Terrible output after Windows Media Player 11 setup

[Zane]

Hi, I just downloaded and installed the new Windows Media Player 11 for Windows XP. Don't worry, it's just for music, I won't use it for video playback

Now, everytime I use VideoLAN 0.8.5 or any other player to play video contents, the image looks ugly, the cursor moves pretty slow and the system become less responsive.

What's going on? I thought VLC used it's own video codec...

Many thanks!

[Zane]

Ok, I found a solution myself: I switched to OpenGL instead of Default under Output Modules and now the problem is gone.

Any further tech explanation will be VERY apreciated! TIA.

[DJ]

VLC is a stand alone player, it uses its own libraries to decode media files it does not rely on Direct Show codecs. The one exception is for WMV3 or WVC1 files that will (under Windows only) use the the Dshow codecs for these formats. This will change in future releases as FFMpeg takes over these functions and offers these formats to other operating systems. VLC 0.8.6 test 1 has incorporated this but it is my understanding it is still not working correctly and VLC 0.8.5 is better for most in this regard.

Other users have complained about WMP 11 and the problems it creates for VLC using WMV3 or WVC1 it is recommended at this juncture not to upgrade to WMP 11 until they resolve there problems or VLC finishes the transition to be fully self contained for these formats. All other formats should be unaffected.

Changing the output module to anything other than DirectX puts all the weight on your CPU and is generally a good indication that your video drivers and or DirectX runtime need to be updated.

[Zane]

VLC is a stand alone player

Thankyou for the explanation!

All other formats should be unaffected.

Nope: the problem afflict video encoded with DivX 5.0 too!

Changing the output module to anything other than DirectX puts all the weight on your CPU and is generally a good indication that your video drivers and or DirectX runtime need to be updated.

On my system, even in OpenGL, the program drain at worst a 2-3% CPU...

[DJ]

Really I wouldn't expect DivX to be affected or any other format that VLC handles directly. The reports in the past have confirmed that the effects are constrained to WMV3 and WVC1 so I can only assume Microsoft is grasping for some solutions to there problems or as indicated on some doom9 forums the last revision is actually worse. The only way to effect these things would be to change something about the operating system or DirectX and I find it difficult to believe Microsoft would do this just to solve an issue with one program.

But we are recommending against WMP 11 at this juncture.

[Zane]

Really I wouldn't expect DivX to be affected or any other format that VLC handles directly.

I can confirm 100% that the problem is with DivX too: OpenGL is the only workaround I've found at the moment: as soon as nVidia releases the new Detonator I'll try to update video card driver, but I think this won't fix the problem.. I'll let you know!

[DJ]

Trying to look into the problem! Will update here if there is more info..

I am assuming this is the release version and not one of the betas?

Are any other formats or containers effected? Other than DivX (I assume) in a AVI container? or the divx container? Extensions denote the container.

Also if you would accomplish 3 things for me.

1. Go to Microsoft's website and in the search box type DirectX runtime. When it comes back with the info it should be the first or second on the list. Download and install the newest version. Runtime versions are released every to or three months. Then reboot your machine.

2. Right click anywhere on your desktop and select properties, Settings, Advanced then select the Troubleshoot tab, be sure that the Hardware acceleration is all the way up and the Enable write combining check box is checked. If it isn't make it so! Then press Apply and OK! If you made changes here reboot your machine.

Now run a full DirectX diagnostic! From the start menu select run and enter dxdiag then press enter or return on your keyboard. Check all the tabs for any errors and do all the diagnostics. When you do the diagnostic for the video be sure that acceleration is on for all modes.

3. Play a commercial DVD (not sitting on a menu ) then open your Task Manager and look at the CPU usage. What is the average usage? Does the DVD play normally?

You will need to turn DirectX back on for this test. Don't forget to press Save and restart the player before the test.

[Zane]

I am assuming this is the release version and not one of the betas?

Yes, Windows Media Player 11 final.

