Video playback colors don't match Quicktime & other players

[swrobel]

I was looking at some 1080p mp4 footage from my GoPro in VLC and noticed that the colors looked extremely washed out. I tried opening the same file in Quicktime and noticed the colors were much more saturated. I also tried in Elmedia player and they looked the same as Quicktime. I have tested many non-GoPro videos and noticed the same effect, on two separate Macs (5K iMac & Retina Macbook Pro) running OS 10.12. I have also tried VLC 3 nightly and it has the same issue. Why is this?

VLC 2.2.4


Quicktime 10.4


Here is the video file if you're interested.

[swrobel]

Anyone have any clue here? I love VLC but the colors don't look right to me since I noticed this and as a result I've been avoiding using it...

[Cantar4]

The latest 3.3.0 2016 11 28 nightly built is OK.

[swrobel]

The latest 3.3.0 2016 11 28 nightly built is OK.

I don't see any 3.3.0 builds but I got the 3.0.0 2016-11-28 nightly and the colors are still washed out.

[swrobel]

I'm still seeing this issue with 3.0.0 2017-03-06 nightly and I'm wondering if there's any hope for a solution.

[Cantar4]

I am playing your VLCtest.mp4 file with Quicktime, QtAV, and VLC 3.0.0 2017-03-08 ;
colors are identical to your screenshot...
perhaps you should perform a reset of all preferences.

[swrobel]

I assume you mean identical to the bottom screenshot?

[Cantar4]

yes, the colorful Quiktime 10.4 played one.

[Cantar4]

I assume you mean identical to the bottom screenshot?

You never told us, are you happy now with the colors of the recent 3.0.0 nightly built versions?
--

[swrobel]

I assume you mean identical to the bottom screenshot?

You never told us, are you happy now with the colors of the recent 3.0.0 nightly built versions?
--

I have since switched to using IINA which reproduces colors correctly. I just tested vlc-3.0.0-20170907-0450-git.dmg and the colors are still washed out (incorrect).

[Cantar4]

I have since switched to using IINA which reproduces colors correctly. I just tested vlc-3.0.0-2017 09 07 and the colors are still washed out (incorrect).

I am very surprised, the color comparison between the three apps shows that Quicktime is on the subdued side (I like it better..),
and that VLC and IINA are identical. That said, the still in infancy IINA already offers the famous scrub of +/-n mp4 frames either side of [pause], plus a few i frames proxies poping up on the timeline ; very promising.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cIR4zubB1WEQ1YtF3 Quicktime
https://photos.app.goo.gl/m2cA593SrGnLNAKA3 Vlc
https://photos.app.goo.gl/VAq41VKyHxpufnmf1 Iina

Edit 2: the Vlc file was opened under VLC 3.0 2017 09 15

[InTheWings]

gama atom

[Cantar4]

gama atom

Hi InTheWings,
am I supposed to understand this coded message,
gamma rays, atomic something, is it a dangerous task for the VLC team?
--
InTheDark

[InTheWings]

Please compare with those 2 modified files
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4oywxgj2g2ke ... 66Qaa?dl=0

[Cantar4]

Seen as 32x32 pix X-ICON images on Firefox, I see no difference at all between
VLCtest_nogamma.mp4 and VLCtest_nocolor.mp4... can you tell us why there is none ?
If it's a new VLC setting, I hope swrobel will share his reaction and comments.
thanks,
--jpb
--

[swrobel]

Please compare with those 2 modified files
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/4oywxgj2g2ke ... 66Qaa?dl=0

I'm not sure what these were supposed to change, but I still see the same result:

• Quicktime 10.4 on macOS 10.12.6 - colors correct (vibrant) in both files
• IINA 0.0.12 - colors correct (vibrant) in both files
• VLC 20170920 nightly - colors incorrect (washed out) in both files

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

We need also the logs, and the test without hardware decoding. So then, we can try and fix the issue.

[InTheWings]

Color profile should be correctly matched.
Something is wrong.
We'll need technical info from logs from that point.

[swrobel]

Logs: https://pastebin.com/Ft1G5BWt