say it was perfect. (Still seems a little too grainy) Used to using WMP so i'd rather not switch if i can fix the issue.

Media player classic gives the same results as Windows media player.

It might be time to try some different codec packs. Any recommendations? I've always used the K lite codec pack before.

This guys post has pics that look similar to my issue. http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/w...5-d3157f4c76b3

[jim]

Not sure that codec packs are a great move, usually they cause more problems than they solve.

Personally, I'd be surprised if ffdshow wasn't sufficient on its own: http://www.ffdshow.info/

You may also need haali splitter if you're using MKV format files.

Can't say I've seen your issue before, but I'd certainly be steering clear of codec packs. Only problem is that sometimes those things just won't go away, and nothing short of a clean install will get shut. Not sure if that's improved at all with Windows 7, but certain packs I recall were a real pain in the neck to shift.

[Agent]

Codec packs + WMC = bad, bad times if anything goes wrong.

But there is one that's worth looking at if you want to go down that route: http://shark007.net/

I could bore you all day with my bad experiences with K-Lite and CCCP, but I wont

Are your colour issues on all content? If we know how to replicate it, or what it's affecting then it might be an easy fix.

[stevie lee]

have you checked whether the graphics card settings are overriding the video playback?
ive just checked on my ATI control center and theres loads of options to tweak.

im also using the shark codec, but all my video playback is in PowerDVD software.

[subucni]

Maybe that's my issue, coming from XP I'd always just been used to using K-Lite, so installed it straight away on Win7 without thinking it may not be needed.

I've not had chance to try out many file types and see if it's only affecting certain ones as I've not long installed Win7. I think i'll try out shark007, and if I get no joy I'll redo my windows install and see how WMP looks then.