Are any other formats or containers effected?

Same problem with MPEG 1/2 in mpeg container. I tried with XviD too, in avi container, and I had the same issue.

Same problem with ASF in WMV container.

I don't have any Matroska or OGM at the moment, so I cant try with them, but I expect the same: I think it's not related to the container, but to the video rendering itself.

DirectX runtime.

Eheh, I'm a geek, so all my drivers and directx are always updated

DirectX 9.0c October 2006 for DirectX and ForceWare 93.71 for video. I fresh-installed them again just to be sure there are no problem here.

Hardware acceleration

Full & checked

Now run a full DirectX diagnostic!

No problem at all.

Play a commercial DVD (not sitting on a menu )

I'm experiencing the same problem if I output as default. Everything goes smooth with OpenGL.

then open your Task Manager and look at the CPU usage. What is the average usage? Does the DVD play normally?

Very high CPU usage (40-50%) in default. 1-2% in OpenGL.

Hope this helps!

EDIT: I just noticed that I've exactly the same problem if I open any video with WMP! So that's not a VLC-related issue at all!

[DJ]

I would venture a guess that you have lost or have a corrupted AGP or PCIe driver. Try going to the motherboards website and get the latest one for your motherboard's chip set.

I'm not sure why this is not as critical using OpenGL but I have seen this in the past. Perhaps it's that OpenGL accesses the video card directly.

[Zane]

I tried to reinstall Hyperion for my motherboard too, but the problem is still here.. Windows Media Player 11 definitely broked something

[DJ]

I don't know what "Hyperion" is???

I was suggesting going to the motherboard's website and getting a driver for the specific chip set what ever that is. This driver is the accelerator for your video card (AGP or PCIe slot on your motherboard).

At this point, I would be very frustrated and probably would have more of a tendency to dump WMP 11 and roll back the machine or bring back a recent back up.

[Zane]

I don't know what "Hyperion" is???

Maybe VIA 4in1 sounds more familiar It's the VIA driver for my MoBo.

At this point, I would be very frustrated and probably would have more of a tendency to dump WMP 11 and roll back the machine or bring back a recent back up.

Eheh, my Ghost disk is ready to do it's job

Thankyou anyway for your valuable help, mate! If you come to Italy don't forget to stop in Ferrara for a glass of wine and some capellacci con la zucca

[DJ]

OK! I get it!

Hope the restore goes well for you!

Ya! That's a delightful thought! American cheese or dairy products in general are very bad. I have fond memories of Europe and a nice glass of wine with friends is always welcomed. Of coarse the Italians are famous for there pasta and this is also a refreshing change for me.

[DJ]

As odd as this will sound, This seems to be the answer!!!

"Encoder and decoder binaries have been re-organized and renamed in v11 runtime. The support for previously supported codecs hasn't changed though. For example, WMV3 decoding used to be handled by wmvdmod.dll, now it's handled by wmvdecod.dll. The installer replaces old DLLs with duds for compatibility reasons (for apps that check for existance of specific DLLs), but in actuality all the codecs have simply been registered and associated with the new DLL files which is perfectly fine when dealing with COM+ based binaries such as these. Copying and registering old codec binaries might serve as a temporary solution, but in the long run we should really try to figure out why the new codecs are causing problems with 3rd party players so that Microsoft can address the issues."


To me it still doesn't explain:

1. Why WMP 11 doesn't seem to work within itself???

2. Why they would release a product knowing full well it wasn't ready?

3. While only one dll file is mentioned here there are some 4 or 5 involved.

4. What else are they not telling us???

I guess the only saving grace factor is that it isn't being forced on us through automatic updates.

[Zane]

Let's hope they'll fix it soon!

For the moment I can't rollback due to extra low free time I have, I'll workaround with OpenGL output for a while...

[DJ]

In the mean time another user showed up with similar problems and has rolled back his machine. So this scenario does work and it confirms that the problem is WMP 11.